5 Tips For Coping With Creative Depression

Trust me, this will be the shortest article you come across all day.

Being a writer myself, I know how listicles elicit immediate eye-rolling from everyone as an overdone, died-off form of headline reader clickbait, but stick with me here. As a photographer the last 14 years, I've battled all sorts of creative ruts, depression, self-sabotage, doubts, toxic relationships, and changing careers. Point being; I've been there and know how it feels being told 'Follow these steps and be cured!'

We all know it's not that easy, but these things helped me and hopefully can help you. And as we all know, every little bit helps.

1. Routine Productivity

   One thing I learned in my early 20's, has helped me tremendously: make your bed. Every morning by properly making your bed, you start off your day by crushing one productive task. Good job, now keep going.

2. Exercise

   We all know the clear benefits to working out, but I've always found that getting a workout in got me out of the house and gave me the energy to tackle multiple errands and tasks I'd otherwise put off.

3. Crying

   May seem silly, but you have to let it out. A good hard, Claire Danes cry face session helps you face the emotion and pain, but then wipe off your face and get back to work.

4. Filler Jobs

   Slow winters (along with seasonal depression) always made me seek part-time filler jobs NOT creative in nature; working at gyms, being a production assistant, etc. They help get me out of the house, feeling productive, and establishing a routine.

5. Practicing Daily Gratitude

   When you're in a depressive state, it's really easy to lose sight of all the good things in your life. Even if you feel like you've got nothing remember, you're alive and that's something to celebrate.

This is a Test: Writing With My Eyes Closed + Heart Open

So as it were, here goes nothing. Lately I’ve been looking for ways to help make my writing stronger + better all around. Since I’m not very experienced in this realm of my creative life, not traditionally at least, I’m taking it upon myself to figure out what that means.

I’ve tried music, time-blocking, learning when to walk away and clear my head and when to simply force myself to sit and write, no matter what comes out just to practice on getting better. Maybe it’s the DareDevil I watched this past weekend but I decided to close my eyes and just write. See, there’s no purpose to this article, just me writing about whatever comes to mind, not watching the word count to make sure I get paid enough to justify the time and effort put out, or seeing how the flow and cadence work in the overall structure of the piece. I will only correct the obvious punctuation at the end and nothing else, because if not, n0 wuld evar reasd htis shitty piece, I oknow thaatmcuh for suer.

It’s weird for me to say this, as I’ve only been getting paid to write for a year, so I’m not nearly as seasoned as some of my counterparts and friends, but I’m trying nonetheless maybe in an effort to make sure I always approach my work like this, but let’s be real here: today for writers, there’s a very different story-line to making a career off your writing. Gone are the days of getting paid two dollars a word or having the appropriate amount of time necessary to craft something truly worthy of lasting impact, it’s more about views based scales and getting a huge archive of content for cheap to maximize your company’s every-dwindling budgets.

Saying this is not to mock the current trends in writing, especially since they’re pretty much all I’ve known, but in an effort to understand what exactly changed over the years. I sometimes wonder if there was a change in how people approached writing or maybe it was the technology that made it more accessible just like the advent of digital did to the photography world.

I bet no one really knows — instead they simply acknowledge that things change. Adapt or die type mentality.

Surely I’m not the first or last to ask these questions, but instead only attempting to seek understanding through asking the questions that I struggle to answer. In the end that’s all we really can do in life anyways, ask questions to which we all seek answers to:

The answer is 42 by the way.

I read a piece by Jon Westenberg tonight that argued all of us tend to over complicate things out of fear of going the simpler route. I’m butchering it of course but that’s why I didn’t write the piece or have the veracious following that Jon has.

Yet, after reading that it made me think how much, as a people, we really tend to do that. Why is that? Simply put, because we seem to think as we get older, we get smarter, and that because of that we can explain things in a much more intelligent, verbose manner. But the truth is I learn more from my kids everyday when I tell them to do something and they question me as to why they have to do it.

These little tiny ninjas are almost Watts-like in their philosophical thinking about not wanting to do HW or be on electronics all day without being told no. We tend to get broken down to the point where our only explanation is: I’m older than you therefore you have to listen to me; I’m big, you’re little; I’m smart, you’re dumb; I know more than you do, I’ve lived longer, etc. When the reality is maybe about half of those are actually true.

See kids are the smart ones, they keep it simple. As we get older, we flower things up for various reasons; to impress people of the opposite sex, impress our elders, show our worth or value, justify the time we spent in school learning about things we didn’t care for and probably will never use in actual practice of our lives, but we forge on nonetheless.

Maybe I’m wrong about all of this, but that’s the point, right? To learn we must admit we do not know something. By keeping my eyes closed, my mouth shut and my ears and heart open, I’m hoping to learn something about getting better at this crazy thing called life.

I think this is it as I don’t have the concentration to keep going but more so because I have to get back to the actual paid writing I have to do. It’s been fun guys and I hope that some of you give this a shot too and see what happens.

It seems the one thing I can be thankful for was the typing teachers I had in Catholic school that made us put shoe boxes over our keyboards while in class to be better equipped to do this and of course, tear shit up in Oregon Trails — which if we’re honest, is the real answer to life, right?

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This article was originally posted on Medium.

Don't Waste Your Time Reading The #AskGaryVee Book

Don't read this book - Ingest it into your ethos.

As a lot of creatives do, we long for the structure and stability of some of our corporate counterparts with their steady paychecks, clear path to success, and mentors to help usher them along the ladder. Thankfully, with the age of social media we live in now we’re able to follow and subscribe to any influential person we find inspiring, entertaining, and motivating. 

