You get to choose your coworkers
Oh, hi friends!
My friend Danielle, a newish freelancer, said something lately that’s stuck with me: now that she’s no longer in an office job, she gets to choose her “coworkers” — the people she brings into her life to talk about work.
But that's true for everyone.
You may not be able to choose your cubicle-mate (are cubicles still a thing?) but you can choose your after work “coworkers." When you discuss your creative and career goals, your friends and family become sounding boards. They’re your creative coworkers, maybe even your collaborators. And you get to choose whose advice you seek and whose energy you absorb.
It’s nice, being able to choose your creative coworkers. It’s a luxury. Enjoy it.
“The path that lies between you and the book you dreamed of is actually not a different day to day life except the addition of some writing time. The magic that's going to make you published and beloved is yet to be found. When I was working a day job and writing my first book, I noticed that you can get a lot done in 15 minutes. In some ways, writing at work or writing when you're tired has a way of focusing your mind. I like to gently say to anybody who wants to be an artist, it doesn't always work. Your worth as a human being is not tied to your productivity as an artist, those are wildly divergent things. The pure artistic path is the one that's not too tied to the outcome but is tied to the transformation that happens."
—George Saunders, from this Dear Sugars podcast with Cheryl Strayed. Love this so much. (h/t Allison McNearney)
Breaking my no-news blackout on this newsletter—because it’s irresponsible not to—so I can recommend you take 22 minutes and watch this Vice News episode about Charlottesville. Pictures and articles don’t touch the depth of watching what happened, as it happened.
Thank you for reading.
Love, Kara