Hi there! Before you start reading this week’s newsletter, I have to tell you I have an announcement of sorts. But you’re going to have to get through the email to read it. Or just scroll down to it—I won’t stop you. Just be sure not to miss it!
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Humans—with the most technological advancement at our disposal ever in history—are the worst at directions. We don’t know where we’re going most of the time, so Apple and Google competed in our favor to create the best map app designed to never get us lost again. And yet…
We still get lost. Constantly.
You know who doesn’t get lost? According to this article in The New Yorker, “cats, bats, elephant seals, red-tailed hawks, wildebeests, gypsy moths, cuttlefish, slime mold, emperor penguins” all have no trouble navigating this world. Literally, almost every animal on earth can find their way home after venturing out. And yet…
We’re the worst at finding our way. This article in Wired gives a few reasons why we might be the most lost generation. “If you fail to pay attention when you walk in—the wayfinder’s fatal error—there is nothing to help you retrace your steps: no landmarks, no boundaries, no white blazes on a wayside tree.”
Where are we going anyway?
I’m no scientist, but this whole “not paying attention” concept when getting lost sounds particularly familiar. Losing our way physically feels just as disorienting as trying to find our way mentally. We’ve all been bombarded with questions like, “what’s your side hustle?” and “what would you do if you could do anything?” I would argue that these questions make us feel like we’re wandering around a bit without a map. So we ask for directions. And that’s where we start to go off course.
We turn to anyone and everyone who might have the right answer about side hustles and life. The way starts to become more clear because of the advice and guidance of outside influence. By giving everyone else agency over our own directions, we forget our own internal compasses. We become lost little lambs in the woods, waiting for the wolves.
The life-changing magic of messing up
Businesses have been built around the idea that past mistakes can be avoided if you follow their advice to achieve success. The entire self-help market has been propagated on the idea that you can’t find your own way, but there are influential leaders out there ready to help. I appreciate the sentiment. I follow some of these leaders and their advice myself. But we quickly fall into the trap of thinking that all mistakes can be avoided by following someone else’s road map. It’s easy to hand over the keys to your mental kingdom with the hopes that one book or one course or one product will answer all of your questions.
These leaders became successful because of their ability to find their way after getting lost. Less often, we’re encouraged to make big, messy mistakes. I’ve grown to love them. The more obnoxious and embarrassing the better. Because mistakes lead to breakthroughs. They give us the greatest gift of insight.
Just do the thing
So I’m here to give you full permission to make mistakes. Write the garbage. Make a terrible video. Decorate some ugly Christmas cookies. Above all, follow your own road map. Pay attention to your own path markers. This doesn’t completely absolve you from taking sound advice when you’re so far off course you’re putting yourself or others at risk. But without making your own choices, you lose your ability to find your own way home.
I tried to get through NaNoWriMo, like everyone else, with something to show for it. I didn’t accomplish the goal of 50,000 words, but I did make it a point to write as much as I could in November. None of what I put together is worth sharing. It’s strange and clunky and surprising and interesting. It’s a snapshot of my ideas at this point in my life, at this moment in time. Without writing through the awkward thoughts and unstructured ideas, I would have not uncovered the surprising and interesting bits. And now I’m turning those interesting and surprising bits into a story I could be proud to share. (Not yet. But I’m getting there!)
Because I love a good list of action items in an article, here are a few steps to finding your way back to your own inspiration:
If you have an idea, don’t shop it around to your trusted friend, supportive parent, or loyal partner for the first 24 hours (at least). Let your own mind sit with the problem, and enjoy what comes when you let yourself come up with solutions. We often get lost because we don’t pay attention, so we start moving in directions that seem like the best without giving them enough thought, or by following someone else’s thoughts.
Write every solution down! Even if the idea seems ludicrous, your mind came up with it. To reward your mind for coming up with an idea, write it down. That way it will feel safe to keep coming up with ideas, as ridiculous as they may be. This will also help you see all of your ideas in one place, so you can start narrowing them down.
Pick an idea and stick with it for a while. It’s easy to fall in love with multiple ideas and feel the pressure of picking the wrong one. So you go down the path of one idea, misstep, and immediately pivot to the next idea without really seeing if the original idea ever works out. Here’s a little secret: there’s always a way for an idea to work out. Post-It Notes were born from a scientist failing at making stronger adhesives. Brandy was meant to be concentrated wine for easier shipping across the Atlantic. These mistakes turned into opportunities because the creators stuck with it long enough to make it something else.
I’m also doing the thing
Now that we’ve all decided to do a thing, I suppose this is a good time to tell you. I’m also doing a thing.
I’m trying something new for 2022, and I hope you can all help.
I have acquired a lot of information about content writing and marketing over the course of my career: how to tell a good story, what medium works best for what audience, how to mock up amateur designs in a pinch, how to promote your work on various marketing channels.
And I want to share it all with you, dear reader who also struggles to put yourself out there. Or dear reader who wants to put yourself out there but doesn’t really know how to do it. Or dear reader who knows exactly how to put yourself out there but is getting just a little burned out by writing content online and “if you have to read another article about SEO so help you… .”
I’m here to help! But I’m asking you to help me first.
If what I just wrote a few paragraphs up doesn’t make any sense to you, or is of no interest, I don’t blame you. Us writers and content creators are an odd bunch.
But you can always keep reading. And I hope you might have a content writer/creator friend in your life who might be interested in this newsletter. Would you share it with them? It’s free! And who knows, they might learn something. Or I might learn something from them! See? It’s getting good already.
And for those who already follow this newsletter and are writers/creators: welcome! I hope we can pass around wisdom like the first creators who discovered writing in order “to communicate across time and space.” Only a writer would think of doing something like that.
So that’s the story. Stay tuned for upcoming newsletter issues in which I will be decidedly more helpful (or try to be). I look forward to meeting all the kindred creative spirits who wander here!
How I’m fueling my inspiration this week:
Art:
Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room - an exhibition at The Met in New York City
TV:
David Chang’s The Next Thing You Eat - on Hulu
Fintech:
Women of Color in FinTech: We Exist - Michelle Unplugged by Michelle Dhansinghani