How to Channel a Daily Vision into a 20-Year Photography Career

In January, an eight-minute video ricocheted across the internet. In it, photographer Noah Kalina chronicled some 7,300 self-portraits, taken daily over the last two decades. As he stares wide-eyed into the camera, we watch a 19-year-old aspiring artist transform—ever slowly, over the years—into a man with a deeply respected photography career. As the video makes clear, this change didn’t happen overnight. 

Kalina, who moved to Lumberland, New York from NYC in 2013, got his start photographing restaurants and shooting $20 headshots off Craigslist in the early aughts. Today, he’s the photographer behind the enchanting and cult-coveted Cabin Porn books and a self-published book on intimate, sculptural bedding forms; a stunning campaign for the reopening of MoMA; and maintains a luscious, daring, endlessly fascinated, and continuously evolving art practice. Most recently, he’s reimagined the email newsletter as a medium to share projects and rethink narrative photography, entrusting subscribers with weekly stories about raising chickens, his local post offices, piloting drones, or a day in the life of his rooster, Marcel.

Here, Kalina shares advice for young photographers from his early days as an artist; how he continues to evolve, be inspired, and keep his mind working every day; and why email just might be the medium of the future.

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Q. When did you first pick up a camera? Do you remember a particular moment when you realized photography would be a significant part of your life or career?

A. In high school, my friends and I were the alternative kids and it was the cool thing to do. We had this teacher who would let you stack up three periods of photography on the same day and just hang out in the darkroom. Obviously back then we used film, so you’d shoot and then spend time printing photos. I was encouraged by my parents, especially my dad, to pursue photography. I wasn’t really a good student—art school was the place I could get in. So I went to SVA [School of Visual Arts] for photo and just kept going.

Noah Kalina’s “Everyday,” a daily self portrait project in which he took a photo of himself every day over the past twenty years.

Being in art school for photography is helpful because it keeps you in that world; it’s what you think about and learn about. But my experience was definitely more focused on art rather than commercial photography. I had to specifically take commercial classes to potentially have a career, not just as an artist, which was good and bad. It gave me two minds. At that time—almost pre-internet and definitely pre-social media—there was still the idea of “selling out,” where you’re either an artist or you’re commercial. I always thought that was bs and I could blend the worlds and do both, but this wasn’t totally accepted yet. I still live with the question in my head: “Am I selling out if I do this?” 

 

Q. How did you figure out the commercial side of things? 

A. It’s that survival thing where you just figure it out. My work in school was landscape art photos and I knew I was never going to make money doing that, so learned how to take photos of people. I used Craigslist and posted for $20 headshots and basically learned how to take pictures of people by having them come over to my apartment. I increased the price over time and got about three people a day. It was totally not what I’d learned in art school. It’s kind of funny, I was shooting these headshots with a wide-angle lens—they’re the worst!—but many of these people were dipping their toes into acting so they were like, “whatever, 20 bucks.” It was a good way to learn, and I met a couple of cool people through it. It wasn’t even that shady or sketchy, which it feels like it could have been.

Interior of Suba restaurant in New York, part of Noah Kalina’s photography work for Eater.

Q. You recently wrote about your early years photographing restaurants around New York and how you would say, “I don’t leave my house for less than $100 a day.” Were there other parameters you set to look out for yourself and your work—and to make a living?

A. That’s pretty specific to that job just because I’d get paid $15 per place so it didn’t make sense to go way uptown to shoot two places. I’ve always been pragmatic about my approach to work and being efficient, making it work however I can.

We run into these things all the time where we weigh the cost-benefit analysis. I’ll shoot a commercial job now for tons of money and then next week it’s, “Can you do this for $100?” If it’s a cool subject I might as well; it could lead to something. This is a pitfall for everyone because it’s hard to know what’s going to be worth it. You have to trust your instinct. So you weigh these things and consider your time and energy.

Noah Kalina collaborated with Zach Klein to produce a book based on the Cabin Porn website.

Starting out, you have to be as active as you possibly can. Say no to the things that are crazy, but for things that sound fun or are things that you might want to do more of, absolutely say yes if you can. But always try to at least get something. Free is kind of tough, for anyone. But even $100 is a token that you’re appreciated. Most people can do that.

 

Q. What other advice would you give to your younger self or to photographers embarking on the beginning of their careers?

A. Wake up early. And don’t sleep too much. I usually wake up between 6–7am, and I’m accomplishing more in a year waking up early than I did over a decade in my twenties because I slept in. Plus, the light’s so much better in the morning. I was always kind of like, “whatever, morning light, twilight’s nice too.” No. The morning is amazing. Definitely just get up and don’t sleep in.

Also, wait around. Don’t just do it as quickly as you can and leave. Wait for the light to get better. I still fight myself on this one, but a lot of times you get there and you just want to shoot it and you work with it. But you just gotta wait. 

 

Q. Your “Everyday” project shows the evolution of your life from age 19 to 20 years later as a successful artist, which is beautiful to see. What significance has this project had on your journey as an artist? 

A. It’s complicated. It was a project I started when I was in my dorm room in college with a digital camera, which was not common at the time. I feel like I had one good idea. I kind of live with that now. Like you said, it has gone viral a couple of times. It is this thing that I do that’s part of all of my work, but at the same time it almost exists separately from everything else that I do. 

If anything, it makes me recognizable. People who haven’t met me know what I look like because if they Google me that’s probably the result they’ll find. But I’ve had such a love-hate relationship with it. When it first became viral in 2006 it was amazing, but then I was just “that internet guy” and it took years to move beyond that. But six years later I embraced it and decided it was just this thing that I do. I guess because I became more comfortable with myself, I was able to accept the project. I’m happy that it exists and I still do it and will always do it.

