DelaneyGates.com

Monday Morning Thought

 

On this Monday morning, I:

*Have sworn off Starbucks for one week.

*Awakened at 3am to work at one job before going to the other. (This is the norm now, y'all. Crazy.)

*Started my day with a glass of water. (BIG achievement.)

*Kept the quote, "Be the person you were too lazy to be yesterday," in mind.

Be awesome today! (Or, try your very best at it, anyway.)

Click on the art to be taken to the shop where you can buy your very own print! (It's by Lucius Art.)

A Must-Read for All Creatives

 
 

The following is a must-read for everyone working (or aspiring to) in a creative field. You'll have a light-bulb moment. I did.

 

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one [project]. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through." -Ira Glass

 

The photo is from Knot & Bow, based in Brooklyn. Please support handmade and visit their shop by clicking on the image, above!

BIG News!

As most of you know, I was brought on as Creative Editor at Simply Handmade Magazine last January. Recently, I was given the green light to share that I have a new position at the publication! I'm now the Editor and I couldn't be more excited about the future of Simply Handmade. There are many inspiring, new things ahead. The hardest part is waiting until January (the issue we're working on right now) to share everything with you!

A blog post of mine wouldn't be complete without photos...so here are a few from the last couple of months:

 
Priscilla was four months old on August 4th! How time flies... She's rolling over now, loves baths, and was dedicated this Sunday at church. (At my church, people wait until they're older to decide when they're baptized so babies get "dedicated" in the long, fancy white dress.) :)

 

 
Connor played football and started the 3rd grade last Monday! He was chosen to be one of the eight students in his grade's gifted and talented class and we are just so proud of him.

 
Jason and I took a trip about a month ago to a little town about an hour away which has some amazing art-filled shops. Because of the new baby, it had been entirely too long since we had "gotten away from it all" for a weekend. It was much needed!

 
We went to St. Louis for a few days the week before school started. It was Priscilla's first *semi-big* trip, and during the five and a half hour car ride, she was an angel! Connor rode the second biggest roller coaster at the Park; I was so proud of him! (I don't think he'll be doing that again for quite some time, though. Ha!)

 

 
Here's another one of Priscilla. I just love making big ol' bows for her! The bigger the bow, the better, I say!

 
Last but not least, I wanted to share my birthday cake that Jason and Connor made for me. It was the first year they didn't go buy a cake and it was delicious!  German chocolate (and homemade by my boys) - my favorite kind.

I'll leave you with this quote: "Be the person you were too lazy to be yesterday." It's pretty dang motivating, huh?