I’m not sure that I would have listened to me, but if I could take a Wayne’s World time warp to impart some *wisdom* on my twenty-something self, these are a few of the things I would say.
1. Being creative is largely about protecting precious time. Be vigilant. Guard it like a mama bear defending her cub. Don’t allow anyone or anything (this includes yourself) to encroach on this time.
2. “I declare this world is so beautiful I can hardly believe it exists…” Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote this in his journal in 1840. And, boy, was he right. Look around.
Ralph Waldo Emerson: I would have definitely listened to your advice.
3. Put down your camera. You don’t need 200 blurry, half-lit photos taken in a bar on a rainy night. Come out from behind the camera and enjoy the evening. (You won’t remember most of their names anyway.)
4. Your parents aren’t necessarily the best advisers when it comes to your career. They’re from a different generation and the workplace has changed drastically. There are more ways to carve your own niche than ever before.
5. Don’t assume change is a bad thing. In fact, it can be very good.
6. Everything. everything, begins and ends with compassion.
7. Those jeans you love? They don’t fit.
7a. That guy you love? He doesn’t fit either.
8. When you feel overwhelmed, take three DEEP breaths. It really does help.
9. The world needs introverts.
10. Follow your interests, even if they don’t seem practical. Remember how you really wanted to learn more about art history and astronomy? But you didn’t want to waste college scholarship money so you decided to take “useful” classes like marketing and management. Drudgery. You never enjoyed them much (okay, at all) and you were never engaged. Talk about a waste.
You could have studied things like this.
11. It’s not personal. Really. That eye-rolling cashier? Your spiteful roommate? These reactions have nothing to do with you at all. Even if it may seem that they are purposely being mean. it’s not about you.
12. The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them. I think Hemingway said this. There’s a lot of truth in that statement. How can you expect someone to trust you if you don’t first offer the same in kind?
What advice would you give to your younger self?Â
Have a great weekend, everyone!Â
Love, love, love this Emerson quotation – going to add it as my email signature right now!
Isn’t that a good one? Whenever I see a beautiful sunset or a cardinal sitting on the fence, I think of Emerson’s quote.
Compassion…? I think that should be substituted with “a tasty treat”. That’s what Reggie’s waiting for, anyhow 😉
You’d better believe it! Either a treat or a napkin — they’re all the same to him!
What does he do with a napkin…?
Oh, he thinks they are just delicious. They’re like little tapas to him. 😛
Love this post. Especially the compassion part. I totally agree with that. I think you nailed it.
Thank you, Beth Ann. Compassion can change the world. Have a great weekend!
I really love this post, Jackie – so wise, and so spot-on in every way. These points are great reminders for all of us, every day. Thank you.
Sunshine xx
I try to keep these things in mind and apply them when I have an important decision to make. Easier said than done, though. 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend, Sunshine.
All pearls of excellent advice Jackie. What I’d tell my 30-something years younger self: if you’d like to retire before you die, start saving a lot sooner.
Ha. I should have also mentioned that my advice to my younger self is to win the lottery. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about any of the aforementioned advice. 🙂
I would have told me to leave Latvia 2 years ago 😉 Then again, I wouldn’t have my lovely blog if I’d done that!
Great advice!
I’m glad that you didn’t take your own advice! I love your blog.
When you leave what will we all do?!
I’ll keep writing about Germany – it will probably be less scathing though as I’m hoping I’ll be happy there!
Whew! I’m looking forward to following your new adventures in Germany. Do you know what city you’ll be living in?
I loved all of these, but especially number 9 about introverts! I just wrote a post on this. Have a good weekend!
It took me a really long time to accept that I’m an introvert — and that is okay. We’ve been brainwashed to think that we have to be the life of the party. Not me!
Ditto!
Beautiful, and utterly perfect. Sending this to my daughter, and probably everyone else I know.
Thank you, Cynthia! I’m still working on the one about not taking things personally. That is usually my initial reaction. I have to take my deep breaths and step back from the situation to realize that it’s almost never about me.
Have a great weekend!
Your first piece of advice is my favorite. I think I’m like most people when it comes to making time for writing or painting. I always try to get all the ‘important’ stuff done before I sit down for creative time.
Well, I never get all so-called important stuff done. There always is another chore, another email, another bill. We have to stake a claim on our creative time, before our moments of genius pass us by.
Yes, I do the same — I rationalize that if I get all the little items knocked off my to-do list then I’ll have a chunk of time to devote to my writing. But somehow that “chunk of time” just disappears.
Now I wake up early to write, and I find it’s the perfect block of time before the day intrudes.
I’ve tried that waking up early thing. It hasn’t stuck yet, but I will keep trying to make the occasional attempt.
Wow, those are all great, Jackie. Such an awesome quote too!
The advice I would give my younger self is that age-old “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” I worried way too much about little things.
I still find myself worrying about the little things. I try to remind myself not to worry about things that I’m not even going to remember next week — easier said than done!
Yes to all of it.
I doubt younger me would have listened to older me. Still I might tell her things like: 1. Refuse to be offended. 2. When you forget number 1, forgive quickly. 3. Stay present. 4. Listen to happy songs. 5. Spend more time outside. 6. Call your mother. 7. Keep flowers where you can see them every day.
Love your list! If we could all adhere to number one, we would all be a lot more peaceful.
This is great advice for my older self too. Good reminder. I happen to have a 20 year old that I’m going to share this with.
That’s one of the reasons I wrote this post — to serve as a reminder for all of these great lessons I’ve learned over the years. Have a great week!
Ah, I just love Reggie. Yes, compassion. My advice to my younger self is don’t try to please everyone, it’s not worth it. Stay true to yourself.
That’s a great life lesson there. It’s taken me years to learn that and I still have to remind myself.
This is so great. #7 (and 7a) made me laugh out loud right here in Starbucks.
I have destroyed all photographic evidence of me wearing those jeans. 🙂
This list is a great idea! I might have to do one myself at some point if that’s ok? My number one would be compassion as my motto is always ‘Be Kind’.
Absolutely! I’d love to see the advice on your list. The motto to “be kind” is the best of all.