“Bedmounds” is one of Noah Kalina’s serial projects.

Q. How does it connect to or inspire your other work?

A. In terms of the obsessive nature of it, I’ve since started projects that are serial-based where I go to the same spots—not every day but whenever I can—and photograph these things that change subtly over time. There’s a series that I do on a corner in Williamsburg that is just an empty lot. I knew eventually it would become a building and saw recently, theoretically, there is going to be a skyscraper built there. I’ve been waiting ten years for that. That goes back to my advice: you just gotta wait. Sometimes things don’t appear good at first but if you wait it out, it gets better. Also, people reward commitment. An early impetus of “Everyday” was to take a picture every day because it would make me a better photographer. It’s an exercise, and by doing something over and over, you get better at it.

 

Q. You have a number of these serial or “obsessive” projects like “Bedmounds” or “The River” where you photograph a subject again and again over time. Is a daily practice important? 

A. I don’t know if it’s right for everyone, but I do think it is helpful to become obsessed with something and keep doing it over and over again. A lot of these projects start with snapshots on my phone or a point-and-shoot camera. When something develops out of it, I start taking it more seriously and use my real camera. If you focus on something and look at it over and over, things come out and it helps propel you forward and to become more serious about a subject matter. 

In “The River,” Noah Kalina documents the view from the same vantage point every day.

Q. The “Everyday” video went viral several times—reaching over 44 million cumulative views across its three releases from 2006, 2012, and 2020, and was even spoofed by the Simpsons. What has virality, and social influence, meant for you and your work? Is it important for artists today?

A. I’ve gone through so many different platforms over the years where you can show your work and you build a following. I was on Fotolog, then Flickr, then Tumblr, and then eventually people went on Instagram. You just kind of ride the waves. You want your work to be seen, so you should be on the platform where people are looking at work. I don’t know if you necessarily have to be big on that platform, certainly it helps, but at the same time the numbers can lie. I wouldn’t get hung up on trying to get followers. If you’re making work and it’s good, they’ll come.

Noah Kalina’s work for the campaign for the reopening of the Museum of Modern Art in 2019. Pictured is Dan Flavin’s “untitled (to the “innovator” of Wheeling Peachblow),” 1968.

Q. Your newsletter uses email as a medium to share projects and ideas and to rethink narrative photography within constraints. It succeeds Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram, and is a joy to follow. Is this the future? 

A. It almost seems like a retro thing, like, why do a newsletter now? But these platforms start getting old and everyone wants to find the new thing. Email is the one app that people are never going to delete. People check their email every day, hoping that something interesting will come along that will save their life, and I might as well be in that space. 

Noah Kalina’s newsletter chronicles his experiences at his home in upstate New York, including life with his rooster Marcel, pictured here.

I was inspired by other people who are using the medium and realized it’s a new medium I can play with, where we end up making our work to fit the platform. Like on Instagram, you end up making work almost for it instead of just because you’re making work. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing; it’s good to work within the parameters of a platform and have it inspire what you make, but what I do in the newsletter doesn’t really work on Instagram. I want to tell stories and thread narratives that I could kind of do on Stories, but it feels better to put them on “paper” and send them off that way. 

Much of Noah Kalina’s work documents his surrounding environment.

 

In some ways it’s like my own magazine. I have a topic in my head and my goal on Monday is to go to press. I do whatever I can throughout the week to put that together, so it’s a new challenge. If you go deep in my Instagram or Tumblr I was never a caption person; I liked the idea of being mysterious and letting the pictures speak for themselves. But I guess I’m changing and getting older and I just want to tell these stories and have fun. 

 

Q. Your work continues to evolve and you’ve dug into new skills like drone piloting and subjects like chicken raising. How do you keep evolving, learning, and reinventing? 

A. Lately, I’m interested in a million things. [With my newsletter] I get excited about all of these amazing things we have around us that we overlook. A lot of these things—chickens, post offices—there’s so much you can learn about them and so many things you don’t know; it’s a great way to stay inspired and keep your mind working. So I make something out of them and put it out there.

 

Q. What has been your greatest triumph as an artist?

A. There’s never a triumph. I can never be content with what I’ve done. Certainly, I can look back and be proud of the work I’ve done but I just want to be better. I hope the best is coming. 

In my newsletter I did the decade in review. That was amazing because there are so many times when I can feel down about what I’m doing, but when I did this I realized I’ve done so many cool things. It was the first time I was able to pat myself on the back and be like, I’ve done okay, I know it doesn’t feel good enough but just relax. At the same time, I hate saying that because I don’t want to sound like I have it figured out or I’m set. So here we are, living in this dual world. But there’s no life I’d rather have. There’s no plan B. I either struggle and suffer all the time for this, or what? It’s not like I’m going to get a real job! So this is amazing. I have to accept that and be happy. 

 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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Highlights from the 12th Annual 99U Conference: The Creative Self

This year’s 99U Conference was, for the first time, a free, virtual experience with attendees joining us from around the world. From a paper-crafting workshop that investigates the interplay of the physical and digital, courtesy of Kelli Anderson, to Antionette D. Carroll’s blueprint for genuine inclusivity and equity, there is a wealth of ideas from our featured group of thinkers and creatives that engage with this year’s theme of The Creative Self. 

All sessions, keynote, master class, and workshops, are now available to stream and we have gathered highlights below. Watch a replay of the livestream and access all of this year’s talks and explorations on demand at behance.net/99U.