This book, #AskGaryVee, made me do a lot of thinking about everything that I’ve experienced in my life up until this point - and in reality, it should for you too or else you’re not doing what you should: shutting up & listening. For a lot of people, that person is the ever brash and bold, Gary Vaynerchuk also known as Gary Vee. For some, they recognize the name but don’t quite know the person, so I’ll tell you a bit about why you should.  

Why you should know gary vaynerchuk

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It’s been said a lot, with the age of online coaches, life coaches, booming sexiness of entrepreneurship from the media and society, it’s tough to know who to trust when you’re looking for someone to follow. Yet one of the most simple age old tenants still holds true - listen to people who have actually built shit. One of the most interesting passages in the book was where Gary mentions that he didn’t even start working on his personal brand until he was almost 10 years into his career; he knew he had to prove himself and just do the work before ever opening his mouth for people to listen. 

The early part of his career is one the is synonymous to a lot of immigrants who came to this country. Coming from Belarus as a small child, his parents worked hard to make a life for their family in this new country, while instilling their old-school work ethic on their children. Five years for the Vaynerchuk family seems to be a magic number, as his father came to the US with no job, got work as a stock boy in a liquor store, saved all his money for 5 years then bought his own liquor store. For Gary, early lessons in the heartache of entrepreneurship lead to him borrowing $1,000 from his father to buy baseball cards for his baseball card business, which was lost in record time. Yet, knowing it was a friendly gift from a parent, Gary then hustled his ass off to pay his father back plus interest. Which he did in typical Vee hustle fashion; joking that "selling $2000-$3000 a weekend when I was 13-14 in the malls of New Jersey. I don't know about you guys, but when you have $30,000 in cash under your bed and you're 14, and you're not selling weed, you're doing a good job." As hilarious as it is, it’s true - Gary knew how to sell and run a business which combined with an eastern European work ethic was a winning combo. Then the time came for Gary to join the family business. 

“Everyone is in the content business and I’m in the context business.”

— Gary Vee

This meant working for his father at his own liquor store at 14 years old for $2 an hour; a far cry from his baseball card selling days. While Gary hated it, he took interest reading everything he could get his hands on to learn about wine, especially since he couldn’t drink yet. But, the real epiphany came at 16, when Vaynerchuk realized that people collected wine like he did baseball cards. The rest, as they say, is history. After taking over the day-to-day operations at 22 years old, he launched Winelibrary.com in ’96, used email marketing + online advertising and Wine Library TV on YouTube to build the $3 million dollar business to a $60 million dollar business in just five years. Remember that magical Vaynerchuk number? 

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Fast-forward to starting VaynerMedia with his brother AJ, which has grown in similar fashion to over 500 employees & a list of blue chip companies anyone would love to have in just a short few years - you guessed it - about five of them. The point is, as much as Vaynerchuk can attest to having oracle like predictions and be a very entertaining speaker (which if you’re in the Maryland area April 19th, come see him speak at University of MD), at the core of it he’s got the business chops. 

 

 

What chapters made me rethink my life

While I’m usually all for never shutting up, I want to make this section the quick & dirty on what chapters spoke to me. Rather than make you scroll for the next 20 minutes reading, I’ll keep it short and encourage you to find your own favorite chapters & let me know which they are. 

Chapter 1: Clouds & Dirt

From the very first page, I was hit with the truth many of us know but very few remember when you’re plugging along in the day-to-day, frustrated that your efforts are not bearing the fruit you want just yet. Like I’ve mentioned earlier, one thing that Gary has is the grit to do something every single day for years before anyone pays attention - I don’t know many people who can attest to having that kind of determination, patience, and big-picture ethos that is required. 

Can you really say that you put your head down, do the work, and remember to look up and make sure you’re still aligned with your big picture? 

Chapter 4: Family Business

This chapter immediately stood out to me for a few reasons: Jessica being my rock, how becoming a parent of young kids recently changed my life, and my own family dynamics. 

When asked how important is it that your significant other share your entrepreneurial vision, Gary’s response echoed my own feelings. For a lot of people, they see relationships or lack there of in the business world in two ways: they either distract you or empower you. I know for myself being a single person for many years who just dated, I mostly focused on my photography work and let the other stuff fall in place. Yet, later in my late 20’s-early 30’s after meeting Jessica & co-parenting two kids, if I’m being honest with myself, there were times I missed being single to feel no guilt about grinding so hard and being able to do whatever it took to succeed; sublet an apartment, move on a whim for a new job, road-trip around the country, and moving back in with my parents for a spell to save up money. Don’t judge, you’ve felt it too - don’t lie. However, his follow-up response is what resonated with me as I have accepted this idea myself. 

“I don’t mean to say that I wouldn’t have been successful without her. Without a doubt I would have. But I’m sure I would have been an unhappier person, less healthy, and less fulfilled.” That last word summed it up for me - less fulfilled. If I was honest with myself, the times I was ‘grinding everyday’, what I really was doing was throwing myself into my work to distract myself from the unhappiness I was feeling - the unhappiness with my  stalled out career (more on that later), my lack of long-term relationships, my ‘outsider’ feelings regarding friendships I had, and not measuring up to my own high standards. But that all changed when I met Jessica and really let myself be present - seeing that what I gave up in terms of my ability to live like I’m on the run from the KGB with a small rented room, a mattress on the floor, a stool for my laptop and a Pelican case of camera gear and nothing else (not joking, it was off-putting), I made up with feeling fulfilled. With having people who support you when no one else will, who hold your head when you just want to cry and not judge, who you go out wanting more than anything to make proud with your accomplishments. For me, that’s Jessica and the kids, Lyric & Riley - they’re the best thing that ever happened for me and a realization that the empty feeling I had all those years was the family I wanted to help raise. I know when Jessica and I have our own child together, it’s going be another game-changer that will push me even more to build own my legacy. 

