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LCN 098: How Denise Logan Became the Sparkle Fairy

LCN 098: How Denise Logan Became the Sparkle Fairy
The Creative Sandbox Way™
LCN 098: How Denise Logan Became the Sparkle Fairy
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LCN 098: How Denise Logan Became the Sparkle FairyWay back in August of 2015 I received an email in my inbox that made me perk up my ears.

Now, I have to tell you, probably 90 percent of requests from strangers that I receive via email go straight into the trash. But this email, even though it was a request from a stranger, and it was a little on the long side, got my attention.

And this woman, Denise Logan of Chase What Matters, got an invitation to be on my podcast.

That said, it has taken a year and a half for the recording to go live, which is really embarrassing.

Even more embarrassing, there are actually five more conversations from that same time period that are still waiting to be published.

Why has it taken so long?

(And by the way, I published another conversation with Alessandra Wall a couple of weeks ago, which I said in that recording was from Fall of 2016. Correction: that conversation was actually recorded in 2015.)

Well, if you’ve been following me for any time at all, you can guess why these recordings have been languishing on my hard drive: [Read more…]

Don’t just follow your bliss, do it and own it!

So here’s a funny thing: years ago, before I was a Renaissance Woman Multi-Passionate Creative Entrepreneur, before I even knew there was such a thing, back when I was lost and casting about desperately for something to be when I grew up, I decided to be a writer.

The only problem was I didn’t spend much time actually writing.

I thought a lot about writing. I read a lot about writing. But I didn’t actually write much.

Except in my journal (where I actually wrote a ton), and that didn’t “count.”

I was stuck in a box that said that writers either write fiction (my goal at the time) or magazine or newspaper articles. Personal essays, or sales copy, or blog posts? The first two just weren’t on my radar, and the last didn’t exist yet!

So I tried, half-heartedly to write fiction, but couldn’t seem to come up with any worthy ideas. And because I was young and impatient, it didn’t occur to me that writing might be a skill that could be developed over time.

As a result, I felt like an untalented loser who would never amount to anything.

Meh.

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that I started putting my energies elsewhere, “procrastinating” by doing art projects, in fact. Apparently, I wasn’t meant to be a writer (I thought); clearly I was supposed to be an artist. A calligrapher, in fact, which seemed especially fitting: I started out wanting to write beautifully, and instead learned how to do beautiful writing. Or something like that.

Fifteen years later, it’s all come full circle. I’ve been writing for my businesses for the past decade and a half, I’ve penned articles here and there, and I never stopped writing in my journal (which does “count,” of course).

And now, thanks to my blogs, I write (and publish!) on an almost daily basis. Plus I actually make money as a writer from my copywriting business.

Go figure.

The lesson here? (Because of course there is one!) Don’t let anyone, especially yourself, put you in a box or tell you what you can or cannot do or be!

If you write, you’re a writer, by golly.

If you make art, you’re an artist.

If you make music, you’re a musician.

If you do a whole bunch of stuff (like me), maybe you’re a Multi-Passionate Creative Artrepreneur! Or whatever.

You get to figure out your own title. I don’t care if you make money from it or not (though making money is always nice). You get to own it, and refine it over time, and polish up your multi-faceted self identity until it sparkles and shines!

Of course there’s one catch: you can’t just think about it, you’ve got to actually do the thing in order to call yourself a thing-doer.

It doesn’t matter if you do it in public or in private. It doesn’t matter if nobody ever sees the fruits of your labors. You still get to own it. You still get to call yourself whatever title you want.

So don’t just think about the thing you want to do or be (and I know you want it!) Get out there (or in there) and do it!

You owe it to yourself.

Me, I’m going to go write another blog post.

Big internal changes require big external changes

When I got divorced I cut my hair. Not just a trim—I went from long, plain (though fabulously red!) locks, to a short, sassy new hairstyle.

My reasoning: big life changes require big hair changes.

After all, I was integrating a new identity as a single woman. I needed a new “face” to show the world.

Now, over a decade later, I’m in creative free-fall, an exhilarating (if sometimes exasperating) state, and I’m in the process of integrating a new identity once again.

This time, though, instead of divorce, it’s the metaphorical opposite: instead of splitting up a relationship, I’m bringing together my many relationships with my many selves.

There’s Melissa the artist and calligrapher. There’s Melissa the singer/songwriter. There’s Melissa the writer/blogger. There’s Melissa the teacher/coach. (Notice how even my individual identities are multiples!)

For much too long I’ve separated out these various selves (and their sub-identities and offshoots). It’s time to consolidate and integrate.

The new title:
Melissa Dinwiddie, Renaissance Woman Multi-Passionate Creative Artrepreneur

I tried on Renaissance Woman for awhile, and it was a great exercise. But it wasn’t quite right.

There were a few problems:

  1. Not everyone is familiar with the term “Renaissance Man (or Woman),” especially people from other countries! I guess it’s an English-speaking thing.
  2. There’s the unintended implication that “Renaissance” in the title means involvement in historical re-enactments. Um, no. Ren Faires are cool (and I sure wanted a hoop skirt when I was 9!), just not what I’m about.

I knew I needed a new title, and when I listened to a Question the Rules interview with Marie Forleo I knew I’d found part of it. Marie calls herself a “multi-passionate entrepreneur,” and like me, she’s got a lot of different stuff going on, her fingers in a lot of pies. (Check out her site — she’s a great inspiration!)