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Acknowledge the moment

With remarkable honesty and compassion, author Anne Helen Petersen’s keynote talk Rethinking Productivity Culture, takes a moment to recognize the discomfort, pain, and sheer strangeness of the situation we are all living through. Her investigation of burnout and our relationship to work gives her unique insight into the stresses and challenges of career uncertainty, anxiety, and pressure to be productive. Anne Helen’s perspective here gives us much-needed context and a brief respite from the exhaustion of being “always on.” After all, if everything in our world has changed, “so too should our understandings of what’s possible and what we should expect from ourselves and others.”

The creative power of appreciation 

Saying “thank you” will take on a new dimension after A.J. Jacobs’ keynote Practicing Radical Gratitude. His talk takes us through the most valuable lessons that he learned from his gratitude project of thanking every person involved in his daily cup of coffee, and how extending appreciation can transform your mindset. It might feel strange at first, but as A.J. can attest, “Your mind catches up with your behavior. So often our actions shape our thoughts, not the other way around.”

John S. Couch’s master class Designing a New Day is also a lesson in appreciation, as he argues for carving out “me time.” Creating this personal space is crucial for mental and creative health, and as John says, “my argument is that for creative innovation, the ability to function better at work, you need time on your own. You need time to sit and contemplate and center.” The simple action of making an hour each day for your personal projects and ambitions will extend gratitude in every direction in your life. 

Finding value in healthy tension 

Anna Sale’s podcast, Death, Sex & Money, focuses on those questions and conversations that we would prefer to avoid—uncomfortable, thorny topics that stir up fear, anger or sadness. But as we hear in her keynote Let’s Talk About Hard Things, she has found that embracing this discomfort leads to genuine connection, growth, and foundations for community building. Anna notes that this is more valuable now than ever before, “I would argue that the onus is more on us as individuals to skillfully navigate this stuff in conversation with the people in our lives. The onus is on us now in a way that it hasn’t been in previous generations.”

The concept of tension also informed Taeyoon Choi’s keynote, Strategies for Embracing Our Contradictions. The founder of the School for Poetic Computation talked us through the concept of “unlearning,” which is rooted in the notions of reconciliation and mending relationships. How do we recognize each other’s complexities and contradictions and still find common ground to form meaningful connections? Using code and computing as a reference point, Taeyoon guides us through how we can apply the same concepts to our relationships, urging us to “Spend time with those who appreciate your contradictions, who challenge your beliefs, but acknowledge that you are your own person. Notice how you grow in their presence, notice how time slows down, when you’re with them.”

Mapping a thoughtful future 

In her prescient master class, Understanding Identity, Power, & Equity in Design Leadership, Antionette D. Carroll offers us a set of strategies for the design industry to examine its impact, clarify priorities, and work towards a shared goal. She explores how thoughtful, genuinely inclusive leadership relies on recognizing accountability and responsibility of those in power. Antionette is instructive, giving us insight into how she arrived at her commitment to creating equity and fair representation, noting that “we need to have a cultural or systemic shift within our actual industry.” 

Likewise looking to a more compassionate future, Michael Ventura, the founder and CEO of Sub Rosa, leads Applying Empathy, a workshop that dispels some of the myths around empathy, and illustrates how it is less of a trait than a regular practice, and a muscle that we can all build. He shows us how empathy comes to life, and how we can expand our capacity for connection and engaging with those around us. As he says, “We can start to become aware of the things that have held us back in the past, our fears, our anxieties, and by working through those, we’re able to help others.” 

Yancey Strickler’s keynote, A Framework for Your Ultimate Self, illuminates a bird’s-eye view of the future, as he walks us through his concept of Bentoism, composed of “four distinct spaces of self-interest to think about.” Through Bentoism, Yancey illustrates how your assumptions can be challenged, and your time and energy redirected to create a more generous, coherent worldview. 

Find your currency of power

Power, in all its forms, shapes our personal and professional lives. In his 99U keynote talk, Understanding Power Languages, Alain Sylvain, founder and CEO of Sylvain Labs, asks, “how can we manifest that power as creative people in order to truly maximize our potential?” He traces power through history, explains how it is situational, ever-shifting, and present in all our interactions. By being aware of the unique capacity for power that designers hold, we can work towards understanding this as a tool and potential to push for positive change. 

Embrace the everyday 

If you’ve spent a great deal of time surrounded by familiar sights lately, a pair of workshops in this year’s conference lineup could spark you to think about the everyday in new and unexpected ways. 

Illustrator Octavia Brommell leads Exploring Personal Projects, a workshop that demonstrate her approach to considering creative priorities, centering personal happiness, and creating art driven by gratitude and appreciation for simple joys. As she notes, “Not only has working on personal things improved my general wellbeing and my sanity for small things, it’s also become a great way for me to keep the dreaded artist’s block or creative burnout at bay.”

Jinjin Sun, Adobe’s senior experience designer, talked with Octavia Bromell about the importance of appreciating small joys. Photography by Joey Sun.

And if you’ve ever looked at one of Michelle Rial’s clever, witty charts and wondered how she makes something so compelling out of the everyday, her workshop Chart Your Life, will not only give you a glimpse into her creative mindset, but a chance to tap into the same capacity in your own practice. Through Michelle’s brainstorming session and guided steps, she breaks down her ideas process and shows how her best ideas are sparked. And no need to be intimidated, because as Michelle puts it, “What I found in that process is if you can draw three lines, and write three words, you can make a chart.”  Don’t be afraid to experiment, either, because as Michelle reminds us, “bad ideas can become good ideas if you give them time, space, and love.”

Push against the algorithm

We all know what it’s like to feel as though algorithms can read our minds, whether it’s a just-right playlist, or the product you’ve been thinking about buying popping up on another website. We also have a pretty clear line between the digital and physical worlds set in our minds. But two speakers at this year’s conference challenged our assumptions and encouraged us to look beyond those boundaries. 