As someone who’s the youngest of three kids by quite a bit, a brother 7 years my senior and a sister 10 years my senior, I often longed growing up for the closeness siblings had whom were closer in age. Yet, I also realized that I had built-in mentors to watch grow before me, taking on life, and leaving me to take notes on what to do when it was my turn and with that, we’ve all grown up with our own careers, families, and priorities. Being transparent, when I read that Gary’s brother, AJ, was 11 years his junior, I then envisioned my brother, Anibal, and I. The idea that we would one day start our own business together blows my mind, and more personally, makes me tear up to think about having that connection that I grew up longing for, enabling us to build stronger family bonds. I hope he reads this paragraph and smiles like I am now. 

Chapter 6: Hustle

The fact is, we all secretly love to follow those #Entrepreneur, #MillionaireMentality, #HustleOrDie, #EatFuckingFaces type Instagram accounts to feel motivated, but with that said, we all know it’s bullshit. We all feel like we’re just millionaires waiting for the big break, yet don’t really do the shit-touching jobs nobody wants, but are necessary to hit that tipping point. As I write this it’s 3 AM in Vegas and I’m sitting in my hotel bed with my laptop. Why am I even mentioning this? Because with everything going on on this trip, I had to finish this tonight - I didn’t want to, but I knew if it meant staying up all night I would do it. It’s important to really take a hard look inward to ask if you could be doing more. I knew I could do more. 

“Have you accomplished anything? Have you proven yourself in any way? No? Then shut up and get to work.”

— Gary Vee, Pg 81 #Hustle

Remember earlier how I mentioned that Gary didn’t open his mouth about his personal brand for almost a decade? He knew the importance of shutting up and just doing the work. To embrace the hustle and make an impact - only then could he rant about shit and command people’s attention whether they liked him or not. 

Chapter 8: Jabs & Right hooks

This is another book in it’s own right, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World, so I won’t ruin it and just tell you that should be the next book you read if you haven’t already. Instead I’ll share the one part of the chapter that stood out the most: 

When asked about the best advice to give salespeople in today’s digital age:

Just. Freaking. Ask. 

If I were the CEO of Toyota (and I’m being very serious here), my Super Bowl ad would sound something like this: “Hey, I’m Gary Vaynerchuk and I’m the CEO of Toyota. I want you to buy my cars. What do I have to do to make that happen? Let us know.” 

Kind of funny, right? Why? Because it’s so simple and to the point, people laugh at how complicated we tend to make really simple things. We’re human - it’s kind of the most proficient thing we do. Instead of over-complicating things, we should strive to stand out by keeping it simple and honest. 

Chapter 15: Management

Full-disclosure: I interviewed at VaynerMedia last year after I got laid off. And if I’m being honest, I shit the bed on the interview. Why? Because I wasn’t upfront about being laid off from my last job. Instead, I painted a picture that I wasn’t happy and wanted to move on to have a chance at more growth because I was scared that laid off would just read as: he sucked and was fired. I realized later, it seemed like I didn’t want to be patient, put in the work, and have realistic expectations as an employee. And that’s on me. 

Yet the biggest part that made me stop reading and think: hearing that if given the chance to hire a specialist for part of his team or a jack-of-all-trades, he’d hire the jack-of-all-trades. Wasn’t expecting that either, I’m sure. For many of us millennials, as by-products of the new gig economy we find ourselves in, we often do more than just one thing. However, over the years when I kept interviewing for regular jobs, people looked at my resume and said my experience is too scattered, to which I always argued that it was actually a good thing, that it highlighted more life experience I accrued in various fields. While it sounds like a good rebuttal, I never did seem to be able to convince them to look past it and hire me. 

“Don’t ever let your circumstances determine your outcome.”

— Gary Vee, Pg 91 #Hustle

When asked about the three values he holds highest in life and looks for in new hires, Vaynerchuk said he had more than three: Patience, Word is Bond, Empathy, and Gratitude. If those four values don’t make for an amazing employee and leader, I don’t know what to believe. Everyone wants to enjoy going to work everyday and to do that, you have to balance all four of those values in yourself and bring them out in others. 

Chapter 17: Self-Awareness

As one of the last chapters, it came at a time when I really wanted to ask myself: Do you really know yourself as a whole? All of your strengths, weaknesses, faults, and short-comings? I know, like most people, I struggle with this idea because no one likes to think they could end up not liking what they see. 

However, if that is the case you now have the outline of how to change it, how to better yourself. For me, it’s learning to accept myself, my good parts, the shitty ones I sometimes deny, and most importantly - betting on myself, instead of waiting for everyone else to give me a shot. That last one is the hardest for me, because of all the rejection I’ve received over the years. It’s not easy to say you busted your ass in college to do well, went on to grad school, got your MBA, and then couldn’t find work for six years. It makes you really take a hard look at yourself and learn what could you be doing to self-sabotage your success. When do you stop looking for validation in others, and just do your own thing? I still struggle with it, and every few years when I go through the trials of interviews for companies, I wonder why I keep taking my foot off the gas with my own ventures. 

Self-awareness is the key to pushing through those glass-ceilings we feel throughout our careers. Knowing what you’re capable of, and how you can improve on your strengths to make them killer. I’m going to keep betting on my strengths that arise as I become more self-aware. 

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See the whole sad and real part of it is, remembering that everyone unrealistically sees themselves as millionaires just waiting for the big break to launch them into fame and riches as I mentioned earlier. Yet, not even 5% of us are going to really put in the hard, shitty unglamorous work to make it happen. Not the work everyday since 14, make YouTube videos everyday for two years before anyone even watches, 12-13 hour workday away from their family, on a plane every two days type work ethic that Vaynerchuk has been priding himself on to make shit happen. It’s the harshest truth no one wants to hear - you don’t work nearly hard enough to make your dreams come true. 

