This is the time of year when I have energy to think about the year ahead. As the natural world begins to wake up from winter, so do my ideas for graphic recording.

Let's be honest – when was the last time you got genuinely excited reading a press release? If you're scratching your head, you're not alone. Most press releases aren’t visually appealing, which is a shame because they're often sharing amazing things.

Earlier this year, I reflected that in the heart of winter, goal-setting felt less aligned with the energy of resting, going inward, and moving slowly.

ConverSketch turns 13 this week!

Solidly in the teenage years, it’s high time to use some Gen Z slang: getting to do this work with you all is lit, no cap (Translation: I seriously really love getting to do this work with you all). Thank you. 

September brought fascinating work with clients across the country and across sectors, but one theme kept emerging organically. This is one of my favorite things about being a graphic facilitator – we get to listen, learn and make connections.

Have you felt it?

During and as the pandemic has evolved, I’ve heard and felt the same thing you probably have. “I’m so busy…” “It’s crazy these days,” “Parenting and working is just…a lot right now,” (Understatement). The burnout is real. So is the creative reinvention.

ConverSketch is officially 10 years old today! 

Thank you. You’re the reason I get to write this!

Anniversaries are a great excuse to celebrate and taking time to recognize milestones feels especially important right now as time is simultaneously flying, blurring, interpretive dancing - whatever it’s doing - during covid. 

Every year I like to share things that have resonated or I’ve learned as a self-employed creative. My hope is that you find something useful to try, or that validates what feels true to you, or might push your comfort zone a little bit, in the best way possible. 

Can you remember a time that something went “wrong”? Trying a new recipe turned out…meh. A difficult conversation with a loved one. A creative project didn’t turn out perfectly on the first try.

How did you react? 

The sheer volume of curated feeds can make it easy to fall into a thought pattern that if something didn’t go perfectly right the first time, it failed. 

This is crazy talk. How can we expect ourselves to instantly be experts without practicing, experimenting, failing, pushing, learning, expanding, playing, falling…and getting back up? 

We’re human. We’re going to do things “wrong”. It’s beautiful! And, with practice, we can shift how we feel when things go sideways.