This blog is about life. Not always my life, but about the things most creatives experience–and just like the tag line (up there somewhere) it’s about the leaps, stumbles, trips and tips I discover along the way.
And that’s what I write about. Things I pick up in conversations, images I see during the day, ideas I pick up from reading. And I absolutely never take something I hear in a coaching conversation and write about it. What can happen, though, is that I hear a topic that begins to become common to a number of clients. Then I notice articles about the topic–OK I read a lot of magazines and books and it could just be a coincidence. But I don’t think so.
Our lives are a reflection of where we are and what we see.read about it
Once it has jumped out of one conversation and become a topic of popular culture, or common interest, I will write about it.
Inevitably, when I wrote about a topic that affects creatives, I begin to get emails that tell me (flatteringly) that I am a mind-reader or (accusingly), I’m using one person’s ideas, life, or thoughts as grist for my blog. It makes me smile when a client sees something difficult or problematic in a blog and thinks I’m writing about them. Personally. In a critical way.
Originally, I wondered how they could think that way about me. And then I smile, and realize that it’s not about me, it’s about them. They see themselves in an unflattering way, and despite the fact that I never use names, regions, or any traceable information (unless the client has given me specific permission) they feel exposed. It’s hard to recognize your faults when they are in sharp focus in front of you. But it’s also not about you specifically. It’s about a lot of people who feel this way, an inner critic convention. And just like fad diets, fad styles, fad art projects, there are fad problems. And it’s good to see how they show up in your life so you can decide if it’s helpful. And make some decisions about what you want to collect and what you want to discard.
But as much as this blog is about the creative life, it’s not about a particular person. It’s just written by a particular person. (And yes, I typed “peculiar” first). And it covers a wide scope of creativity. Always.
—-Quinn McDonald has a big brush that colors her world.
QuinnCreative 