Living your “dream” doesn’t look the way people think it does. Many people talk about creativity as this mystical thing, but reality is a little less magical and a lot more work.
As someone who makes a living through creative work, people are often surprised to learn that I don’t write all day. In fact, despite publishing three books and over 900 posts on this blog alone, writing is probably the thing I do least each day.
Most professional creatives do more than one thing. They are not a jack of all trades, but rather masters of some. And, as I learned the hard way, there’s plenty of non-creative work that goes into supporting a creative career.
That is the impetus for The Portfolio Life. Everyone I know, regardless of whether their full-time occupation finds them in a cubicle or a coffee shop, does more than one thing.
This week on The Portfolio Life, Andy and I talk about what we like/dislike about the podcast, what we hope to achieve, and honoring the attention of the audience.
Listen in as we discuss candid feedback from listeners like you, the clarified promise of our show, and how we want to get better by going deeper.
Listen to the podcast
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Show highlights
In this episode, we discuss:
- Getting vulnerable and opening up communication channels
- How far we’ve come over two years and 100 episodes
- Whether or not the podcast should continue
- Why you must serve your audience
- Navigating the tension between selling out and starvation
- How to have conversations people connect with
- Answering the question: What do you do?
Quotes and takeaways
- It’s very freeing to discover full-time creatives live more of a portfolio life than we imagine.
- Don’t lose your life trying to make a living.
- When all you do is talk about what you do instead of actually doing it, you’re no longer an artist.
- To pique the interest of others, create something you’d be interested in.
- Serve your audience by not delivering any fluffy content.
Resource
- The Art of Work
- Serial
- This American Life
- Download the complete transcript here
What is your favorite part of The Portfolio Life? How can we make it better? Share in the comments. Remember, you can’t be too specific.
