The above quote is one of our favorites here at Boredwalk HQ. It perfectly encapsulates the reality of pursuing creative work as a career as opposed to a hobby or leisure pursuit. This sentiment has been expressed by authors such as Stephen King and painters such as Chuck Close.
Most days (all days?), Meredith and I wake up in the morning and don't feel like going to the office. We jokingly whine to one another "make kitty do it!", with the understanding that making Oliver do our work — or any other animal, human, or cross-species hybrid being, for that matter — will never be an option.
Regardless of whether we're coming up with fresh, original concepts or appropriating and bringing to life existing ideas or quotes like the one above, regularly churning out high-quality creative content and/or products that resonate with strangers and compel them to put down their hard-earned money so we can afford to continue doing this is very hard work — and designing is supposed to be the FUN part of the job!
This isn't meant to be a woe-is-us, life-is-hard, everybody-come-gaze-at-my-navel-with-me pity party. It's a warning and a gentle reminder that no matter what you're doing with your life — whether it's designing graphic apparel, writing horror fiction, writing poetry, digging ditches, flipping burgers, ringing up customers in a checkout line, cleaning houses, or coding the next big app — what you do has merit and should be afforded the same level of commitment, focus, and perseverance as any endeavor. Even on the (many, many) days when we'd just rather lay around in bed, prance in a meadow of wildflowers, or whatever it is we all wish we were doing instead of the hard work that, while grueling, instills in each of us a sense of purpose and value.
So get up, get dressed, and get to f@#king work. And maybe take a shower; don't be a stinker!
Alright! This is why I'll never be a motivational speaker. Anyway, onward! This week on the podcast we have a mercifully brief episode — only 17 minutes! — in which Meredith and I announce a fun new daily social media Q&A game we're playing on Boredwalk's Facebook & Instagram pages; come join in on the fun! We also talk about some changes coming to Boredwalk in the next couple of weeks, including new products, this month's free limited edition sticker, free exchanges, and other stuff. We also lament the tendency of people on the internet to take every thing they read literally, struggles parsing ampersands, and share a customer review. We throw some deserved shoutouts, reveal that the pod is finally available on Spotify, and I rant about a truly irksome USA Today infographic that customer Carrie V. hipped me to on Twitter. If you like wearing clothes, eating food, and getting your haircut but hate income inequality, you'll love this!
We'll be back next week with fresh designs, a new podcast episode, and more fun stuff! And hey, leave the podcast a review on your preferred listening platform — we'll read it on an upcoming episode! Until next time...
Peace, love, and tacos,
Matt
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?
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