Being honest with myself, I know I felt that way about my career - never being able say I put in the hard work long enough for it to see it’s true potential. The patience portion of the equation only came in as I got older. Which was why when I came up with idea for The Angry Millennial Show, I went all in and put 110% of my attention & efforts into doing the best show possible, traveling around the country on my own dime, sitting with people like Chase Jarvis, Peter Hurley, Brad Lomenick, Chris Sullivan, Michael Paul Smith, & Mickey Cucchiella, all to give listeners the best damn content possible. Who thinks Gary Vaynerchuk should be one of our upcoming guests on the show in the future? Be sure to let him know in an email, Facebook status, Snapchat, tweet, or Instagram post - you know he’s going to see it, but how on-point you are will determine if he’s going to respond or not. 

I hope you came away with a better understanding on why constantly educating yourself and never feeling like you have nothing left to learn can only help you. Keep betting on your strengths, and jabbing your way into people’s minds & hearts. You know Gary will. 

Forever in Beta: Bridging the Creative Gap

This article was one that I had been meaning to write a long time, but perhaps the timing of finally sitting down to write it was apropos since I had finally started to accept a lot of the things I had planned on mentioning and writing about.

The past few weeks have been a very therapeutic exercise in accepting that certain things won't be perfect, but they'll be done; moving onto the next thing and making sure that's better, seeing what progress I can make. It may not be pretty, but I'm at least happy with what I've finally been able to put together.

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Originally posted on Fstoppers.

You've heard it before, there's no doubt: the creative gap — that picture you have in your head of what you want a shot to look like and what you come up with in the end. As kids we're completely fine with this, we can always just draw or make something else 10 seconds later, but as adults we often get crippled with the fear of rejection.

In the beginning the gap is probably as big as the Grand Canyon and that's fine. However, as you get further along in your career the gap closes, becoming smaller and smaller — yet, the increments at which it closes suddenly are tiny and few and far between. Years can pass before you feel like you've made an inch of progress. There's no denying this can be a maddening process and is probably why you can recall every single moment you contemplated putting all your gear on Craigslist and calling it a day. Think of how many fellow artists struggle with depression due to the very nature of this disconnect between what you dream up and what you actually produce.

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"..as adults we often get crippled with the fear of rejection."

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Take for instance the following two images. Now, while there are four to five years between the two images, the first isn't necessarily a bad image per se. It's well lit and even was shot for a publication. However, the image and its style wasn't what I envisioned myself shooting when I first started out. I wanted to do more fashion/editorial work with agency models, yet at that point in my career I didn't have the right connections to make a shoot like that possible. The "after" photo is one that while not the peak of my artistic career, it's definitely starting to close the gap on the kind of work I want to and know I can do.

 

But here's the most important thing to remember: Just keep going

There's this sinking pit in your stomach feeling when we finally finish a piece of work, whether it's a series of images, a 62 hour digital manipulation, or a novel where we think it's shit and just hope somebody will like it and appreciate it. Now, here's the next thing you have to do: pat yourself on the back and walk away. Don't worry about how much better it could have been or try to just tweak it a little bit more to get it perfect, because all you'll do is make it worse for both yourself and the piece of work.

You have to remember that you're always going to be better than your last piece of work, so just strive to keep building on that principle. Keep shooting, writing, blogging, painting, drawing, or whatever because eventually you'll look back and see a long, victorious body of work called a career — something you wouldn't of had if you keep fussing over getting that one piece perfect when it went out the door. Companies sometimes are guilty of this and you know what happens? They keep attempting to get something perfect, only to realize they've been working in a vacuum. The window of opportunity has passed them by and someone else has beat them to market; they're dead in the water. All that capital, man hours, blood, sweat, and tears all for nothing, yet all they had to do was get the product up in front of people's faces, get invaluable feedback, and work on an update to push to production. Some entrepreneurs forget that part, when you work on something so long and so hard you don't think to stop and see if you're going in the right direction with what your target market wants and is looking for. Instead you just work yourself to death simply trying to put what's in your head on paper.

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"The creative gap can paralyze some artists, for years even.."

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Everyone is Guilty of This

I can honestly say I've been guilty of this in my creative life quite a bit. There's been shoots I had planned out in my head and then self-sabotage because I don't think I can produce exactly what I envisioned, and I'd let everyone down who's involved in the process. Now that's a lot of fear, pressure, and disappointment to convey before I've even made one phone call or sent one email to start pulling together a team, made a storyboard to share, or taken an actual photo. I can laugh talking about it now because we all realize how silly it sounds, but you also know how deep that rabbit hole can go. The creative gap can paralyze some artists, for years even, and for some others make them quit making art all together.

In an attempt to force myself to be better, I finally made good on an idea I had been outlining in my head for the better part of a year. I started a podcast about what it's like to be a creative called The Angry Millennial, and if you have ever heard me talk about my struggles to find work after college and grad school you'd really get the name. Now, while my first few episodes may not be as good as I'd like I know that with each one we do it will only get better and the quality will increase gradually. I've had to deal with the fact that I'm starting out in something all over again, learning new programs to edit and cut audio, proper settings for files, microphones, and recorders and tons more that come with breaking out into an entirely new venture. Yet, I've been finding a new focus as this rewarding beyond belief and it's been making me more confident with who we approach to have on, ideas for episodes, and even photos I suddenly find myself wanting to take. We've even been lucky enough to have recent guests like Jeremy Cowart, Renee Robyn, Bella Kotak and some familiar faces like Doug Sonders, Zach Sutton, & Pratik Naik.