Most of the time, Nishat Akhtar, creative director at Instrument, embraces the experience of seeing her interests reflected back through multiple digital platforms. But as she points out in her 99U master class Look Around You, we have a responsibility to push back against these patterns and draw ourselves out of our comfort zones to make genuine connections with others. Her two exercises will hone your “power of noticing,” connect you to your instincts, and deepen your relationships. In both activities, she notes how important it is to “Allow yourself to be transported to this new place or a new feeling. Allow yourself to get closer to the people that you do this with. Allow yourself to be yourself in order to find yourself.” Her own experiences with the two exercises have had a profound impact on her, “I fortified my own creative self, I connected with my community, deepened existing relationships, and cultivated new ones.”

Jeannie Huang, senior product designer on Behance, in conversation with Kelli Anderson. Photography by Joey Sun.

Taking a more hands-on approach, Kelli Anderson’s workshop Materials for Computer People will push you to engage with materials in an unexpected, playful way. Drawing from historical examples from designers and artists, and citing her own experiments with paper technology, the artist and paper engineer leads us through thought exercises that challenge us to create new links between analog and physical, and guides us in building a simple volvelle and a paper calculator. 

Lead with love 

In her 99U master class Building the Love Into Creative Business, creative business strategist Emily Cohen explains how her direct, brutally honest methods are always rooted in the concept of love. She shows us “how to evolve your business through love—and love is all about connections. We’re talking about building connections, one-on-one connections.” She explained how this love shines through in all aspects of the client relationship, from daily company culture to sustainable growth, reminding us that “When you build the love, a lot of wonderful things happen. Clients will advocate for you. They will defend you when you make a mistake, they will promote you when they need to, they will talk about how much they love you and how much they adore you.”

Keep up the momentum

As part of this year’s exploration of the concept of The Creative Self, we partnered with creative coach and 99U columnist Tina Essmaker who wrote an interactive workbook to make space for reflection and self-discovery on your creative path. Tina’s conversation with Jeannie Huang, senior product designer at Behance, walked us through the second of five exercises in the Workbook, which focuses on purpose and how to think deeper about finding your way forward with intention. Their chat also illuminated the core ideas behind both this year’s Conference theme and the Workbook themes, including voice, building community, and taking care of your personal well-being. 

You can start the workbook right in your browser (or download a copy), courtesy of our friends at Adobe Document Cloud. 

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Emily Cohen: Building the Love Into Creative Business

About this talk

Self-proclaimed “brutally honest” creative business strategist and consultant Emily Cohen says the concept of love is a starting point for all her interactions and relationships. She shares the practical ways that we can show and receive love in relationships with clients, employees, and colleagues, and how to build lasting, reciprocal relationships rooted in acts of care.

This talk was recorded at Founders Studio on May 11, 2020.

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John S. Couch: Designing a New Day

About this talk

Even those of us working our dream jobs have hidden ambitions that our routines don’t accommodate. For author and artist John S. Couch, that means the intimidating prospect of trying his hand at stand-up comedy. In this workshop, he leads us through a painting exercise where he shows us how to build time into your schedule for those secret aspirations, and how to create with soul to capture genuine energy in your work.

This talk was recorded remotely on May 18, 2020.

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Antionette D. Carroll: Understanding Identity, Power, & Equity in Design Leadership

About this talk

Antionette Carroll, Founder, President, and CEO of Creative Reaction Lab, believes that if inequality is by design, then it can be re-designed by us. Over the years, she has helmed multiple initiatives dedicated to solving the fundamental problems of inequity and fair representation in the design industry and expanding our roles to examine inherent biases. In this talk, she offers a framework for prioritizing equal outcomes over equal access to change the mindset of the industry.

This talk was recorded remotely on May 22, 2020.

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Kelli Anderson: Materials for Computer People

About this workshop

Designer and paper engineer Kelli Anderson creates incredible things from analog materials: planetariums, cameras, and speakers. In this workshop, Kelli walks us through the computational thinking of artists including Sol LeWitt, George Perec, and Marjan Teeuwen, and introduces us to analog computing through exercises that engage our observation and reverse engineering skills.

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Octavia Bromell: Exploring Personal Projects

About this workshop

UK-based illustrator and artist Octavia Bromell creates a vivid, joyful world that embraces life’s small, everyday pleasures. In this workshop, she shares how embracing personal creative projects has had a transformative effect on her work and mental health.

This workshop was recorded remotely on May 20, 2020.

 

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Michelle Rial: Chart Your Life

About this workshop

You may look at a pair of nail clippers and see a useful, everyday tool, not worth a second glance. Michelle Rial, illustrator, chart-maker, and author of Am I Overthinking This?, looks at the same object and sees dozens of creative possibilities and an opportunity for a productive brainstorming session. In this workshop, she gives us an insight into how examining everyday objects around us can unlock a new way of thinking and creating.

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A.J. Jacobs: Practicing Radical Gratitude

Few people recognize the value of a thank you note more than A.J. Jacobs. The author and journalist embarked on a quest to thank everyone involved in making his daily cup of coffee, and found that this simple gesture of gratitude had a powerful impact on his relationship to the world and his own attitude. In this talk, he explores how shifting our focus to gratitude and appreciation can be awkward and vulnerable, but ultimately deeply rewarding.

This talk was recorded remotely on May 21, 2020.

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Michael Ventura: Applying Empathy

About this workshop

The work of strategy and design firm Sub Rosa is rooted in the practice of applied empathy. In this workshop, Founder & CEO Michael Ventura helps us explore the different aspects of empathy, identify our empathic archetypes, and ask ourselves probing questions to unlock greater creative thinking.

