Today’s Do What You Love interview is with Christina Rosalie, an incredibly talented writer whose words often take my breath away. Her stunning book ‘A Field Guide to Now’ is a project that we at Do What You Love proudly helped fund through Kickstarter, and when we got to hold the finished article in our hands it was just as special as we hoped it would be. A collection of mixed media art combined with essays on life lived in the present tense, this is a must read for anyone who feels like life is rushing past.
We talked to Christina about how she has come to be living a life doing what she loves – writing, being a mother, and working on some exciting new projects whilst soaking up the moments in between.
1. How are you leading a life ‘doing what you love’?
I think the operative word in your question is doing. I’ve been circling around what this means to me lately. How, in order to have a life I love, I must build the scaffolding for it. And that scaffolding isn’t always work I love. Sometimes it’s hard and long and intense and tiring. Many days I have too many urgent deadlines and tasks lined up and when evening comes and the sky turns persimmon and purple, there hasn’t been enough time (or any time) to write or make (which are the things I love).
I think doing what I love is about having both a short view and a long view, and living in a state of dynamic movement between the two. In the short term, I’m not doing what I love every single day. But in the longer term I always am. Even when the work is hard and worrisome and tiring, if I have a clear focus on that long-term horizon, the work I do builds towards that opportunity of living a life I love.
For me then, doing what I love is about dynamic movement: forever finding and re-finding a balance between who I am, and who I am becoming; between being a mother and being an artist; between responsibilities and habits and worries on the one hand and passion, intense creativity and pure delight on the other. It’s in moving between these polarities that I find fulfillment and joy, and it’s from this continual act of balancing and losing balance and re-aligning once again that I find the energy and dynamic tension for my creative work.
2. What did you do before this?
I was an elementary school teacher. I loved that work too, but it wasn’t leading to a life I loved. In that role my platform was too small, and the bureaucracy too complex. Still, my orientation in the world is that of a teacher. I love to help people understand the narratives of their lives, and to facilitate the process of making meaning.
3. What was the a-ha moment that pushed you to change things and realise your passion?
I don’t know that there was an a-ha moment where I actively chose not to do what I’d been doing, although I remember feeling deeply exhausted by teaching, and not wanting to return to the elementary classroom for a while. Having my second baby at that point gave me an ellipse of time to figure things out.
In a certain way both of my children have radically propelled me towards doing work I love, which is ironic in a way, because on a daily basis they are often the ones that keep me from it! There is something almost esoteric about the way that children, in their arrival, bring with them a stirring of opportunity, as though the universe opens wide for them to enter. I felt that, I think. Though I couldn’t say why or how. And really, my shift towards doing what I love wasn’t an immediate thing. It was a more gradual cumulative momentum. Like an avalanche of creative intention that slowly gathered velocity and force.
4. How did you make it happen?
I made some big and sometimes scary/risky decisions that supported the momentum of doing what I loved including: launching my book project on Kickstarter; applying and being accepted to an MFA program in Emergent Media at Champlain College, even though I couldn’t have told you want ‘emergent media’ was at the time (I just intuitively knew it was right); writing a formal proposal for my book for Skirt! and then getting a book deal. Those were big things that I worked really hard towards and for, but that I also think emerged as possibilities because I was ready to move in an entirely new direction.
5. What has been your biggest challenge along the way and how did you overcome it?
My biggest challenge is time, always. Time, and what it means in terms of money. I can’t say I’ve gotten that one sorted out yet. Certainly, I haven’t overcome it. Some days I’m fairly graceful. Things fall in line. There is coffee and time to write; there are just the right amount of client projects (brand positioning and digital strategy); there is a run maybe in the afternoon, or a bike ride, and time making something yummy for dinner with the kids in the kitchen helping. Other days everything is a pell-mell sprint. I wake up exhausted and end exhausted. I’m objectively intrigued by this. So intrigued that I’m doing research about the nature of this push and pull of short term vs. long term; chaos vs. order for a new book I’m co-writing with Dan Blank.
6. What kept you awake at night before you made these changes? How about now?
I’m a night owl actually. I love working at night. It’s a time when I can do a great deal of uninterrupted work, and I’m deeply focused. I think I probably worry more now than I did then too because there’s more on the line. More to lose. And also, I’ve only got me to fall back on. I love it that way, but some days it feels terribly risky, and lonely.
7. Why do you think change is important?
I think change is the secret. We’re always changing. Our cellular structure is renewed every 7 years. Our hearts renew with every breath. It’s when we start trying to prevent change, or become fixated on keeping things the same, that we fall into ruts that stifle our creative minds. We stop thinking flexibly then. Stop imagining that any possibility is ours.
8. How has having children changed your life?
Children are a paradox in my life. They spark creativity and they consume creative energy. They ignite my creative eye, they inspire me, they teach me, they propel me forwards, they force me to live towards the truest version of myself. And they frustrate me, they restrain me, they limit what I’m capable of doing in any given day, and they anchor me to place and time and habit.
9. What kind of changes are going on in your life right now? Have you chosen them or have they chosen you?
I’m in the midst of some pretty radical change now, having just sold the home that we’ve had for the past 8 years, to move in closer to town where we can live within biking distance of everything. But there are so many layers of familiarity and habit that are tied to this home. Uprooting feels terrifying, but utterly necessary and exciting.
I’m also in the midst of defining the direction two huge collaborative ventures – a new book that I’m co-authoring with Dan Blank, and a digital strategy consultancy with a partner dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and creatives build audiences for projects, products and ideas. Both are time consuming and exciting. Working collaboratively is a change. I love it, and it places new demands on my time and energy and focus.
I’m an introvert by nature, and having enough downtime to myself is probably the thing that I find most disrupted by change. The best thing about change is that it invites new. New perspectives, new patterns, new ways of seeing, new connections.
10. Finally, what do you think is key to making a big change in your life?
I just go for it. And then look back stunned, realising I have! In retrospect I can see the evidence, the inklings of momentum building. I can see the traces of conversations I’ve had. I can see notes scribbled across notebook pages. I can see the way a flight pattern of ideas begin to align, and then miraculously, I always seem to leap. It’s more intuitive than anything else. I can feel when change is necessary, and when the timing is right.
That’s not particularly great advice is it? But that’s how it is for me. It’s not well-reasoned or deeply thought out. I don’t prepare for weeks in advance, at least not consciously. It is very much about intuition. And when I trust it, I’ve never regretted the choice.
If you would like to find out more about Christina you can visit her website and/or follow her on Twitter, or sign up to her lovely newsletter here.
GIVEAWAY!
THE PRIZE: Christina is giving away a signed copy of her beautiful book ‘A Field Guide To Now: Notes on Mindfulness and Life in the Present Tense’
TO ENTER: To enter, please leave a comment below sharing which part of Christina’s interview resonated with you the most, and why you could benefit from Christina’s book. Please be sure to include your full name and country of residence in your comment.
DEADLINE: The deadline is 9am PST / 12 noon EST / 5pm GMT on Tuesday July 2. Any comments left after this time will not be considered. THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED. THE WINNER HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED HERE!
SMALL PRINT: There will be one winner who will be chosen from the entries after the deadline, and announced on this blog shortly afterward. The competition is open to anyone over 18 anywhere in the world (shipping will be covered). There is no cash alternative. Our decision on the winner is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
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AND THE WINNER OF LAST WEEK’S GIVEAWAY OF A HANDCRAFTED CLOCK IS…
Rachel Littlewood!
Congratulations Rachel. We will be in touch to arrange for your clock to be delivered! We hope you love having it in your home.
