The First Edition (Finally!)
Hey, hi, hello. I’m Gwen and I like to make … art, design, food, jokes – I like it all.
Creativity has guided me as long as I can remember. One of my earliest memories is walking through the halls of my elementary school with two best friends to share the ocean-themed “books” we’d just drawn in kindergarten class. We were given permission to go show another of our favorite teachers, but we wanted to share with everyone! One friend, let’s call her Samantha, got nervous while the other friend, Susie, pulled me along to keep going – literally being pulled in two directions, what’s a girl to do?
I, being the Enneagram 9/Leo Sun that I am, let Susie pull me along, while Samantha walked back to our classroom. Susie and I had a great time sharing with the other teachers in the hallway (if only we’d had Instagram back then) but when we arrived back to the classroom we were in BIG TROUBLE. I had to change my color from green to red on our class caterpillar – GASP. This was my first time getting in trouble in school and I cried so much. Was our art even worth it?
You may be wondering what this story has to do with a newsletter, but I feel it accurately sums up my struggle to balance making and sharing over the years. Should I share? Who cares? Am I allowed to share? Will anyone be better because I shared? WOOF, overthink much?
While I am a full-time corporate creative, I want to feel reconnected to the projects that truly spark my creativity and inspire me to connect with my community. And despite my perfectionist tendencies, I’m trying to embrace that not every endeavor needs to meet some self-made metric or timeline to be successful. WE’RE MAKING THE THING.