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Taeyoon Choi: Strategies for Embracing Our Contradictions

About this talk

Taeyoon Choi, an artist and co-founder of the School for Poetic Computation, is well-practiced at finding beauty in the chaos, and unafraid to dig into the complicated ways we connect and learn from each other. In this nuanced talk, illustrated with excerpts from his journal, he discusses the concept of unlearning, nurturing relationships that allow room for disagreement, and making space to be your whole self (contradictions and all).

This talk was recorded remotely on May 24, 2020.

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Yancey Strickler: A Framework for Your Ultimate Self

About this talk

With a simple four-square grid, the author and former CEO of Kickstarter Yancey Strickler shifted his entire perspective on decision-making, his sense of self, and his relationship to the world. His concept of “Bentoism”, inspired by the Japanese bento box, is a way of framing your choices with an eye to the future, beyond your own self-interest, and with consideration for your community and the next generation.

This talk was recorded remotely on May 18, 2020.

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The Creative Self Workbook

In this workbook, written by creative coach and 99U columnist Tina Essmaker, we invite you to make space for personal exploration and discovery. Through five exercises, you’ll be able to either kickstart a practice or dig deeper into your creative exploration. You’ll also find books, talks, and podcasts organized around each exercise so you can dig deeper into any topic that interests you.

The Creative Self Workbook presents five days of exercises:

 

• Discover Your Voice
• Define Your Purpose
• Nurture Your Mind, Body, and Spirit
• Connect to People and Places
• Cultivate a Practice

 

We encourage you to set aside 15-30 minutes of quiet, solo time each day. You can download and print the PDF, or fill it in out in-browser (and then print!). Either way, you may want to grab your own sketchbook or notebook to free write or draw while working through the exercises.

Most of all, be open to where this takes you. And if you’re willing, we’d love for you to share your process and conclusions with us on Twitter or Instagram. 

 

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9 Ways Creatives Can Manage Anxiety

Stress can come in many forms. Often it stems from something beyond our control, whether a breakup, loss of someone dear, or losing a job. We can even feel anxiety when trying something new or in anticipation of an exciting new projec. Regardless of the source, you’re not alone if you’re feeling anxious; you’re only human.

Just as we’ve explored anxiety in the workplace, how creatives handle tough transitions, and navigating grief, here we’ll explore how creatives can manage anxiety so they can get back to creating. We tend to want a “quick fix” for challenges, but when dealing with anxiety, it’s better to think of it as a practice where you build (and maintain) muscles over time—much like the creative process itself.

We talked to experts who use creativity in their own ways and pulled together different tools for you to explore. Many of them are things you can start as soon as you get to the bottom of this article.

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1. Awareness is everything.

Anxiety, fear, and grief are all normal responses to transition. Anxiety is something that tends to build over time, and through awareness—of both body and mind—we can help minimize its effects.

Lia Love Avellino, LCSW, psychotherapist, director of The Well, and co-founder of Spoke Circles, explains that our anxiety is trying to help us. Think of it as your body’s alarm system going off trying to get you to notice what’s happening. It’s your body trying to tell you it has new needs. “We want to notice the thoughts, sensations, location in our body, memories that come to mind, and images.” 

Think about where anxiety shows up for you. Does it show up with a recurrent thought? Does it live in your chest? Is it nervous energy? If you’re a visual person, what does it look like?

For some people, anxiety will exhibit itself through a frenetic energy, while for others it may make you want to retreat. Begin tracking what takes you into it, and what takes you out, as well as when it happens. Hint: What do you feel like when you look at your phone before bed vs. listen to music or a meditative podcast?

In addition to somatic, or body-based responses, the wheel of emotional words can also be helpful to give you some of the vocabulary for what you’re feeling.

2. Tune in.

Nkechi Deanna Njaka, MSc is a neuroscientist, meditation teacher, and multi-disciplinary artist who runs her own integrated studio around mindfulness. Njaka uses meditation as a practice to tune into awareness and to calm her nervous system. If you’re resistant to meditation, know that a minute or two can be a great place to start. Instead of worrying about your mind wandering, Njaka recommends paying attention to where it wanders. “As soon as we get to the present moment, we can’t really think about the past or the future, which is really our source of anxiety,” she notes. Njaka astutely says when you’re able to start noticing troubled situations through the practice of awareness, you can stop doing them; “It’s simple, not necessarily easy.” As flexing the muscle of returning to presence can also show up in your creative practice as you find focus and flow come easier. 

3. Rewire the brain.

When it comes to the brain, Njaka explains that it’s neuroplastic, meaning malleable, where a thought is like a groove in your brain and we can change the pathways of those grooves. As creatives, we are likely used to choosing our own path, which can be a useful metaphor for blazing your own thought paths.

According to Dr. Eric Maisel, a long-time family therapist turned coach who works with creative and performing artists, talks about cognitive restructuring in this way: “You can choose to approach life anxiously or you can choose to approach life calmly. It is a matter of flipping an internal switch—one that you control. Your attitude is yours to determine.”

When I attended one of Maisel’s Deep Writing workshops, he suggested we ask ourselves “Is that a thought that serves you?” when negative thoughts started to creep. It’s a phrase that I keep returning to, and a reminder to flip the script.

4. Pay attention to how you talk to yourself.

Self-soothing can go a long way when it comes to managing anxiety. Karden Raben, a wellness expert, teacher, and bodyworker specializing in stress-related disorders shares the example of a child who is down on themselves because their drawing wasn’t as good as someone else’s in the class. What would the parent say to the child? Probably something about how they think it’s beautiful, unique, and special, just like you.

