Hey friend,
I wish we had no bad days! (Sorry I was slightly cranky last week😅)
The thing is, I’ve done so much today (May 15) and I wish I could be this productive every day. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen. Tomorrow might be worse so I’ll try and enjoy this feeling for as long as possible.
Some years ago, I religiously watched Phlearn’s Youtube channel, a Photoshop/Photography channel. And by religiously, I mean practically every day. I was thinking earlier today about how long it’s been since I last sat down to a Phlearn video.
Back then, I wanted to learn how to edit photos so badly so I could be of use at the wonderful place I was interning at. I eventually achieved that goal and for a time regretted it when it felt like I was only editing and not taking enough photos there.
But I digress.
That’s a story for another day.
Today I wanted to highlight how for that brief period, Phlearn was my Netflix. Now, I miss being a Phlearn student. I feel there are things I must have missed in the time I haven’t been there.
Of course, I’ve learned other things during that period. And I’ve spent so much time practicing what I originally learned from Phlearn and even sort of creating my own editing style.
I’m just starting to think there should be a balance between learning and doing.
It’s bad to only learn and never practice.
But it’s also bad to only practice without learning.
It doesn’t seem so, but it is. You get into this kind of weird space where you keep on doing the same thing over and over and over again. You get good at it, sure. But you’ll eventually hit a ceiling or wall or door or b… you get the point.
That’s where learning comes into play.
So if you’ve been doing a lot of learning lately and not enough practicing, take action. And if you’ve been practicing so much, you haven’t done much learning, find some time and be a student again.
And I’ll take my own advice this time and watch some Phlearn tutorials this week. It’s been too long.
I hope you all find some balance and productivity this week.
See you on Friday. Maybe I’ll be able to share some cool tutorials with you.
x
ash.
p.s. feel free to reply with what you are learning or working on. I’d love to hear from you.
I've been reading and writing a lot about the creative process lately and I'm trying to learn how to become a stronger writer. When you do it enough you start to pick up on your tells and go-to phrases and it's kind of interesting but also make me feel like I need to expand my ability! Idk! It's a lot to think about- Thanks for sharing this!
Glad you liked it Hollis.
One thing I think about having 'tells' is that's what makes you, You. It's common in every creative field and actually necessary to find our 'style'. But that need to improve and grow is also important, because as creatives, we'll always have to find that balance between what we're comfortable with and what we need to learn to get to the next level.