Often it is the articles I am not quite sure about that have created the biggest resonance with readers and compelled them to write comments or email me their thoughts.
It makes me wonder sometimes if my judgment is a bit off. How can I really know what my readers will find the most helpful and relate to the most? After writing about 70 weekly articles in my Studio Notes so far, I think it's the articles that come right from my heart that resonate the most. The articles that show more vulnerability and openness about universal topics we all share, like fear and overwhelm, are the ones that I question myself most about even posting on my Studio Notes. Is this relevant to people reading this? Should I share this? Ironically, these articles that I doubt the most are the ones that connect with my readers the most. It has happened so many times. I think this article may be too specific to what I am just thinking about right now. It may feel too vulnerable to share. I post it anyway and then I hear from readers who said they get it. Vulnerability and honesty foster true connection.
I will just keep doing what I'm doing, writing about what I'm thinking about. Be honest and clear. You think you're the only one who feels a certain way and then when you talk about it, you find out many other people currently feel or have felt that same way in the past.
The article Organizing How We Spend Our Time and Handling Fear are two articles that fit into this category and have spurred many comments and connections. They are very different issues and seemingly unrelated but they are both universal topics that affect everyone on a daily basis.
In my article, Handling Fear, I really wanted to share this podcast on the Good Life Project thinking it will help readers think differently about fear. I chose to share this podcast because of the change in my own thinking. People don't often talk about their fears. But this does not mean they aren't thinking about it. So I'm glad I wrote about it to get people to think about fear in a productive way. Someone emailed me about how fear can both stop you and propel you at the same time. It can be both a help and a hindrance. So true. Our job is to figure out which one in the moment is speaking to us.
On a lighter side, as a follow up to my article Organizing How We Spend Our Time, I am happy to report that I think I found my holy grail to-do list app. I was just about to purchase the Omnifocus2 app but I felt this niggling concern that there had been a lot of recent press or videos or comments for the past two years on Omnifocus2. Made me think maybe something new and better had replaced it. I did one more Google search and I stumbled upon an app called 2Do. I was intrigued. I spent a few days playing around with the app on the free trial. I'm 100% committing to this 2Do app and have migrated all my to-do's from my Things app into the new app 2Do. It has all the versatility I need with the ability to color code my lists. Functional and intuitive. Simple but able to do complex organizational tasks. Visually pleasing and colorful without being a light weight. Winning combination.
I know this to-do app has been helpful in my life because I wrote this article instead of procrastinating and moving it till tomorrow because I had it listed in my to-do app to do this morning. It feels good to have a sense of completion and do things when I say I am going to do them. That is much more powerful than just an app to write down my to-do list. It really is an app to help me clear my mind from the endless loop of I didn't do enough- the "lack" mentality.
Two daily squares on the top row of current series Inverse Trees. Two daily squares of past series Trees on the bottom row.
In the Studio, my current series is Inverse Trees. I am doing a four part series along with the 100 day project. This series is the third one out of the four. The first series, Trees uses cool colors as stripes on the trees surrounded by grey, like colorful tree trunks in a mist. The Inverse Trees is the opposite with cool stripes as the background and grey tree trunks breaking through the layers. It is just a simple reversal of design elements but the outcomes are strikingly different. This is why I love working in a series and developing different ideas to play with for 25 days at a time.
Any topics you want to read more about? Let me know. Send an email or comment.