Next time you find yourself being hard on yourself or your work, pause and ask yourself what you would tell your 5-year-old self. As Raben says, “It’s really about tapping into the type or quality of compassion that you would provide for a child and doing the same for yourself. The real trick is in being compassionate without repressing your inner critic. Just ask it to simply take a step back for a moment.” 

Avellino blocks times in her day (for her it’s 15 minutes) devoted to both worrying and dreaming, and recommends it to others as a tool so the thoughts don’t stay trapped in your body and affect you. First, she lets her worries out of her system (writing them down, or speaking them out loud), and during a separate block of time lets her mind wander, allowing play and escapism. Even in anxious times, you can still dream and focus on possibilities and lighter moments.

5. Move your body.

Movement is an important tool to help us get out of our heads and can be a way to change our energy and breathing. As a dancer, Njaka points out, “We can express ourselves emotionally so powerfully through the body, which is also therapeutic.” Movement can also include yoga, going for a walk, or run, or dance like no one is watching.

Raben uses what he calls “stress first aid” based on neurobiology and the responses of the triune brain, or three brains, to encourage movement. He explains it in terms of how older systems of the brain end up highjacking newer systems that go back to fight or flight mode, so moving your body becomes the natural response. Vigorous movement and exercising allows your instinctual brain to feel like it’s escaping, or getting away from what’s bothering you. 

6. Watch what you take in.

What you put into your body plays a role in your energy and how your mind and body feel. Professionals are the first to call out coffee, alcohol, and sugar as something that can be eliminated (or minimized). Limiting your intake can make a big difference rather than going cold turkey.

Raben suggests when you do indulge, be super present. “If you’re thinking, I want to be nice to myself and have a cookie, you’re going to miss the pleasure principle of eating that cookie if you’re on your phone and distracting yourself at the same time.” Instead, take the time to savor these moments while being present.

In addition to things we digest, consider an “information diet.” So much of our personal fear and anxiety is generated by the information we absorb, whether social media or the news. Consider using tools that limit your phone or internet time if you find yourself getting sucked into those energy drains. If you need something to do with your hands, consider activities like knitting, needlepoint, or collaging. 

7. Stay connected to others.

During stressful times, it’s important to hold onto social connections. Just reaching out to a friend or trusted family member can often ease anxiety. If you don’t feel up for talking, you can text or send a voice memo. You can even get creative and send a written letter or sketched comic. And, of course, professional therapists and counselors can work with you on your specific situation.

You can also pause and consider how you’re helping support others in your life through the words you say to them. People usually don’t want someone’s advice or a solution to a problem, they just want to be heard. Rather than asking, “Are you OK?” during anxious times, Avellino suggests questions like, “What is feeling good to you right now?” or “What can I do to be a better friend to you right now?”

8. Embrace basics.

When we’re anxious, stressed, or on a deadline, sleep is often the best medicine. Sleep will not only make you feel more rested, it will help strengthen your immune system. To help get enough sleep, consider making your bedroom a phone free zone (remember that information diet). Instead, make your bed a place where you read a novel to escape to another world or sketch with pencil and paper. 

According to Maisel, “The simplest—and a quite powerful—anxiety management technique is deep breathing. By stopping to breathe deeply (5 seconds on the inhale, 5 seconds on the exhale), you stop your racing mind and alert your body to the fact that you wish to be calmer. Begin to incorporate deep breaths into your daily routine.” (We explored “box breathing,” a technique used by Navy SEALs, in this post.) Another easy way to ease anxiety is to take a hot shower.

9. Lighten your load.

Hustle culture and societal pressures add up fast. In order to have clarity of thought and a calm mind, this sometimes involves taking as many things off your plate as possible.

Raben explains stress as an overly full balloon. A balloon that’s 100% full of air will explode as soon as it bumps any surface. Take the air down to 95% and there’s already a cushion to protect it from popping.

Remember, this is not about instant gratification. You’re building muscles. Managing anxiety is a practice and takes commitment, time, and patience. It’s not a race to the end. We are all works in progress. 

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Advice for a Sustainable Desk-Bound Creative Career

It can be tempting to think of creative lives as existing purely in the domain of the mind, as imaginative pursuits that have little bearing on our physical bodies. But as any artist or designer who has struggled with injury will attest, the body is a necessary part of a creative practice. A repetitive strain injury, poor posture, or persistent fatigue will certainly have significant impact on how and when creatives produce work. Unfortunately, this realization tends to come only come after such issues have become an impediment to one’s work. 

Illustrator and cartoonist Kriota Willberg has long recognized the importance of taking care of your body as part of a well-rounded, sustainable creative practice; much her work explores the ways in which our physical bodies and artistic practices overlap. Willberg’s book of comics, Draw Stronger: Self-Care for Cartoonists and Other Visual Artists, was created as a blueprint of healthy routines and exercises for artists and desk-bound creatives who struggle with pain, repetitive injuries, and long-term bad habits (no more slouching!). Her approach—drawn from experience as a massage therapist and health educator—makes injury prevention and thoughtful self-care accessible and easy to incorporate into your creative life.

Here are five of our takeaways from the invaluable book.

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1. Make longevity a priority.

Whether you’re a graphic artist who sketches frequently or someone who works in front of a screen, a sedentary workday is fraught with potential strain and the likelihood of exhaustion—both likely to hinder your ability to make work, and even prematurely end a cherished pursuit. Think of it this way: considering physical health as a creative is investing in your future and laying the groundwork for a future where you can keep working comfortably and safely.  

Shifting your focus to a long-term view, rather than making do with short-term approaches that work in the moment, is a way of respecting your chosen path and assuring your future wellbeing. It can be a difficult task, especially given the uncertainty of artistic industries, but paying attention to your health in this way leaves you more available to shift gears if necessary, and to adjust course without the restrictions of injury.

