I’ve been following Austin Kleon’s excellent newsletter for a decade, and I get something out of it—both for my writing and my life—almost every week. His book recommendations are strong and he’s a total stationery nerd, but what I enjoy most are his thoughts on creativity.
I learned this “what I don’t want” technique from a writing/life coach about ten years ago and have found it incredibly helpful in so many parts of my life. Vacation planning, the holidays, leadership roles in volunteer organizations, personal relationships. It’s so clarifying, both for myself and the people I’m relating to. I can totally see how it would help with a closet purge. Bye bye, little pantsuit!
Great post! Hilarious story about drawing students being so energized by art they did NOT like. I wore suits to a job in a big bank for 4 long years. I felt like I was masquerading the whole time. In fact a friend who made her living painting called my suits “your bank costume.” * Drawings that I begin by drawing the negative space usually turn out well.
I learned this “what I don’t want” technique from a writing/life coach about ten years ago and have found it incredibly helpful in so many parts of my life. Vacation planning, the holidays, leadership roles in volunteer organizations, personal relationships. It’s so clarifying, both for myself and the people I’m relating to. I can totally see how it would help with a closet purge. Bye bye, little pantsuit!
Great post! Hilarious story about drawing students being so energized by art they did NOT like. I wore suits to a job in a big bank for 4 long years. I felt like I was masquerading the whole time. In fact a friend who made her living painting called my suits “your bank costume.” * Drawings that I begin by drawing the negative space usually turn out well.