Ep. 43 - The big truth about simplicity.

Liz Clayton Fuller (ipaintbirbs) is literally a force of nature in so many ways and I'm so incredibly excited to bring the conversation that I had with her to you folks. Liz is a natural science illustrator, a streamer, and educator, an artist, a great human and so many more things.

In this episode Liz and I chat about her journey combining her love of nature and birds with her love of art and how she has turned it into a career. The passion and excitement with which she talks about her journey is something to be admired and to be inspired by. It wasn't an easy journey, which nothing ever is, but all along the way I was most impressed to hear about her ability to stay open to so many different opportunities. Have you ever heard of any children say that when they grow up they would like to be a professional bird drawer? Probably not, but look what happens when you stay open to opportunities and possibilities. You get to do some of the things you love. 

If you listen closely you will also find that Liz didn't do any of this alone. Liz found some amazing people in her life that would support her on journey. Even though, people might not have been sure about how any of it was going to go they could see the passion and support Liz in her journey. Finding your people is so key.

A few things to take away from this conversation:

1.  Continue to practice your craft and you will be prepared for when opportunity knocks. There is no magic. 

2. Remember that no matter what creative domain you are in your unique viewpoint is important and can't be replicated by anyone else, so you must create!

3. Practice, not only your craft, but practice capturing moments in time that will never be replicated. 

4. Hold close to you your childhood wonder of first discovery and you will continue to see the world in a new and exiting light.


Challenge from this episode: What will you say yes to this week that you would absolutely no to?

Challenge from last week: What is one thing you can do to make your life just one little bit simpler?

Liz's Links
twitch.tv/ipaintbirbs
lizclaytonfuller.com/

DMCS Links
domorecoolshit.com/
instagram.com/domorecoolshit.ca

Ep. 44

The big truth about simplicity, do it! That is all there is to know. MAKE YOUR LIFE AND YOUR DECISIONS S I M P L E!

On this episode we explore the complexity bias, which is the idea that we tend to believe more complex solutions are better than simpler ones. I believe this is one of the major reasons that creatives stall and procrastinate. This idea that our output should be more complex, more put together before we release it. That our work should be PERFECT for us to even consider releasing it is something that boils my blood. In this episode I did my best to share AS MANY EXAMPLES of simplicity working (see links to all kinds of the clips and podcasts and accounts that I spoke about down below)

Mel and Steven episode
Bob Clearmountain's Studio
Jack Conte on being raw
Dr. Ellen Langer on Rich Roll
Casey Neistat on Elon Musk's 6 Rules

Hydraulic Press Channel
Bottle Falling ASMR
DokaRyan (Candy in Drinks)
BlendTec's Will It Blend

So the next time you think about the creative thing you want to do, DO IT. Use any and all of the tools to move forward. No more analysis by paralysis.

Challenge: Think about one creative thing in your life that is complicated and try to figure out away to make it simpler.

Thanks so much for listening. Happy creating! 

• Visit domorecoolshit.com and tell me what you are working on.
• DMCS Instagram to get your daily dose of yelling and motivation

In this episode I have an absolutely amazing conversation with artist and overall creative Zach Dayler. The thing that makes this episode so special is that Zach maintains a full time job but is beginning his journey with making money from his art.

We talk about what is holding him back and how he might move forward. Zach's energy and enthusiasm is always welcomed in my world and I hope it is in yours as well.

I met Zach when he had a corporate job that allowed him to flex a bit of his creativity. Zach has always been excellent at building creativity into his life no matter where he is. That was the very first spark I ever saw and then he made some career changes and WOW was I ever surprised at this man's seemingly overnight (came to learn later that it was a long time practicing and waiting to burst out) talent. Zach sent me a photo of a portrait that had been done so excellently and in such a unique manner. I was blown away. I was even more blown away when he revealed it was him who so expertly painted this portrait on a sheet of drywall. Thus began my line of questioning as to why he hadn't shared this amazing talent with the world way sooner?

This is a great episode for anyone who is thinking about starting their own creative practice at any time in their life. You will have no ability to not do the thing, whatever that thing is in your world, after you listen to Zach.

Finally, make sure and go check out Zach's Instagram account and then drop him a note and tell him to do more selling of his art: https://instagram.com/dayler

After you listen to this episode I hope you let out all the creativity that is just sitting dormant inside you. Go paint a wall! Why not? 

One of the best ways to do more cool shit is to get better at trying a whole bunch of stuff. We can find ourselves stuff in a creative kind of prison as our life becomes a bit more routine and filled with habits. While habits and routines and rituals can be great, they can also slow us down and prevent us from trying new things. 

So how do we get out of these ruts? How do we stay fresh? In this episode I talk about 5 ways that can help you keep moving and help you break free. 

1. Open yourself up to new experiences
2. Get used to discomfort
3. Love learning
4. Find creativity in the mundane
5. Be gentle with yourself, start small

These are just 5 of the MANY tips that can really help us move forward and to try new things. 

A few links related to many of the things I talk about in this episode:

• Ann (arcasian) Alonso: https://twitch.tv/arcasian
• Zach Dayler: https://instagram.com/dayler
• TED-Ed Matt Cutts Talk: video

Finally, do not judge my lack of knowledge of CROCHETING. I was demonstrating being comfortable with being wrong and failing, so never you mind. 

This is the first of many conversations in 2024 that I have had the chance to have and this episode is FILLED with so many wonderful nuggets about setting yourself up for success, for how to plan for that success, for giving yourself time to create, for relieving some pressure about the hustle mentality, for so many things.

