I Create for Me Now

And, Everything’s Changed

I recently had an epiphany and made a decision.
I decided to stop creating for others, and start creating for me.

Not the “ideal client.”
Not the algorithm.
Not nobody.

Just me.

That shift came from a simple prompt Nicky Saunders shared in one of her posts. I was surprised, but not shocked by the response. I realized that whisper I had been hearing in the back of my head for weeks was really a knowing.

It was the kind of clarity that creeps in after you’ve tried everything else and finally realize you’ve been building your life like it was a group project.

What happened? I stopped trying to build something for one person. I stopped building something for the potential money it could bring in. I just stopped because it wasn’t what I wanted to do. Not for me, anyway.

What I did want was to create.
To write.
To draw.
To build something beautiful and honest and deeply mine.

When I draw my breakfast, perfection isn’t the goal. The goal is to draw quickly before everything gets cold, and record a small part of my day.

Some mornings I draw my breakfast or whatever is in front of me. It helps me cultivate a habit of drawing and documenting the ordinary, real parts of my life.

So I started doing that. Quietly at first. Drawing in the mornings before touching my phone. Writing things that felt deeply vulnerable. Building a visual junk journal of sorts. Then, I thought I might share it. Then, something wild happened.

People came.
They read.
They stayed.

I’m giving access to the first issue of “it’s giving mood” to all readers. Click the image or follow the link below to the check out the whole issue.

The zine is a passion project. A way to collect my words, poems, art and photographs. I’m forever grateful for how you received the first issue. It is never easy to put your art out in the world. Because you know, we artists are sensitive about our sh!t.

I have learned when you stop trying to be strategic and just start being true, you become magnetic. Your people find you, and creating becomes a home for what brings you joy.

I make art and the art makes room. That decision to create for me first was the game changer.

So let me ask you something:
What would shift in your life if you made you the main character of your creative process?
What if you stopped trying to change the world and focused on changing your world first?
What if you stopped asking, “Will people get it?” and started saying, “I get it, and that’s enough”?

Experimenting with Publishing Days
One of my goals with these letters is to be more consistent with publishing on a regular basis, and I am starting with this one.

Moving forward, you can expect to see a letter on Fridays and one on Tuesdays. As always, thank you for being a reader of my words. I am forever grateful for you.