At the end of the day, it's most important to remember we're always going to suck artistically to a degree, but the only way to get better is by continuing to start, complete, and move on from a single piece of work then repeat. It's the harsh truth we all know and have to accept over time. Not everything you make will be amazing, but you have to just keep going. After a while, who knows what you may have built in the process.

Becoming an Educated Photographer in the Digital Age

Often in my career, I've looked back on my education - whether it was during the struggles of finding work with two degrees, or when my photography career blossomed at times and the questions of where I went to art school came up. The following article was written for Fstoppers and their readers as an attempt to show people struggling with making the choice to invest in their artistic side and how.

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Originally posted on Fstoppers.

Something I've been asked a lot during my career is where I went to art school. Whether I took that as a compliment on my dedication to my craft or an insult saying that I couldn't have gotten to that point without years of instruction, I still really don't know. As you can probably tell, I was self-taught, not even finding photography until I was a senior in college, already committed to grad school for my MBA.

I can't lie; I looked up some intensive programs and the Hallmark Institute in Massachusetts was calling my name for a bit, but the idea of taking on more education debt after four years of college majoring in advertising wasn't very appealing especially when I was already considering graduate school to get my MBA. However, after just immersing myself in photography landed me my first real job at a high end photo studio while studying in grad school. There I learned tons more about lighting and got to play with the best gear, like Broncolor lighting, Canon 1Ds cameras, L glass, and cyc walls.  It was a great way to learn more about some industry standard practices like lead generation, client etiquette, retouching, using Capture One Pro, and various setups that involved metering six different lights in the studio before a shoot.

However, my answer when asked me if I then think art school is a waste shocks most people: Only you can answer that question for yourself.

For hundreds of years, people have undertaken the demands of a traditional educational system concentrated in the fine arts. However, only in the last few years of the 21st century did people realize there's another way. The Internet has been a huge vehicle for bringing education to people who either can't afford traditional student loans or assistance for traditional 2-4 year schools or others who simply learn better on their own with guidance and hands-on doing. Suddenly, prospective students of the arts have multiple options to choose from, whether it's the traditional art school route or the newer online alternative. Either way, like I've said, since only you can answer that question for you, I won't tell you which is better in a direct comparison, but instead, I'll shine a little light on what has worked for me individually.

It's Different for Everyone: You Are a Snowflake

You see, everyone's reasons will be different and that's okay, since we're all unique humans after all. The best thing I ever heard in terms of advice was that just because a certain career path to success worked for someone famous doesn't necessarily mean it will work for you. Consider the simple fact that everyone learns differently; some creatives need structure to help keep them on task and motivated, while growing from constant feedback and direction. These people will love art school. Other creatives are hands-on learners with a hunger to digest knowledge and a free-flowing creative mind. These people will hate art school. It's obviously a very personal decision that will vary from individual to individual. With that in mind, for some, the best thing to do would be to pick and choose various things you admire and appreciate from various creatives you respect.

For me, that's been a few different people, some were classically trained and others were self-starters whom I've come to know over the years:

1. Chase Jarvis: Having followed Chase for years on YouTube and Facebook, I've always loved his energy, how down to earth and approachable he always seemed, and his sharp business sense. You may also know him as the Co-Founder and CEO of CreativeLive, which I'll talk more about in a moment. I was even lucky enough to have won a contest a few years back in which Chase flew me out to San Francisco for a live taping of "Secrets of Silicon Valley" in their unveiling of the new San Francisco studio (Seattle was the original). All those things I felt about Chase for years were spot-on. He's amazingly down to Earth, has an amazing support system in his wife, mom, and aunt, who all were sweet and hilarious to hang out with, and as if flying me out wasn't enough, I got to spend a good 30 minutes just one-on-one with Chase chatting about life, our experiences, and why he picked me. It's a conversation that's profoundly stuck with me ever since.  
2. Gary Vaynerchuk: If you've ever watched some of Chase's #CJLive videos over the years, you've probably seen this guy. He's loud, in your face, a crazy Jets fan, and truly tells it how it is. He's a NY Times best-selling author, YouTube pioneer, media genius, and CEO of VaynerMedia. However, the biggest thing I always took away from his teachings is that you have to take the long haul, big picture view on success and really get your hands dirty. When he started making videos on YouTube for his family's company, Wine Library, he was doing it every week for eighteen months before anyone actually started watching them. It's that kind of dedication, persistence, hard work, and guts that I respect the hell out of him for — so much so that I even applied for a Digital Project Manager position at his company and interviewed there as well.
3. Nick Saglimbeni: Chances are, if you've seen a photo of any of the Kardashians that's actually pretty good (not the usual paparazzi material plastered on magazine covers), Nick shot it. He's been the longtime owner of Slickforce Studios, but one thing many people don't know is that he is actually is a classically trained cinematographer who was shooting commercials and music videos before he made the switch and picked up a stills camera, which was actually a Hasselblad. One of the strongest things Nick did from the start was really invest in the idea that a photoshoot is about the experience. It was this concentration on ensuring every person who walked in the studio was given the A-list treatment that not only brought people back, but attracted some A-list celebrities as well. However, this Hollywood success hasn't changed Nick much from his roots in Baltimore, Maryland; he's still the most transparent guy ever, who will meet up for a drink to talk shop, swap stories, and help out a fellow creative anyway he can. Another thing Nick has done exceptionally well is develop a signature style. Over the years, that led to people easily recognizing his work on various magazine covers by his lighting style alone. Dedicating yourself to developing a signature look is no easy task as a creative.
4. Bill Cramer: I actually had the pleasure of meeting Bill through an internship at Wonderful Machine many years ago. Cramer had enjoyed a long, successful career as a commercial photographer for many years when he decided to start an artist collective, Wonderful Machine. From its humble beginnings to now having 700 photographers represented worldwide, it is a full production house, helping with anything creative (ad agency and photographer alike) needed to put on a great shoot.  Bill was a big influence on me because like Jarvis, he too aspired to create things that went well beyond photography, instead choosing to create forward-thinking companies that helped others through education and services that everyone could benefit from.

