Fighting the Impostor, Part 2

In my last post, I talked about one of the things I need to work on to deal with my (admittedly self-diagnosed) Impostor Syndrome. And I do want to stress that – this is not me diagnosed with anything other than depression and anxiety. But it does express itself in that way, so I’m using that term for my issues. That may change at some point.

Today’s issue to deal with: Practice accepting compliments.

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Working on my art and on myself.

Lately, I decided to work on my art skills. I obtained a book (later purchased for me by my fiancée Emma) called You Can Draw in 30 Days. I’m on the twenty-third day and I think it’s going well. I know some very talented artists who are giving advice from time to time.

I also realized that I will not be them, or any of the artists I appreciate, without practice and sending time working on it. So this is also part of doing that. It’s something I’ve wanted to do and I finally took the time to do it.

To keep myself accountable, I posted them first to my my DeviantArt account, then to my Facebook. Every day. To make sure I did it.

And I’m going to keep on doing it. And then more drawing and books about it, like Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, and a few others.

I’m also reading a book called Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking which is teaching me more about myself, and what I need to do. I’ve lived in the fear of failure, of being seen as not good enough, in the place called Imposter Syndrome for a long time. This book, and actually trying, is helping.

I should do a post about Imposter Syndrome and what it’s been for me. Maybe that’ll be the next one.

Resume update!

So I figured I’d mention that my resume has been updated, looking a bit spiffier, thanks to the assistance of the Reverend Doctor Barbara Ewton of The First Congregational Church of Verona, who my dearest Emma lives with, helps and who is giving us a lot of help in the wedding preparations! It’s down to one page, the fonts are updated (Segoe UI), and it’s really looking much better. I probably need to update the infographic that I’ve had going with my resume, as well, to make it a bit more punchy.

I hadn’t really thought about it in quite a while, but it really needed a revamp. Next step is to put it up on the job sites, get a push on my visibility.