This week has been a real rollercoaster: I was ill, closed my Etsy shop, deactivated my Instagram account, and to top it all: my beloved Queen Elizabeth II has died!
When I was a child, my mum once told me: "Clean up your bedroom, the Queen is coming for lunch!". No need to say that my room was never as clean as it was on that day! Full of hope, I spent hours looking out the window, patiently waiting for the royal carriage... and as you may have guessed: it never came!
Sometimes, I think that we do things, do our best, full of expectations and hope but the result is far from what we imagined. For me, cleaning my room would lead to a wonderful afternoon spent with the Queen, Prince Philip and befriending Prince William (Harry has never been an option!) but it never happened. What's the point in cleaning my bedroom if I'm not sure that the Queen will even come?
Obviously, this post is not about whether or not one should clean their room, but more about "How to do things when you don't know what the outcome might be"?
This leads to the reason why I closed my Etsy shop and deactivated my Instagram account. Let's be honest: the mighty Internet is not really a place where kindness, respect and dignity are valued. You can be a complete a***hole, say whatever comes to mind and be happy with yourself. Do I really want to be a part of this? No! Do I want to sell my mental health for likes on Instagram? No! Do I want to waste my energy creating a strategy to sell my art using an app which is changing its algorithm not to help but to use me? Hell, No!
Now, what?
How can I be a successful illustrator if I'm not on Instagram? Do I really need it to be an illustrator? When did social media become necessary to be an illustrator? As I said in my previous newsletter, if you illustrate, you are an illustrator. So I decided to clean up my bedroom even if I'm not certain the Queen will come. I decided to start my journey in my own terms: I have this newsletter/blog, you're obviously reading it (thanks again!) and I can draw illustrations for it. I just chose a path, took this first step even if I have no idea of what the outcome will be. The leap of faith, as they say.
I'm sharing this today with you because I think that I'm not alone trying to make my dreams come true, no matter what this dream might be, not knowing the route or the outcome. Sometimes, it's easy to know what path to follow. For example, you know that if you want to buy a house, you need money, a list of criteria, an estate agent, a few viewings and you'll have a house. Or, let's say you want to send a letter: you need to write it, put it in an envelop, put a stamp on it and send it. Simple! But in some cases, the road is misty, dark, concealed... then you need to take a leap of faith even if you don't know what will happen next.
You can be scared and full of doubts, like I am, but it doesn't mean that you can't walk with these emotions on your back or shoulders. Don't fight them, take that step even if you don't know exactly where you're going. Try, fail, adjust, consider the A road, B road, motorway, the small and sinister path and this is how you'll know what the next step is.
That's all for now, I'm looking forward to hearing about your own battles with fear or doubts in the comments, so please share away :)
Talk to you in two weeks,
Love, BC
There is a funny and insightful podcast called comiclab. Its about making webcomics and making a living from it.
They share real numbers on how being instagram famous doesnt mean the crowd will support your art . The best bet is to open your website. Because from there you can directly interact with your true fans.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful art and your drawings.
I haven't closed my Instagram yet, but I barely post anything there. I'm not interested in becoming "instafamous" or "going viral", I just want to find a small audience that enjoys what I create