The Internet Is Actually a Wonderful Place

While most people refer to the Internet as the devil's cesspool sandbox, it is a great resource for young people to learn about their craft. Jarvis' Creativelive is on the forefront of online education today with their model of offering free live-streaming classes from industry leaders on things such as photography, art and design, music and audio, business and marketing, and even life practices like yoga and meditation. If you ever want to download a show to watch over again at your own pace, for a reasonable fee (it varies on class length and presenter), it's yours to keep digitally.

Another great resource for learning the Photoshop side of things is Phlearn, founded by photographer and retoucher Aaron Nace, who was a pioneer of the idea that you don't need tons of fancy gear or a huge studio to produce great work. Instead, a vivid imagination, some solid knowledge of lighting, and some Photoshop skills can have you putting out a strong portfolio in no time.

For some people, it's learning their camera that's the biggest hurdle to start taking the types of photos they really want. Don't fret. We've all been there and you have to start somewhere, right? Through teaching some Intro to Photography classes at several local colleges, I've seen some students go from knowing nothing to producing killer photos after just learning the basics; sometimes all we need is a push. For people who are starting out, there are some amazing offerings like Improve Photography, founded by lawyer-turned-photographer, Jim Harmer, which has tons of amazing articles and videos, most of which are free for people to enjoy.

Another great resource for many people are the Internet staples of forums and Facebook groups, which offer creatives a chance to meet others in their area who are in the same boat, learning just like you and falling in love with creating art. You can also peruse some of the knowledgeable legends on the forums and groups to use as a source of inspiration and possibly mentor you as well.

In The End, Just Do It

That's right, you're thinking of Shia LaBeouf flexing right now aren't you?

The truth is, though, he's right. The hardest part about learning anything new is merely starting. Real world experience is the biggest teacher in life; make mistakes and missteps, learn from them, and then, adjust. No one is perfect out of the gate, but if you're able to make the mistakes, own up to them, and mitigate those times you feel crappy, you'll find success a lot more quickly than you think. The biggest thing is just doing it and moving forward to the next thing; don't stay forever in beta, getting left behind and never actually putting anything out there.

At the end of the day, one cannot deny the recent explosion in online education in various forms. Sites like Fstoppers provide people with a great number of amazing tutorials, helpful articles, and useful advice to help anyone along their creative path. In the end, the decision on whether art school or learning via the Internet is best for you is ultimately yours and yours alone. However, there is no doubt that there is a huge shift going on in education — especially in the creative sector — that will surely change the entire landscape in a few more years, the very same one that has been around for hundreds of years, yet one that people are starting to question more and more.

Shining Light on Depression: An Often Dismissed Struggle Any Creative Can Face

When I approached my good friend, Jaleel King, about writing a piece on him for Fstoppers, which I was a staff writer for, it wasn't until we met and started chatting about everything that I realized my original direction of just a highlight piece wasn't enough. We needed to talk about the struggle he was experiencing with depression.

It's no secret that creatives struggle to make a living at times - yet some struggle to just live. Depression is no secret to a lot of people, however, creatives seem to take a large brunt of the hit.

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Ever meet someone who is so upbeat and happy that they can’t help but greet you with a big smile and hug every single time they see you? Ask anyone in the photo industry and you'll know, that’s Jaleel King.

I had the pleasure of meeting King at a studio event several years back, admiring his exhibition of gritty black and white street portraits from afar, then meeting the man behind it all who simply said, “Dude, that’s a sick beard! Let’s take a photo together!” Who can say no to that, right? Anyone who’s met either of us wouldn’t be surprised to know we continued to chat for the rest of the night; we're definitely a pair of talkers.

It was great meeting someone new whose work really stood out to me and more importantly someone who made you realize you're taking life too seriously. For a lot of people, this video put together by a friend of King, Mike Allebach, was how they were introduced to this very inspiring individual:

This video is what really launched King's career after going viral and being featured on various websites and blogs. What's interesting to note though is that while his work is solid, what resonates with most people is his infectious personality and smile especially after hearing about his story of what landed him in a wheelchair at just eight years old.

Since most of us find it too invasive to ask, I'll just tell you: While setting off fireworks one hot summer day before the Fourth of July, an irrate neighbor came outside with a sawed off shotgun and King was struck in the back paralyzing him from the waist down.

It was murder. The fact that Jaleel King still lives is just a detail. The shotgun pellets that tore through his back July 1, 1984, destroyed one of his kidneys, a quarter of his right lung and part of his liver.

— Philadelphia Daily News

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© 2015 Jaleel King | www.jaleelking.com

However, on this particular rainy day while I sat at a corner cafe waiting for King to come by to catch up and interview him for this article, I couldn't help but notice when he came in that his appearance seemed a bit dimmer than usual. Naturally the Hurricane Joaquin rain didn't help anyone's mood, but I definitely noticed something off with King. Being the Chatty Cathys we are, we sat for hours talking about the details of his story, about finding photography some 15 years after his shooting and what he's been up to since we last saw each other. Yet, it was when we got to the topic of how the last few months have been that the conversation took a somber turn.

Depression - It's something that many people feel uneasy talking about, especially those of us in the creative arts.

Artists that struggle with bouts of depression are not uncommon. However, in today's always-be-selling-yourself social media world, honesty and openness are rather obscure. This shouldn't come as any surprise of course, the idea of social media and sharing platforms are what has launched this new entrepreneurial boom, where anyone with an idea, a Twitter, a Facebook page, and some hustle can launch a successful business. While a fascinating time in our culture, it's still so early on in this development as a society that we can't tell what these long-term effects are.