2. Commit to a movement practice.

Meeting deadlines, bookkeeping, and networking with your community are just a few of the obligations beyond actually doing the creative work that can often take up significant chunks of your time. To realize the full benefits of Willberg’s approach, you must create a consistent practice that works with your lifestyle and has the intended preventative effect. It can be a great deal easier to avoid an injury rather than treat it, and the way to do this is to make physical self-care a muscle memory in itself. 

Willberg’s suggestion is to find the right corrective activity that counteracts time spent at a desk, or repeating the same motions. Taking cues from how professional athletes structure their workouts, she suggests a mix of specific and general activities to keep your body in tune. For some, it might be a martial arts practice that lets off steam, while for others, swimming could offer the needed range of motion to open up tight muscle groups and re-balance the body. No matter the exercise, the crucial factor is finding a release valve that allows for freedom of movement and a way to jolt yourself out of a limiting physical range of motion. 

3. Create a new normal.  

Breaking bad habits can be frustrating, dispiriting, and self-confronting. After all, why change something that feels like it’s working just fine? In many cases, this “just fine” mindset is the seed of many strains and injuries. 

Take your posture as an example (this may be a good time to remind you to sit up straight!). Slouching or slumping is the natural state for many people, because it requires little effort and feels good in the moment. However, back and neck issues are the most cited pain points for those confined to a desk and can be the most debilitating for work.

The tricky thing about posture is that the muscles we need to hold us up straight are not nearly as well developed as they should be for most of us. And before you put all the blame on yourself, think of how difficult it is to find a truly ergonomic workspace. Laptop and monitor screens, low desks, and poorly designed chairs are all factors in persistent fatigue and muscle issues. Hunching, holding your head forward, and sitting in one position for extended periods puts pressure on your nerves and muscles that become very (painfully) apparent when you stand up after a long day of work. Taking measures to find a new normal will feel uncomfortable and unfamiliar at first, but it will pay off quickly once you realize how much your old habits were holding you back. It can be as simple as changing locations partway through the day.

4. Use what you have. 

Part of the impediment and hesitation to set up a healthy practice comes from the myth that you must invest in a range of specialized tools or equipment to make it truly effective. The creative thinking you utilize for artistic breakthroughs or problem solving can be applied to creating sustainable self-care habits. Take the time to look around the space where you spend the bulk of your time, and consider how it can be repurposed to meet your physical needs. Is there some floor space that you can clear for a quick morning stretch while listening to the news? Do you have a window that can be part of your designated rest area? Even a doorway can be incorporated to be part of your exercise routine, as Willberg shows us.

Many of Draw Stronger’s suggested exercises don’t require any equipment, or use easily available props to help make them a part of everyday life. By removing barriers to a healthy lifestyle, Willberg shows us how easily it can become part of our day, as natural as drinking our morning cup of coffee (a great time to practice deep breathing or positive visualization!). 

5. Pace yourself.  

Burnout has emerged as a chronic burden, spanning multiple industries and demographics. Stress, pressure, unhealthy workplaces, and exhaustion are all factors. For creatives, particularly self-sufficient freelancers and contractors, it can be an especially frustrating problem to overcome. Very often, the instinct is to commit to multiple projects, push yourself to achieve more, and ignore tell-tale warning signs. And it is true that for the sake of your livelihood and career, you sometimes do have to endure some amount of discomfort. Willberg acknowledges this in Draw Stronger, relying on her years as a creative herself, and extensive time spent treating athletes and creatives alike. 

With a focus on big-picture preventative care, Willberg includes ways to minimize risk and long-term damage you could cause by ignoring the red flags in your practice. Part of creating a healthy practice includes setting clear boundaries that allow you to maintain a sense of balance. An important part of this includes taking the necessary time for rest and recharging. Making yourself take time off can require just as much discipline as the work itself sometimes, but pushing past your physical limits will cause further undue damage and lead to a longer, more complicated recovery.

Reframe your thinking around rest and sleep. Instead of “slacking off,” you are refreshing your stores of physical and creative energy. You’re not “doing nothing,” you are listening to the cues of your body that will guide you in the right direction. With time, you’ll see the benefits of adding in daily checks and new routines for caring for your body, and, in turn, the longevity of your career and creative practice.

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Is Imposter Syndrome Blocking Your Creative Potential?

Our society has long highlighted financial success as the pinnacle of human achievement. As many of our systems and structures now appear to be crumbling, we have a chance to reconsider how we define success for ourselves. Many of us have begun to consider whether having feelings of imposter syndrome is a result of feeling under-qualified, or simply because our job is not a good fit for our skills and interests. You may be asking if the work you’re doing is the work you are meant to be doing. While you may have a level of success in your career, this success may feel like it lacks meaning. Even if you’re able to do your work, you may still feel like you’re faking it.

Society’s response to feelings of impostering has long been to encourage individuals to fake it until they make it. The better response might be to pause and figure out if you’re faking it for a job you really want or if you’re faking it in order to fit within a social narrative that encourages what you “should” want for yourself. When I write, paint, or make works of public art, I am not ever faking it. When my friend follows his passion for hand-crafting wooden objects, he feels deeply content. When another friend silkscreens activist t-shirts, she feels fulfilled. For all of us, these are hobbies; we are scared to make them into our full-time careers. Choosing to pursue more creative roles would require us to rebel against, at least temporarily, social norms we have deeply absorbed about financial success and personal value.

