Are you asking a lot of yourself?

The pendulum has been swinging both ways in the conversation about creative work in recent years.

There are many people trying to figure out how to do less, simplify their lives, and create a sustainable pace of life for themselves.

I believe in this mission.

There are also people challenging the comfort of conventional modern paradigms of work and consumption. These people want you to have passion in your work, to be able to work from anywhere, and to constantly question whether you are improving yourself and the world.

I believe in this mission, too.

It is certainly asking a lot to keep these two paradoxical beliefs in play, but I think that it’s just one more way of viewing this balancing act we call an authentic life.

Here’s one of my favorite people (she’s in my “Wishcraft Family“), talking about being vulnerable and uncomfortable (simple but not easy) in order to create something new and meaningful. It’s a helpful way to look at a writer’s life.

My favorite quote from Brene Brown in this video is this:

“Our objective here is not comfort. It’s being courageous; it’s innovation.”

That statement is hard-ass enough to wake people up from their comfortably automated lives, but it also gives them a goal worth striving for.