The view from our Airbnb right before a storm over the Gulf.
When I'm at my most stressed, I go to water. I'm not talking pools or bubble baths. I mean bodies of water. Lakes, rivers, and oceans. It's only when I'm in the presence of a body of water that I find peace.
Life has been hitting hard over here at OMD studios. But it's the kind of thing that you have to roll with. There's nothing to be done but go with the flow and hope you'll make it out in one piece on the other side. So, I stopped thinking about it and did what I always do ... I knuckled through.
My husband, however, decided enough was enough, and he relocated me to the beach. It was not a vacation. All of my vacation is being saved for a big Caribbean tour later this year. So, no, this wasn't a vacation. This was medicine in the form of salty air. Brine in every breath. Sand under my feet every morning while I had my coffee, and again at night before I lay down.
While there, I let myself get lost. No art. No projects. No hundreds of photos, so I have "inspiration" for a collection down the road. Nothing but me, the salt, the sand, and the waves crashing on the shore of the Gulf.
The night before we left, I was journaling before bed and reflecting on how sometimes, you have to let yourself get a little lost to find what you need. In my case, I had lost my peace. My husband recognized that, and he got me to water. In the sand of the Gulf of Mexico, I found my peace.
Where do you find yours? Hit reply, I'd love to hear your story.
L.E.A.R.N. course design
You Want To Teach Online, Now What?
Dear readers, it’s time to get into practicalities.
I’ve spent the last fifteen issues of this newsletter exploring the theories of cognitive learning that are crucial for creating an environment where your learners can effectively absorb the information you are trying to impart. Now, it’s time to actually make the damn thing. So, now what?
Well, I’ve got you covered. What you now have on your hands is a project. And, lucky for us both, I happen to be a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) by the Project Management Institute, so I’m going to walk you through all the things you need to know to execute this project successfully.
Over the next several issues, we’re going to:
define precisely what a project is and is not
walk through setting some boundaries to keep you sane and focused,
go beyond a simple task list
talk about how to manage land mines and roadblocks
explore how you keep that momentum going through completion
I’m going to keep this fun and down to earth. To get us started, I’ve provided a short glossary and a planning cheat sheet. Project management is filled with jargon that I’m going to avoid using, but we do need a shared vocabulary, so grab the download and join me next month, where we’ll get started on building your course.
This month, we get into all things contracts and talk about the reality of having a chronic illness as a business owner. If you haven't yet tuned in to Two Cranky Creatives, I hope you connect with us and listen wherever you get your podcasts!
You can now find my designs as stationery on Amazon! I am selling hand-drawn and custom-designed notebooks featuring my work in both small and large sizes. These are softcover notebooks with 110 college-ruled pages inside. I laid out the interiors and designed the cover.
Frankly, I was tired of being forced to charge $20+ because of the production costs of print-on-demand. I won't pay that much for a notebook, making it feel hypocritical to charge those amounts. So, I decided to go a different way and am now selling completely custom notebooks and journals at prices I myself am willing to pay.
Over on Patreon, the gangsters are getting a design quick tip on overcoming artist block. Etsy school continues in full swing, and gangsters get the uncut video of all our podcast episodes.
Option 1: Send this to a fellow creative. If you know someone who would benefit from this newsletter, send this their way!
Option 2. Send me a sentence or two about what you enjoyed! I honestly want to hear from you. I don't want to type into the ether. Connect with me. That's more fun!
Thank you so much for reading! I spend a lot of time trying to make this newsletter worth its place in your inbox. I hope that comes through!
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