Britt Backos

But you’re not just unpacking the job; you’re also unpacking yourself. Do any aspects of this job resemble things you’ve done before, and did you like doing those things? Not “Did you like being known as a person who does those things?” or “Do you like having done those things?” but when you were actually doing them, did you want to stop, or did yo

Do you like doing that, or do you endure it?

pick one thing and do it consistently rather than attempting everything poorly.

"When you're going to leave them, they know."

This same theory applies to creative recovery. It occurs when you reach what Michele calls escape velocity. As she puts it, "There's this time for blastoff, like a NASA space launch, and you're heading for it when wham, you draw to you the Test."

Following your own ideas and instincts is how we create genuine confidence and craft in our work.

“There’s a space at the bottom of an exhale, a little hitch between taking in and letting out that’s a perfect zero you can go into. There’s a rest point between the heart muscle’s close and open—an instant of keenest living when you’re momentarily dead. You can rest there.” -Mary Karr in Lit

In sailing, it’s not the wind’s direction that determines your destination, or brute force on the wheel, but the set of your sails. Often the fastest way forward is to drift for a while and wait for the wind to shift.

Developing a personal vision

I would add that we have to express ourselves in order to assert our per-sonalities, to establish a relationship with ourselves. We can then turn to life to record our impressions; to interpret our feelings; to establish intellectual concepts.

For many reasons, therefore, it could be said that the majority of artists are