And contrary to the conventional wisdom that niche-ing oneself is essential for success, she makes her diversity work for her business and her brand!

ROCK ON! I want me some of that!

However, “entrepreneur” doesn’t adequately describe me. It’s too “business-y,” and excludes the creative/art side of who I am and what I do. So I added “creative,” and changed “entrepreneur” to “artrepreneur.”

So: Multi-Passionate Creative Artrepreneur. (Thanks Marie!)

The website

In addition to a title, I knew I needed a new website. When I started LACL, my immediate goal was to get my feet wet in the world of blogging. I didn’t have a clear vision of how it would fit in with my overall business model or brand, just that I wanted to start writing and exploring.

At the moment, I’ve got a whole bunch of disparate websites, each showing different sides of myself and what I offer.

Ketubahworks = my wedding and lifecycle art

MDDesignworks = my calligraphy and design (and not updated in years!)

MelissaSings = my music

The Dating Queen = my blog about dating

Living A Creative Life = my blog about following my evolving Blisses and creating the life I really, really want.

(And there’s also the unfinished Wedding Artworks = my ill-fated site that I started when I thought it would be a brilliant idea to try and capture the larger wedding market. Suffice it to say, it was an expensive mistake.)

Now I realize I need a platform that consolidates all of those facets together.

I need a site that represents the whole me.

Here’s a mind map of what that looks like today:

So now my big project goal is to build a new site that ties it all together. A lot of work, but I’m excited about it! Once I have it up, I’ll be able to send people to ONE site, rather than several.

So now I’ve got a brand new site that ties is all together! A lot of work, and still ongoing, but I’m excited about it! Now I can actually send people to ONE site, rather than several.

This is exciting! I’ve got that telltale buzzing inside that’s a sure sign I’m on the path the Universe wants me on right now. (Know what I’m talking about? If so, you’re definitely a kindred spirit.)

Big internal changes require big external changes.

Watch this space!

My Identity Crisis: Solved by a Title? Or “What’s In A Name?”

Today I made what feels like a pivotal decision. I’ve been “identity crisis girl” for way too long, and I think I’ve finally found the solution. For years I’ve been tip-toeing my way around it, but in one fell swoop I’ve finally consolidated all of my identities into one: Renaissance Woman.

This may not sound like such a big deal to you, gentle imaginary reader, since I already describe myself as such pretty much everywhere you look all over this blog (as well as on my other blogs, KetubahDiva and The Dating Queen), but since the change is internal, it’s actually quite huge.

And here’s the thing: I’m now claiming it (“Renaissance Woman”) as my official job title.

That’s right, with business cards and all. In fact, it was the business card idea that make me bust through a block and finally, once and for all, just CLAIM that identity! Woot!

A somewhat interesting (at least to me) background story

Several weeks ago, while at the theater with my then-bf/now-ex-bf, I was on the fringe of a conversation that he was having with a stranger he’d chatted up in the lobby during intermission. When said stranger asked him what kind of work he did, he replied “I’m a writer,” pulled out his card, and elaborated on the writing niche he occupied.

Then the stranger turned to me.

Ack! What to say?! I’d only a week or so before officially launched my own writing business, so I was trying on that identity and also wanting to network as a writer, so I said, “I’m actually a writer too. I help businesses communicate more effectively with their marketing materials: brochures, newsletters, ads, case studies, press releases, websites, etc.”

But then, not wanting to miss an opportunity to network around my other offerings, I handed him my “Artist” card, and explained that I also make fine art documents and stationery for weddings and other lifecycle events…

Okay…

And then (oh, stop me) I pulled out one of my CD samplers, and told him that, btw, I’m also a jazz singer and songwriter…

Oh, the pain.

When we got back to our seats, the then-bf/now-ex-bf expressed what can only be called disgust with my over-enthusiastic card-handing-out. A stranger in the lobby of a theater you hand THREE BUSINESS CARDS for god’s sake? Gauche, indeed. Have some restraint, girl!

I was horribly humiliated. He was right, of course, that handing a stranger a passel of business cards upon first meeting is just … not cool. Yuck.

Resolving the multiple-business-card/multiple-identities crisis

But what is someone like me supposed to do? Just giving someone one card – say, my writer card – leaves a huge chunk of what I do and who I am out of the equation. Of course, if you work at ABC Accounting Firm and you hand someone your card, you don’t expect that they will think all you do with your time is accounting. Quite the contrary; they will assume you make your income from accounting, and probably have some kind of life and identity outside of being an accountant (or whatever job title you hold at ABC).

What gets a little tricky is when your job and your identity are so closely merged. And when you have multiple businesses, each of which is merged with said identity to one degree or another (even if some of them make more income than others).

It’s an interesting situation in which to find oneself.

And today, I have stumbled upon a solution that will finally allow me to hand out one business card, while proudly maintaining my right to own each of my multiple identities, because they are now all wrapped up in one: “Renaissance Woman.”

That’s what my new business card says, with various subtitles and their associated URLs on the back. No more will I have to say “I’m a writer, and artist, and singer/songwriter,” or “I’m an artist.. and musician.. and I write, too..” or any other variation thereof.

I am, from this point forward, hereby claiming my new job title as Renaissance Woman.

Man, it feels good!

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