Indirect Routes

I have a small admission to make: I stink at small talk. Flop sweat, stammering, a too-loud laugh…you can watch me do ALL THREE if we’re strangers and you ask me a question. (It’s like a three ring circus for my personal insecurities. Where’s the cotton candy??)

The only time I’m really good at it is when my conversation partner stumbles (or strategically hits) upon one of my strengths or passions…when it doesn’t? Well, I’m as awkward as I was in junior high.

But – and here’s the thing – small talk is the very thing that invites larger conversations, that finds common ground. You have to be willing to expose personal parts of your life to make those connections…trying to seem too with-it, too professional will leave you with nothing to talk about except for your resume. But oversharing is also, obviously, a conversation-killer. (AWK-ward.)

Lifehacker has a good one-size-fits-all tip: share small details. Bringing up a topic that you’re passionate about, whether work-related, or concerned with affairs beyond the office walls (family! great restaurants! travel! books! youtube!), is an easy entry into a rewarding conversation. Because no one wants to spend all night talking platitudes…case studies are much more interesting.

Puttylike shares two other benchmarks that ring true to yours truly:

1. We all want to connect with other people, but we just need to feel safe first.
2. If you open up, others will, too.

Performers, you’re accustomed to putting yourself out there in every audition, every performance – to give a piece of yourself to any number of largely anonymous audition panels, audiences. You can do this!

As you’re vetting a new career, finding those points of entry can become even more crucial…advice, anecdotes, even connections for professional advancement can all lie in your ability to make connections. The good news? Is that you’re already fantastically equipped to do just that.

I’m a big fan of Hugh MacLeod. Have been for years. I get his daily email, that usually has a bright, graphic doodle (I hope that’s not an offensive term: it’s an abstract line drawing, to be less casual) that accompanies a strong thought or a pithy adage.

See, this is a career path that’s both creative and non-traditional. He took something that he enjoyed doing (i.e. writing modern-day adages) and used a medium that was infinitely accessible (pen & ink on the back of business cards).

Now, if you pitched that to someone:

“Hey. I’m going to draw cartoons on the back of business cards. And I’m going to share small snippets of real-life wisdom. And, on the backs of these tiny business cards, I’m going to build a MEDIA EMPIRE. Mwahahahaaaaaaaa!”

Yep. They’d likely ask the bartender to cut you off, and call you a cab.

But he did it. Because he realized that his art was accessible, and that there was a social component to what he wanted to do.

He’s an artist. But he didn’t spend years in the studio, working through academic crits, being graded refining his craft. He did those things while sitting at a pub, talking to people – there was a community aspect to what he did that integrated his love of the visual.

He found his sweet spot.

Do you have things that you’re passionate about, but that couldn’t possibly coexist in the same career?

And, are you willing to rethink that “couldn’t possibly coexist” clause?

I spent Monday home sick…it’s not often that I get my butt kicked sideways by a bug, but I’ve learned at this point that the absolute worst thing I can do is drag myself to the office on days like this: contaminating my space and my colleagues, feeling like crud, and usually getting little to no work of quality accomplished.

It’s a lose-lose situation, if you will.

So instead I napped on the couch, listened to the landscapers banter in Spanish as they planted three big ol’ Cypress trees in the yard, and started making my way through the unread items in my feed reader.

(As it turns out? I may in fact be in the running to star in Hoarders: Digital Media Edition. Yikes.)

But I did come across a few gems as pertains to the creative workforce:

• What Recruiters Look For (via Lifehacker). They spend 6 seconds (! It makes a 16-bar audition slot look positively luxurious!) looking at your resume…best to make sure that those important things are easy to find…
• Mentors. As creatives, we can all certainly name a specific teacher in our chosen discipline who served in that function. As you’re looking into something different, however, it’s as useful – perhaps even moreso – to find someone to help  you put your building blocks together in a  different way. And one of the points that Susan Adams makes that I love? You don’t have to have just one. There’s no competing-studio bias, no  teacher-centric cult-of-personality. (A refreshing thought, eh?)

And finally, this clip from John Cleese about creativity.  The clip I’ve posted is abbreviated, but Blurbomat has posted the entire lecture and it’s worth watching the whole way through. BrainPickings also pulls out several of the important points, so rather than reading my redundant ramblings, how about just taking a look-see?

As I said before, I’m a sucker for a good to-do list. I have no fewer than 3 apps to keep track of grocery lists, t
I stumbled across this article by Kathy Caprino this evening. (The 8 Stages of Career Transformation.) And I can remember, so very vividly, going through this process when I was finally deciding to invest my time and efforts in a career that wasn’t performance-based. But I’ll disagree with the author in one fundamental way: I don’t think that it’s a linear process, and I think that often these steps happen simultaneously. For example, Disengagement from one’s present circumstances can – and I think often does – happen at the same time as Discovery, when you’re delving deeply to find those things that ring your bell, so to speak. o-do lists, bucket lists, and everything in between. Lists, structured steps, plans of action: all important things to me, and a real hindrance to any kind of free-lance career.

What do you think? Is the list complete? Would you add anything? And, if you’re seeking, do you recognize your place on this list?