Ann is very open and honest and that is one of the main reasons I absolutely adore her and wanted to have her on as a guest to the podcast.

If you want to visit Tiny Town, where Ann is the Mayor, then hop on over to:
twitch.tv/arcasian

Also go check out all the amazing art work and support over at:
https://arcasian.com/
https://www.patreon.com/arcasian

This is the end of another year and I'm back with 5 final thoughts to challenge you with for the year coming.

I pull clips from some amazing creatives that I think will really help hit some of these messages and challenges home.

1. If you're struggling, great! - Rich Roll -  https://www.richroll.com/

2. Explore. Break your habits. - Sir. Patrick Stewart -https://twitter.com/sirpatstew

3. Take care of YOUR behaviours - Craig Ferguson - https://twitter.com/CraigyFerg

4. Get rid of negative. Find your positive - Steve Harvey - https://twitter.com/IAmSteveHarvey and Andre De Shields: https://twitter.com/Andre_DeShields

5. Keep things simple - Casey Neistat: https://www.youtube.com/caseyneistat

Thanks for checking in and I look forward to seeing you all and hearing from you all in 
2024. 

In this episode I had the chance to sit with Janna Lee Cushing and speak about her many many journeys of accomplishing few things people have done in this world. JL started out as a young woman in a very small town being home schooled and recently ended up in the Yukon running the YukonQuest 100 dog sledding race, something that very few people will ever accomplish or even attempt. 

The YQ100 only came after she also became one of the very first young woman in North America to achieve her levels with Krav Maga while travelling to and training in France. 

Janna Lee's push and determination is so incredibly inspirational and once you have a chance to hear her story you will always feel like you can accomplish so much. 

Make sure and follow along as Janna Lee continues to her journey: https://www.instagram.com/jannaleecushing/ 

In this episode I really want to break your habit of being comfortable. If you are looking to do more cool shit in your life, then being too comfortable is one of the biggest hurdles you will have to face.

One of the best ways to break that habit is to change what we are comfortable with. What if we were comfortable with change? With learning? With being "bad" at stuff. The quicker you get to a state of mind where you are trying things, the more you will learn to enjoy the journey of learning. The more you try stuff the overwhelming feeling you will get of accomplishment and of achievement. You will bring back your childhood sense of wonder and awe and feelings of doing stuff. Those feelings of doing things are things that we tend to lose overtime because everything becomes a routine, everything becomes rote and easy. What might happen when you challenge yourself to learn something new?

This weeks challenge to help you do the things your bad at is: To Make It and Move On! If you want to try something new, you find yourself stuck in routine, then try something new, make the things (a song, a poem, an video, anything) and then delete it...post it...share it with a friends (whatever the words Move On means to you.) The main point is to get more comfortable with making the thing and being DONE with the thing.

I played a clip from a song written by Jessica McCabe from the youtube channel: How to ADHD, you can find the whole clip by clicking HERE.

I also referenced an article written by: Emily Torres, The Case For Being Bad at Things, you can click on the title to read the entire article.

You can also check out The Try Guys and Yes Theory which are both amazing channels that will help inspire you to keep trying and keep saying yes to new experiences. 

Lastly, please do find me on any of the social or on the website and let me know how your Make It and Move On challenge is coming along OR send me anything cool you are working on so I can share it with others because we all know we need the wins. And if you have a barrier that is stopping you then let me know that to. 

Thanks for listening you creative nerd. I always appreciate all the listens, watches, and comments. It's been such a fun journey so far. And that's all in part because of awesome people like you. 

Failure, success, moments of happiness, miniature sex toys, live streaming, art museums, and years of creating and making this episode has it all.

In this episode I was so happy to be able to have a conversation with Mark Dudlik who is an incredible creative force and who has been a "creator type" for a very long time. Before we started recording Mark and I joked about having a battle, a podfight, if you will and I think we accomplished that. I hope you tune in an listen and enjoy and I also hope you pick your winner, because that is crucially important, before the episode starts.

Mark, like so many other creators/creatives/artists/designers has a very harsh outlook on his craft and what he puts out in the world. But don't believe any of it, so much of what he does is amazing. Furthermore, I don't give a shit how good any of it is because what still amazes me the most about this creative human is his non-stop attitude. Mark says it himself that he is "always seeking moments of happiness." It's this continual strive to find those moments and fulfill your heart and your brain and your soul that I think is so important, perhaps THEE single most important thing on the planet and our time here on it.

Give this episode a watch: 
https://www.youtube.com/@domorecoolshit

Make sure and go say hi to Mark Dudlik and tell him DMCS sent you:
https://www.twitch.tv/dudlik

No matter what in life, and maybe even moreso, in creativity we have to really understand that CHANGE is going to happen. Most times we don't like change, change is hard, change means that our habits, our rituals, our paths are about to get diverted. We must walk into the unknown.

After many years of working and coaching and learning and leading I have come to realize that this diversion is never simply a good or bad thing. All change comes with its ups and downs in life but the one thing we can do to deal with change is understand and live with what we can control.

What would happen if you walked into every situation, every change with a positive outlook?

A great story of constant change revolves around Ray Kroc and how he expanded the McDonald's operation. For those who like a visual storytelling The Founder does a great job of capturing the story and all the changes that happened along the way.

Want to grow your project? Want to take a risk? Why don't you start with micro-changes?

Not sure where to start or want someone to talk with well that's what the DMCS project is all about. Visit domorecoolshit.com and drop me a note there, I always love chatting all things creative.