© 2014 Autumn Pittelli | www.pittelliphotography.com

Just think about how many artists, actors, comedians, and musicians we've lost to suicides, overdoses, and automobile “accidents” — all of which were way too soon. It seems that the immense pressures that many of the Hollywood and limelight elite deal with are suddenly becoming norms for many everyday people and artists. The idea that we must always be making our lives seem like one endless success-party, all for the sake of appearing as busy, worthwhile artists is jarring, but one that is seemingly accepted in today's world. Yet, just like anything else we do for the sake of our art and to make a living we somehow justify the irrational behavior. When King brought up his struggles in the days and weeks and months after he was part of something big like speaking at WPPI, working with Profoto on the new B2 lighting series, or the rush of bookings after being featured on the Fox 29 news, only to then deal with coming home and suddenly be alone again, I couldn't help but sympathize with that feeling — one I've known all too well over the years. Everyone tells you you're crazy to take on the peaks and valleys that come with being a career creative, but we all agree the highs make the lows very worth it. However, that doesn't mean the valleys aren't very dark times, because they can be. This sudden rise to a level of notoriety had King reeling, wondering why he was suddenly an inspiration to so many, and leaving him to feel on edge about saying or doing the wrong thing that could have everything taken away just as quickly. Everyone in today's society knows one undeniable truth: the mob is fickle.

Speaking about the downtime after a successful period, King gets visibly upset, asking, “Why is it we can't talk about this shit?”

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© 2015 Jaleel King | www.jaleelking.com

I really couldn't find a good answer to this as I've been a victim to these periods in my creative and personal life as well. King went on to tell me that the false sense of success on social media from likes and followers has made him take a break from it all and said he hasn't even posted a photo on Facebook in almost a year. As a photographer I was taken aback, but then when I thought about my own Facebook photography page, I realized it's been nothing but Instagram posts and occasional shots of my kids for the last year too. Like many artists, I'd dealt with times of being burnt out on my art leading me to take a part-time gig or a full-time job over the years just to provide some sense of a break, as a way of building my yearning to create back up again.

Worry about being true to yourself and everything else will come.

— Jaleel King

For many of us these time periods are when family members and loved ones pull you up out of your funk. However, there are times when someone simply being nice and looking out for you has you questioning why or what their agenda is; we as humans are notorious for self-deprecation, especially artists. We don't think we're worth even having a friend who really cares about us and wants to see us feel better, we look back at our successes and see them as simply not enough. King talks about a WPPI photo contest he entered a couple years ago where he won second place (Photojournalism/Non-Wedding category) — yet only afterward mentions that out of the top 10 final images selected to pick out the winners, four of them were his. He admits that he rarely remembers to take pride in that fact; it seems we only see the negative in our accomplishments as a way of pushing ourselves for more, to do better and grow as artists.

Sure some may think we're just being dramatic about it all, but just think of any A-list celebrity you admire after they win an Oscar or Grammy. That one amazing success is so short lived before the pressures set in again. Will I be able to repeat this success again? Or will I be labeled a one-hit wonder? This constant struggle to find repeatability in success to have clients, agencies, and studios know that you're dependable and consistent makes us lose sight of the little victories along the way. It's this sort of feeling that is notorious with writers, whom society thinks have endless ideas and books just brimming inside of them waiting to put them to paper for everyone to enjoy. All this to simply stay relevant in a world of instant gratification.

When does one then simply enjoy their success?

Yet, it's not all doom and gloom for King. Recently he's been learning to accept help from others and just learn to say “why not?” as opposed to making all the excuses as to why he can't or shouldn't do it. It's been this thinking that recently had him go all the way to Australia to speak at the Zero Regrets Conference, which was a life-changing experience for him. However, it wasn't always easy and after spending an amazing three weeks in Australia with inspirational creatives like Jeremy Cowart, James Day, Oli Sansom, and of course the Zero Regrets founders, Matt and Katie Ebenezer, it was the coming home off that endorphin high to be alone, again, that brought King crashing to a halt.

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Back left to right: Matt Ebenezer, Nick Balera, Jeremy Cowart, Tim King, Benj Haisch, Oli Samson, James Day. Front left to right: Josh Mikhaiel, Jaleel King, Jonathan Suckling. Photo by: Kate Ebenezer

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Jaleel being carried into the water to get the shot he needed by James Day. Photo by: Josh Mikhaiel

Manic-depressive behavior for any creative is not that far of a reach. And how could you blame us? Times with tons of interaction, motivation, and collaboration followed by stark periods of isolation and working in a vacuum. It's this issue of always being inside looking out that makes us miss the most obvious things at times. Whenever King has those moments, somehow the universe reaches out with some good karma — like a friend or acquaintance reaching out with some genuine thanks or even a random email from a stranger who says King literally saved his life as they had been struggling with suicidal thoughts. Things like these always seem to come at just the right time. Professionally, the highs came calling once again with Profoto reaching out to let King know that he'd been added to their official speaker list which led to him speaking at the Hallmark Institute in Massachusetts to an eager crowd of young students who loved hearing his story.

To be honest, I really had no idea when we set aside time to meet for lunch and catch up that we'd suddenly be talking for an entire afternoon about such deep topics that affected us both for years. In doing so, we both realized that this is a much bigger problem than anyone is really letting on. Mental health in this country is an enormous issue, especially so if we let it lurk in the shadows not allow it to be spoken about in public. King and I hope that you're able to pass this along to any friends in the creative arts who seem to struggle as well with the roller-coaster lifestyle that comes with making a living off art, to simply let them know they're not alone. To learn to accept help when it presents itself and if not, to have the courage to go out and ask for it.