If you find yourself in a similar position, it may be time to determine if you are indeed doing the work you are meant to do. To determine if you are impostering, ask yourself this: if you had all the confidence in the world, would you still be conflicted about your job? If the answer is yes, you may be in the wrong job. We spoke with several creatives, who all agree: the secret to living a more fulfilling life is to connect more closely to your intuition and values. If you feel like an imposter, you probably are. 

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If you are impostering, you are not alone

Research in the mid-90s noticed that the imposter phenomenon can be projected by parents who selectively value certain aspects of their child while undervaluing others. Although not discussed in that research, we may be able to extrapolate that a society could have the same impact on individuals. When society overvalues economic success and undervalues everything else, there is dissonance between what we are told to want and what we may actually want. Exorbitant financial success is not universally meaningful.

“We often see moderate success as failure because society shines accolades on super-achievers.”

This is where we have systemic failure. When we value only one view of success, everyone works towards that. As a result, people may find themselves in careers or roles that are lucrative but that lack other levels of personal meaning. Therein, imposter feelings may emerge. Those feelings are exacerbated further when we look at our accomplishments relative to others in our field, notes Richard Gardner, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the University of Las Vegas Nevada who has been conducting new research on the topic. We often see moderate success as failure because society shines accolades on super-achievers. This reductive view of success limits how people understand what successful careers can look like and may force them to take a career path that is counterintuitive (i.e. when we choose a career in accounting over painting because we don’t believe the later could possibly pay the bills).

A society that actively encourages individuals to act as imposters on their pathway to career success is broken. Rather than respond to individual feelings of insecurity with compassion, our culture encourages sufferers to turn their fear into action. As a result, many are told to quiet their intuition and surge ahead. Yet ignoring intuition and speeding ahead is bad advice.

Believe in possibilities—even if you have to push against norms

“I never felt like an imposter until people called me out for things they didn’t think I should be doing,” said Heron Preston, artist, creative director, designer, and DJ affiliated with both his own label and the brand Off-White. He knew since he was a child that he was going to design dream worlds. Following his intuition led him to architecture, t-shirt design, photography, fashion, music, and maybe in the future, his own restaurant: “When I was young, there was never even an idea of being an imposter. There were no borders or guardrails or boxes.”

“People don’t believe that something is possible, and they project that on you, which makes you wonder if you’re doing the right thing.”

Preston only began to feel like an imposter when other people began to place boxes around his work. “Unhappiness projected onto other people is what gets in the way. People don’t believe that something is possible, and they project that on you, which makes you wonder if you’re doing the right thing.” His solution to overcoming feelings of imposter syndrome is simple: ignore the boxes and surround yourself with a good support system. “I step out of the box all the time. My friends support it and I support my friends. You get in trouble when you allow in outsider perspectives that don’t align with your intuition.”

“Ignore the boxes and surround yourself with a good support system.”

Dr. Gardner corroborates that community matters. Who you go to for feedback about your work impacts how you see your capabilities and achievements. In his research, he found that when people reached out to their in-group for feedback, they often felt more like an imposter. However, when people reached out to an out-group, they felt less like an imposter. For creatives, he argues, this means going to a variety of people for feedback on your art. “Go to other artists for technical skills but go elsewhere for self-esteem and confidence.”

Learn to trust your intuition 

It can take time to grow that confidence in yourself and your intuition. Sam Ewan, managing director of innovation agency dotdotdash and longtime experiential marketer, shared that he keeps research files on everything and uses that research to hone his intuition. When he reflects on his career, he believes his secret to success is knowing something well, building up  confidence in that knowledge, and trusting his intuition to guide him into the right ideas, creative moments, and career opportunities.

“Don’t push ahead just because you feel you should. Push ahead when you know you should.”

“Stop comparing yourself to other people and understand if you enjoy the work you’re doing,” he adds. If not, check in with your intuition, follow your curiosity, and move on to the next thing. When you are feeling like an imposter, he notes, you might be one, and that’s not the end of the world. Just step back, ask if this is the right work for you and if not, move on. Don’t push ahead just because you feel you should. Push ahead when you know you should.

And, if you still don’t trust your intuition, you may just need to practice. “Figure out what you need to hear and say that to yourself and others,” said fashion designer and technology executive Dona Sarkar. “When I advise someone to go do the thing and they do it, I realize my inner voice is actually right. I knew that I was right about them—and about me too.”

Intuition isn’t immediate

David Schwarz, co-founder of HUSH, notes that he has always inhabited two worlds: business and art. At times, he’s felt like his balancing of both is an act of impostering, and yet he notes that straddling both worlds is what has most contributed to his career success. “There is a schizophrenia in terms of both of these sides. There is always another version of me not in the mix at a certain moment.”

“My intuition doesn’t always snap to true north. Sometimes it takes a while to work it out. It’s not like a cardinal direction.”

For David, the interplay between his two sides is a long meditation on the path to a full expression of self, since he believes that who he is exists in the intersection between commerce and design. He credits finding himself at this understanding only through a deep belief in his own intuition. “I use intuition more than any other skill so far in my career. I’ve followed things that just felt right at the time,” he said. “I’ve made business decisions and important project decisions with limited data because they just feel right.”

However, he argues, you don’t always know what feels right, right away: “My intuition doesn’t always snap to true north. Sometimes it takes a while to work it out. It’s not like a cardinal direction. But it is a magnetic north and it will eventually get there.” Because of this, he is prone to change his mind and re-evaluate a decision as he gathers more information. He thinks that is essential: the biggest pitfall can be to make a snap judgement. Sometimes, “intuition requires more time to bake, but when it’s baked you can be certain it’s the right thing to do.”

Take the time to listen to and tap into your intuition, and you’ll move past any feelings of imposter syndrome. Thank yourself for those uncomfortable feelings, since they can spur growth if you listen and do the work. 

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