The Octopus can think and be sarcastic simultaneously
I'm very talented (also: sarcasm a love language, right?)
Preliminaries! Join the Dance Exploration class this Tuesday at 12:30pm. Plus, our next Qoya class will be 2/5/23 at 11:30am. To sign up for either one, just send me an email to let me know you’re coming: adrienne@soilandsunshine.com. Online options will be coming in February! Onward!
I have a little tag line on my website that says "reader, writer, teacher, creator." Sometimes I change it up a little (reader, writer, teacher, dancer... or reader, thinker, teacher... ) because there are endless permutations, but it started out as kind of a semi-random way of defining myself.
The classical business way of defining myself as a nutritionist and writer and Qoya teacher is to create a little mission statement of sorts, to help people understand my "brand" and to sell myself more efficiently. And I get that--I understand that in the hippie-woo-woo (which I mean in the most loving way possible, by the way) business space that I'm in, there really is a place for honestly and open-heartedly defining yourself in a way that lets the people who need your services know that you exist and can help them.
And for specific parts of what I do, that's a valid approach. So I can say things like "body-positive movement and nutrition" and "feminist speculative fiction" (or speculative fiction about women? because, ha ha, if it's from a woman's point of view and she's not a doormat, it's STILL feminist... sigh) and they clarify my work for people who want to give me money in exchange for that work.
But what I DO is a broader category, and since it’s January, when I tend to brood about systems and such, I've been thinking about this. A lot.
What I do is absorb information about a topic, and think about it for a while, and then incorporate it into something. Then I do it again.
The absorption phase is usually reading books. Sometimes reading articles, or watching videos, or taking classes, or listening to someone speak. But a good 90% of it is reading books.
Thinking about things is often just literally thinking about it, which looks like staring off into space, or taking a nap. But it's also journaling, or talking with other people. I've cleverly become adept at multitasking, so I can also think and clean, and think and cook, and think and drive, and think and stare off into space while I'm supposed to be doing something else. (I know!--it's a gift.)
And then there's the incorporation phase, which takes a lot of forms. Sometimes, this is just carrying the knowledge with me as I start digging into another topic, which might be related or not. But it can also be preparing for and teaching a class, or working with clients, or writing essays/newsletters like this, or writing fiction or poetry. Or it might just be doing more writing that doesn't get published.
Austin Kleon has a good discussion about this model, actually, in his books: it's right there in the names. Steal Like an Artist, Share Your Work, and Keep Going. (Plus the idea of carrying ideas from reading one book forward to reading another.) And the fact that his books are bestsellers means that I'm clearly not the only one who works this way. Really, most people are doing some form of this: learn something, then do it. Or: think about something, then share it.
For me, my real, overarching job description becomes: read books, write journals and essays, teach classes, and create books, stories, classes, conversations, dances, wellness plans... and a whole lot of other things.
Reader, writer, teacher, creator.
And you? What’s your job description? Your real job, not just that thing that someone else defined for you.