⚒️ TREE 290: Do hard things, but also…

Throwback Friday – TREE 19

One.

Lie: if it’s easy, it’s bad.
Lie: it can’t be good unless it’s hard.

I was the victim of the protestant work ethic combined with spending some of my teenage years in a religious cult that was deeply suspicious of people doing anything that they loved. If you were naturally good at something, they taught, you should probably give it up, especially if doing the thing made you happy. Life was about sacrifice.

I really bought into it for a while.
I gave up drawing.
I gave up graphic design.
I didn’t go to university.

Except that I wasn’t any good at not drawing or designing. I just kept doing drawing and designing things, even when my job was something else. Eventually I realised that if something came naturally to me, it probably meant it was something I should be doing, not something I should be giving up.

So I accepted that I draw and design. It’s part of who I am. I eventually went and got a degree too. It was three of the most fun years of my life so far.

If you find something that you are good at,
something you that brings you joy,
something that feels playful even when you are working incredibly hard,
something that creates good in the world,
KEEP DOING THAT THING.

Two.

‘My name’s Trevor, but for some reason most people call me Ping Pong.’

Three.

One of the best kinds of boogie.

Some things

You have no idea how incredibly grateful I am that you make this little email a part of your life. Thank you.

You know the TREE board on Pinterest I shared last week? It’s updating properly now. Feel free to give it a follow.

Grow Slowly on Reddit.

The last time I told you a proper story was back in March. It was about Little Silver Fish. I think next week I’ll tell you about Doris and Doug.

On 29 November, Katerina’s back on TREE to help you reimagine holiday cooking!

Something for the weekend

In My Skin is billed as a comedy. It is. It’s the kind of comedy that punches you in the gut and makes your eyes leak. If you’re watching the telly this weekend, watch this. BBC, Hulu

Happy weekend
Jeff