Finding something that satisfies you the most can be difficult. Especially when you’re young and need to decide what you want to do with your life. You think you have to decide there and then what you want to do for the rest of your life. But it’s not that easy. You can’t decide on your whole life. It changes and your opinions changes. You’re allowed to change your mind. What you thought as a teen doesn’t necessarily apply when you’re an adult. It shouldn’t even be like that. You should grow and move on. Experiences change you. People change you. You should become wiser as you get older. Maybe still make the same mistakes because in certain things you never learn. When you finally orchestrate what you want, you feel like a weight has been lifted from your shoulders.
It took me years to discover what I wanted to do in life. I tried to study different things but I didn’t find anything that I would feel passionate about. Nothing seemed to feel right. I was so concentrated on what job I wanted to do so I missed out on other things. You can’t really miss anything that you never had though. I was independent and I didn’t need anyone else. My priorities were elsewhere so I didn’t think much about it. I’m also very hard to please in certain things but that will remain private. I didn’t want a so-called normal job. I wasn’t looking for a miracle either. If you want things done, you need to do them on your own terms. I was lucky to have parents who supported me to choose what profession I wanted. Some parents might push their kids to the limits and that can cause other problems later on. I was free to do what felt most natural. My parents knew I couldn’t be told what to do so they didn’t force me to. I’m still like that. Apparently, before I learned to walk, they wondered when do I actually start to do that. I crawled a lot and one day I just stood up and started walking. That’s a story my dad told me. Maybe I was just careful or I was afraid to start walking. It could also be because I didn’t want to get rushed. I wanted to do it in my own time and that’s how my life has been. I don’t like rushing things because then the quality won’t be good. In that sense, I’m a perfectionist. In certain other things, I’m not that fussy.
When I finally find that thing I want to do, I don’t get to do them. That’s graphic design. At my current job (which I’m temporarily laid off from) I don’t get to do much design. I was only there for two weeks until this coronavirus came. The job is mostly internal and external communication. Now when I have free time I could practice the programs but now I think about something else instead. I don’t even think I’m good enough to be a graphic designer but I still want to do it. I’ve thought about the web design but that seems too much work. I can hardly update my own website. I would like graphic design to be the main thing. When my current job contract ends I wish I didn’t need to look for a job in the open market. Maybe this break from the job is a sign for me to start something on my own. The time is probably not right now because businesses are in trouble and it’s harder to find clients. This would be a good time to at least think what kind of services I should have. I’m just glad I don’t have to think about what to do in life anymore. Finally orchestrated what I want and that is a relief.
Finding your style. Finding your niche. Finding your voice. There are different ways to say it. You can also say, finding your sound and it doesn’t need to mean music or any other sound thing. Finding something I want to do that I wouldn’t get bored of has been the hardest thing. That’s one of the reasons why I’ve studied more than work. Sometimes I wonder if I chose the wrong sound.
In blogging, finding the right niche hasn’t been the easiest. I know I wanted to be different and write about a lot of things but a lot of people don’t want to read about everything. I wouldn’t either because there are only 24 hours a day and I need to sleep. Recently my posts haven’t got that many likes which make me wonder are my blog posts uninteresting. I mean, I do have 671 followers and only a small part likes the posts. Maybe I’m just nitpicking. My kind of blog wouldn’t get 50+ and I’m not expecting that either. I’m really glad I get likes for my older posts from time to time. Finding your sound in blogging doesn’t come easy. You have to experiment and then find the sound later. That’s just a hint for new bloggers out there. Unless you’ve already found yours.
When I studied graphic design in Helsinki Design School, our illustrator teacher said something like. It’s not about being a person who thinks they can’t draw, it’s about what style you have. I don’t remember if it was exactly like that though. So my style must be drawing awful and ugly things. Yeah, that will sell. Just being sarcastic there. Drawing just isn’t my thing and why should I try to get better at it. There are a lot of other real artists out there. I don’t know what my sound in graphic design I have. There seem to be so many others doing the same thing so how can I compete with those. Maybe when boring and nothing special gets popular. The education was supposed to motivate me but it was the other way around. The teachers were just too nice to tell me I didn’t have what it takes. Maybe it’s my imagination. All I feel is a failure when it comes to design in general. But don’t take it as a white flag for surrender. What do teachers know anyway? Pro or not. They just teach you the basics and the rest you have to find out yourself.
I’ve found the sound I want to dance to and that’s something creative. I never wanted to do anything “normal” I could do something like that for a while but I wouldn’t want to do it all the time. I don’t want to do just one creative thing but several things. Finding your own sound doesn’t happen overnight. It takes some time to find it but I’m sure I will.