Your work is a gift

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In college I was a design minor, and as such, I was always trying to be as cool and artistic and fashionable as the design majors around me. I failed, miserably, but like the baby sister, I felt special enough just tagging along and being included.

One of my more memorable tag-along experiences was a talk by designer James Victore. He had a raspy voice and a no-nonsense philosophy. He was honest and inspiring and funny. At the end he gave out posters that he had designed, and I took my favorite one home. It currently hangs on my bedroom wall.

Six years later, he’s on YouTube. Every Tuesday he answers questions about the creative life, using that same raspy voice and no-nonsense mentality. There are 33 (brief) videos so far, and I caught up on all of them yesterday. Here are a few highlights:

‎”Success doesn’t always look like what it looks like on the menu.”

“Part one of Inspiration is Work.”

‎”Stop asking permission.”

“Your work is a gift. And if you start thinking like this, start believing this, it actually changes your attitude about your work. And it radically changes what you create.”

“Complaining is not conversation.”

“You’re not lost; you’re searching.”

“Jump, and make it beautiful.”


8 responses to “Your work is a gift”

  1. Ang Avatar

    Thank you for sharing!

  2. […] post by Kristan: “Your work is a gift,” with some awesome quotes and links to videos (that I enjoyed watching) by James Victore, […]

  3. Jon Avatar

    I love this guy, thanks for introducing me to him. Very quotable, too!

  4. Anthony Lee Collins Avatar

    “Stop asking permission.”

    This is a big one. I see so many questions from writers that amount to wondering if they have permission to do something they’ve been told is against the rules.

  5. Rachele Alpine Avatar

    That poster is great, and I love how he does a video every single week! It’s sucha cool thing for his fans to look forward to!

  6. Sonje Avatar

    I’m loving, “Success doesn’t always look like what it looks like on the menu.”

  7. Shari Avatar

    “Jump, and make it beautiful.”

    I love this — and the fact that it’s not “Jump, and it’s beautiful.” Even when we take a leap, we also have to take those further steps to make the leap count, to make it beautiful, to make it worth it.

    Thanks for sharing the quotes and video!

  8. Kristan Avatar

    Glad you guys enjoyed him! And btw, I find it interesting how you each picked up on different quotes/ideas to identify with. :)