I sat down in Black Milk café’s delightful backyard space with a cuppa joe, drawing paper, and two black markers, surrounded by flowering plants, vintage mirrors, fun, mismatched tables, and (spray) paintings on the walls. I’m easing into the day after going to sleep way too late last night/early this morning, following a night at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, which was worth the late hour that we got home. (But I digress… though setting is important to me, as I dive into my work? You too, or…?)

I started wondering, what can I do in this cozy place in the half hour that I have before the day gets rolling – there’s much on my plate, what can I choose that I can start and finish in that timeframe? How can I take advantage of this moment? So I thought of my current big project that I’ve been able to step away from for about a week. And, before diving back into the details and editing, I thought maybe I needed to re-imagine the actual design of the book/the nature of the drawings that I am creating. I’m not really sure I will move in a new (-ish) direction, but the whole idea of just sitting down with a blank piece of paper and playing, “What if… ?” felt wonderful (if not energizing… the coffee hadn’t quite worked magic yet).

Does this happen to you?
Do you get so caught up in something that you are in the weeds…
Finding it hard to get perspective or go back to that 30,000 foot view?

I know if I step away from something for at least a day, if not longer, I come back to it with a different perspective. It doesn’t mean that I embrace my new ideas, though I do feel refreshed, and that I’m doing my ‘due diligence,” giving it my best effort, to not rush, because it’s too important.

I’m actually wrestling with the idea of whether to create a quasi-regular-looking book format that people will understand readily or to handcraft every page of the guide that I have developed. It’s a big question. Honestly, I want to get it done in the sense that I have been working on it lovingly for more than half a year (which may not seem like a long time, but it is based on an existing coaching program I have in place). I want to feel it in my hands. be able to show it to people, and share it. And yet is it the right move? Would it be more appealing to people if it were more different or would that be just too niche and so far from the traditional thinking about how you talk about the subject matter that people wouldn’t even pick it up? I don’t know. I think this might be a question for members of my intended audience and my graphic designer, (who is a well-known author and graphic novelist herself). I’m going to wrestle with it some more. I like, “What if…”

What about you?
Do you play such games/work in such ways with yourself in the process of doing your best work?

I am always curious about people’s approaches, processes, methods, and techniques. I am reading The Book of Alchemy, by Suleika Jaouad, which is chock full of people’s fabulous stories and ideas about how they work and prompts they create for readers. The brief chapters offer up even more treasures/books, which is a delight! I will begin by reading Frida Kahlo’s hybrid art journals, though I may also walk to the bookshelf and reacquaint myself with Austin Kleon’s books… perhaps I will then venture further afield… We’ll see!

I’d love to know your process. I hope you’ll tell me.