Let’s start here.
As I sit down to write, I realize it’s nearly 11 pm. This is usually not the hour I feel the most reflective nor inspired to share a story, however, this night I felt compelled to do so. Those of you who are at the mercy of creative energy know exactly what I am talking about. It’s as if you’ve caught a second wind and an opportune moment of silence or space from your daily responsibilities and you realize the time is now to give a little more life to a project that so desperately begs for attention. For me, it is writing and so here we are….
If there is any one word that describes the creative career path that I have forged for myself over the last 15 years, I would say it is reinvention. And for good reason. I’ve explored so many avenues of design, creativity, and digital skills that there is truly no other word that fits. With this many years under my belt, I can proudly say that having to reinvent myself has served me well. I never felt imposter syndrome because I was always growing out of one form of skill and ready to move on and master the next. I used to think this was a problem until I realized it was my natural process of personal and career growth. So I embraced it and kept going and kept shapeshifting and I don’t intend to stop anytime soon.
In the past, changing jobs, professions, methodologies, etc. used to be frowned upon and seen as unstable or untrustworthy at least from a hiring standpoint. I even feel LinkedIn today truly favors those with a career path that shows one story, one trajectory. Thankfully times have changed (although LinkedIn has not) and being multi-skilled is not only supported but necessary in order to adapt to today’s fast-changing work world.
So if there is a theme I will continually share in this blog is how truly wonderful and liberating it can be to let yourself shift and move to the next thing if you’ve outgrown something or if something else is calling you. I will share various stories at various points in my career in no chronological fashion that will hopefully help you gain insight into how to think through change, grow into a new skill, and my favorite master skill- shameless self-inclusion.
I thank you for finding me here and look forward to sharing my story.
xo, Diane
