The brilliant thing about dipping your toes into different skill sets is that life is pretty varied. The ability to pick up odds and ends throughout a project and help move things along can be a great asset and make you the go to source on many projects. I think this openness is how I have built my reputation and has given me valuable skills on how different outputs can work together on a project.

One day I might be designing, the next I am on set & the variation of work keeps me jumping and hopping through new experiences.

I have however, noticed a few things that don’t always serve me. I can end up picking up part of a job that is way beyond my skillset, or the things I am "good" at but don’t necessarily excite me. In the bid to pay the ever mounting bills (cheers cost of living) I will be more inclined to have my boundaries pushed and fall into cycles of dissatisfaction, low worth and lack of purpose.

The truth is, the work I love, I am actually not that good at (we can open this up for debate but it'll take another blog post). Whilst I am full of ideas with a brain that can think about real world possibilities of achieving them, my technical abilities have always dragged their heels.

I stood in the kitchen today moaning to my housemate about finding my purpose, being aware that sometimes I'm just "not that good" and she pointed out that its only through continued practise/repetition that you'll improve. I interpreted that as "fuck the haters, just do the work and get it out there"

In the process however, I feel like a stretch arm strong (remember him?) reaching for the many spinning plates of running your own business. On the one hand being a decent creative, but in which area? Bridging the gap between art and design, improving my design skills, 3D skills, developing my own creative practise. living breathing, its like trying to learn 3 languages at the same time.

In a small beak Ive had in projects, I've had to take a step back to the drawing board, as I do many times and figure out: what does it take for me to live comfortably, dare i say..even thrive and live with purpose?

I think in this long-winded post I got back to the following:

It means working "in flow" and trying and refocus my core skills before I am lost in the next project and forgetting why I went freelance in the first place. So for now, I will be opening up my sketch books and rehearsing old designs in a bid for self improvement. It might take a little longer than most...I am a jack of all trades after-all, but I've always enjoyed the ride over the final destination.

Blog

The Dichotomy of being the Jack of All Trades