let's catch up

What's up, folks? 

As you know, I took a break over the summer. I wanted to really hone in on what kind of content I wanted to be creating for the site. It's so easy to get caught up in interviewing folks and lose sight of why you're even interviewing them! Simply put: I needed to refocus on what this space is all about.

All photography by Liz Brown (duh!) 

There are so many amazing people in town and I realized I needed some sort of criteria to help narrow down who I feature on the site. So while I'm going to continue interviewing folks around town, I'll be focusing more on creativity and the Arts. I love artists and I've found I really enjoy speaking with them and hearing about their processes, ideas, and lives in general. So expect more of that as we move ahead. 

And since I haven't posted anything here since April, I thought it'd be good to start off by filling you in on what's gone on since we last spoke. Let's think of this as us "grabbing coffee through the Internet" or something like that. Welcome back :)

Let's start by talking about how I almost went to college (i.e. applied for FAFSA and literally sat in orientation). I'd never really considered going to college, but over the past few months I felt like maybe this is a good time because it felt like I was working a ton, but not really getting anywhere. Maybe some of you can relate, but it's kind of a bummer when you're working non-stop in order to just pay rent and keep your refrigerator stocked. I kept wonder is this what life is going to be like: working 40 hours just to eat meals other than pasta?! 

I definitely dealt with some depression this past year, but it had nothing to do with my job. I was depressed because I knew I had certain talents and abilities and that they weren't being utilized. I didn't know how or where or when, but I knew I needed to find a place where my talents and abilities were being pulled on consistently. More on that later....

Honestly, it's kind of funny because I had a whole post written about my "valley of decision" moment and how I decided to go to school. But sitting in orientation, I realized I didn't want to go. The program I was interested in attending strongly encouraged the students to work full-time in the industry and I couldn't see myself going back down to making $10 an hour.

School is awesome and for many people, it seems like the right avenue to achieve success. But more than ever before, I feel strongly that it's not for me. If you'd like to know why, I suggest this book because it really helped me to foster a new perspective on, well, everything. I've also thought this thought lately: if we all take the same road, we'll all end up in the same places. So while my life has been unorthodox, I haven't made any regrettable career decisions, I'm not in any sort of debt, and my current job provides ample time for creative ventures. So all in all, I feel okay with how things are going. Especially considering how a certain job interview went yesterday down in Des Moines.....

On that note, I have some really cool news, but I'm not quite ready to share. In some sense, my life may be about to change...but I want to wait till I'm sure it's actually going to happen before I put it out there for everyone to read about. Is this final paragraph VAGUE ENOUGH FOR YOU?

Thanks for reading, guys. I know this post is long and rambling, but I really wanted to fill you in on life. I'll be posting some features this weekend and I'm looking forward to covering this City more as the year goes on. It's a great time to be in Des Moines!