It’s a lot easier to look back and see what one’s life’s been like in a pandemic so far than it is to figure out what’s coming ahead in such uncertain times. COVID-19’s messed with us all, bringing everything to a grinding halt, but it didn’t mean that the world stopped turning just because we were all trapped inside.
But if anything, the pandemic let content creators slow down enough to take a solid look at ourselves and get a better idea of what we’re about when the world takes so many of our supports away. Who are you without events and travel? Who are you when you’re not out showing outfits off on the streets or trying restaurants on a whim? The pandemic’s made us all re-evaluate how we do things, and as the world starts to get its footing again, we all need to ask ourselves one question:
“What’s next?”
Sometimes you have to look back to go forward…
“Workin’ on the weekend, like usual.
Way off in the deep end, like usual.
█████ swear they passed us, they doin’ too much
Haven’t done my taxes, I’m too turnt up….”— Drake on Future’s “Life is Good”, High Off Life (2020)
Ever since taking the basement over in May, most of my evenings have looked the same way—sitting in my office, working away at all the loose ends left behind as I keep picking up new projects.
It’s no short process—I’ll take multiple notebooks and a laptop and work at pieces relentlessly until they start to make sense. It involves a lot of jotting things down, moving ideas from one page to the next, and crossing things out as old ideas mature and grow into something better.
But what I’ve figured out about myself over time is that I need to gradually work at my content, because trying to force it out when I’m uninspired won’t do me an ounce of good.
And so I started diving deep into my backlog to give my unfinished work a fresh set of eyes—just as absence can make the heart grow fonder, a little break away from your content can make the senses sharper, too.
So what’s next? More content than I know what to do with it all!
It’s like the old saying goes—there’s a place for everything and everything in its place. You might not see how all your content fits together while you’re creating it, but as you mature and get more life experience, your past starts to make more sense.
As I pick up the pieces of my old unpublished work, I get ideas for it all that I never had before. Experiences that help missing Corona Chronicles entries stand out as stories on their own. A better understanding of how I can make the most of my email newsletter and my podcast with the kinds of tales I want to tell. Being forced to change gears taught me there are better ways to do things, and I’ll use that to take this brand and build it better than ever instead of continually trying to reinvent the wheel.
So in short… expect more. Expect more content, more quality, and more ideas. Expect a brand that shows what six months of growth can accomplish instead of simply lamenting over the past. And once all the pieces come together, expect the foundation for something even better to come from all that work!
Till then, I hope you’re all keeping well. I hope you’re all keeping sane. And remember that there’s no right or wrong way to get through a pandemic—we’ve all gotta figure it out as we go.
We’ll see you in the next post!