You can come meet Jaleel + I at WPPI in Vegas next month where he'll be speaking on behalf of Profoto.

All images used with permission.

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Please after reading the following piece, if you enjoyed it, please share with your network in an effort to get the word out that depression isn't a dirty word, and it needs to be talked about more today than ever before. Thank you.

Using Music to Fuel Your Creativity

It's no secret - music makes everything better. But does it make you a better creative?
  

    Often times we find ourselves surrounded by 'noise' - blaring car horns, loud talkers, espresso machines, people cursing at the copy machine, even the hum of complete silence. It can be hard to escape sure, but the one way 99.9% of people do escape the craziness of everyday life is through music. So it should be no surprise that it's a big part of every creatives' life.

     The reasoning behind unplugging from the world and surrounding yourself with music varies as much as the layout of a snowflake.  We listen to up-beat music to get us psyched up for a workout, a big game, or even a nerve-racking interview.  We listen to soothing music when we want to un-wind or plug into the introspective part of our day.  

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    Music has a very unique way, much like smells, of instantly transport us back to a specific moment in our lives whether it was a fun road-trip with a best friend or even a sad time after a big blowout with a significant other. Not many things can claim that kind of power over the human mind - except maybe Charles Xavier.

    Music time-travel, referred to as an anchor, is not necessarily a secret, but what is really fascinating is when a specific song can actually create a detailed, intricate mood-board in your head; something you suddenly long to create + bring to life.  While on a four hour road-trip across PA from Pittsburgh to home in Philadelphia, I found myself listening to the same 3 minute song for the entire drive. Let me repeat that, I listened to the same 3 minute song on repeat for four hours straight. Reason being, I simply found myself haunted by the instrumental melody with no lyrics whatsoever, letting my mind fill in the blank space with a screenplay for a whole four minute short film - one that I've story-boarded with friends but admittedly am still sitting on to find the right creatives to make that personal project happen; since everyone needs a personal project every now + then, right? :)

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"Music is one of the greatest ways to enter 'mind-wandering mode', which can unlock creativity."   
                                                                                    - Daniel J. Levitin

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    For a lot of us this isn't shocking - many creatives will link their inspiration for a certain piece/project/company back to all kinds of other creative mediums; such as movies, songs, photographs, paintings, documentaries, etc. With that in mind, it's important to note that depending on what you're working on really drives what kind of music you listen to.

    That brings up a great piece by Content Strategist, Greg Ciotti, where he put together this informative list:

Music for Immersive Tasks: What Works?

Although “music that you like” should be given preference, most people have a fairly wide range of tastes, so using a certain type of music just for work isn’t out of the question.

Below we’ll cover a few proven styles, why they work, and where you can find more examples.

Classical music (Baroque)

Why it works

Lacking in lyrics and often considered the finest form of the craft, classical music is a popular choice. One study made it clear that Baroque-period tunes have a measurable impact on productivity.

However, not all classical music is created equal—the dramatic twists and turns of Toccata & Fugue in D minor might not be as appropriate as the more delicate sounds of Für Elise.

Where to Listen

• Reddit thread, “I’m new to classical music, where should I begin?”
• Freely licensed files on Wikipedia
• Reddit’s r/ Baroque music
• Classical music for exams on Spotify
• Pandora’s Baroque station

Examples

Two very long collections below, there are obviously many, others.

Electronic music

Why it works

Ambient electronica tends to fit our need for present but unobtrusive. As a genre it’s repetitive, but in a good way.

Unlike the ups and downs of a symphonic piece, there are quite a few producers who aim to create “soundscapes” (anyone remember Gabe from The Office?), which emphasize a few select melodies that build on each other.

The song’s focus can help your focus, as the repeating tones won’t be disruptive.

Where to listen

• Reddit’s r/Chillmusic
• Reddit’s r/Futurebeats
• Majestic Casual
• TheSoundYouNeed

Examples

Two quick examples from Vanilla and Ambinate.

Video-game music

Why it works

Game composers know that the ideal music for many situations is music that enhances the experience while not distracting the player.

One of the most popular suggestions of all time on Reddit for “music that helps with concentration” was the SimCity soundtrack, which makes perfect sense. Maxis designed the music to be enjoyable, but subdued enough that it wouldn’t zap focus from the many things you needed to do to keep your city running.

Where to listen

• OverClocked Remix (remixes of popular themes)
• VGMusic.com
• Reddit’s r/GameMusic

Examples

I grabbed two quick examples from Skyrim and SimCity 5.

“Everything else”

Why it works

Anything soft enough to not divert attention and focus is a possibility for your potential playlist—different strokes for different folks.

If vocals don’t bug you during work, give them a go.

Jazz, hip-hop, indie rock, blues, and everything else is up for grabs, remembering that “ambient” is the word of the day for engrossing work.

Where to listen

• Reddit’s r/Music For Concentration
• Music for programming
• Spotify
• Pandora

Examples

I really enjoy oldies for work, as they often have a softer tone.

No music (ambient noise)

If you’ve had enough of these kids and their “newfangled dub steps,” fear not—sometimes the sweet sound of silence is the most fitting of all.

But for many people, total silence is off-putting. There are two useful tools you can use to fix this:

• SimplyNoise — Playing a low pitch white noise in the background can be a lifesaver if something in your environment is being uncontrollably loud (such as construction work).
• RainyMood — Work like it’s drizzling outside even when it’s 90° F and the sun is shining. This plays a loop of a mild storm; turn on a fireplace video and you can get seriously cozy.

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Read the entire article here: How Music Affects Your Productivity

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View this article on these great photography/writing sites:

DIY Photography