All in My Creative Life

Leaving WordPress for Squarespace to Host My Creative Content

Leaving WordPress for Squarespace to Host My Creative Content

Jody Yarborough
My Creative Life

If you are a creative entrepreneur who is currently using WordPress to host your content, and you are thinking of switching to a different platform, let this blog post serve as a kind of permission slip. Because years ago, when I was thinking of leaving WordPress , I came upon a blog post written by a woman who had just made the leap from WordPress to Squarespace. She explained her reasons and rationale, but all in all what the post did was permit me to let go of all my hang-ups about sticking it out on WordPress and make the leap myself.

Learning From Masterclass

Learning From Masterclass

Jody Yarborough
My Creative Life

A dear friend of mine gave me the most wonderful gift for Christmas. She asked me what would be something that would enrich my learning and support me with my goals. I thought about it for a while, and then it came to me: a subscription to Masterclass. I have been contemplating subscribing for some time, but to be honest, we try to limit the number of subscription services we have in the Yarborough house. I already had a Skillshare subscription, so I wasn’t ready to sign up for another. When my friend offered it to me as such a generous gift, it voided that obstacle.

If you aren’t familiar with Masterclass, it is a subscription platform hosting tutorials and lectures pre-recorded by experts in various fields. Names like Hans Zimmer, Judy Blume, Wolfgang Puck, Malcolm Gladwell, Shonda Rhimes, Steve Martin, etc.

Special Announcement: Opening my Own Etsy Shop!

Special Announcement: Opening my Own Etsy Shop!

Jody Yarborough
My Creative Life

I have an exciting announcement to make here on Jody Write Now: I've opened my own Etsy Shop. It's called Love Disabled Life, and you can check it out here.

For several years, I've had the idea of wanting to share themes of positive disability identity and experiences of disabled life. I first explored this idea by vlogging my life on YouTube and sharing my disabled experiences. But as I've watched other digital creatives monetize their various talents on social media, I started to ask myself, "If they can do it, why can't I?"

Despite what you hear about overnight YouTube sensations, the grind of being a small creator on YouTube is, well, a grind. It is a slow process that requires a lot of hard work and consistency. And even more so when you are in a niche like the disability community. I quickly realized monetizing through that platform was not a realistic goal. At least not right now.

You can read more about the origin story for Love Disabled LIfe in this blog post. In addition to all the reasons I describe in that post, I also wanted to start a small business to explore my entrepreneurial curiosities and contribute to our family income.

Trying National Novel Writing Month in November (NaNoWriMo) to KickStart My Writing Ambitions

Trying National Novel Writing Month in November (NaNoWriMo) to KickStart My Writing Ambitions

Jody Yarborough
My Creative Life

Sometimes you just need something to help give you a boost for that big goal you simply cannot seem to get started. NaNoWriMo has been just such a thing for me in my writing journey.

What is NaNoWriMo, you ask? Well, it stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it is a nonprofit organization, primarily based online, that exists to support writers. They are most well-known for hosting a contest to see who can write 50,000 words on a fictional writing project in November.

Their mission states: NaNoWriMo is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that believes in the transformational power of creativity. We provide the structure, community, and encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative goals, and build new worlds—on and off the page.

Listening to My Own Creative Intuition

Listening to My Own Creative Intuition

Jody Yarborough
My Creative Life

It's hard to put into words really... what I'm thinking and feeling these days about my creative journey. It makes for a challenging blog post, but I'm going to try nonetheless. What do you get when you combine equal parts self-confidence with self-consciousness? Mostly a frustratingly journey of starts and stops where I've found myself quickly motivated and inspired by others "success" only to feel empty and lacking of my own.

What it Means to Be a Creative

What it Means to Be a Creative

Jody Yarborough
My Creative Life

There is a quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt that hangs on the bulletin board in my home office offers insight into what it means to me to be a creative person.

It reads: "Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of the creative effort."

I'm not sure how FDR had time for creative outlets during his time as President for a historic three terms. But as a brief read through his biography on Wikipedia indicates, he was a scholarly man of many interests. So it is probably his appreciation for a pioneering creative person from which this quote derives.

How the Book "Big Magic" Helped Me With My Struggle for Creative Perfection

How the Book "Big Magic" Helped Me With My Struggle for Creative Perfection

Jody Yarborough
My Creative Life

"Don't let perfect be the enemy of good" is a quote most attributed to Voltaire, the French philosopher and writer during the Age of Enlightenment. Variations of the sentiment have been espoused by philosophers and wise men (and women) throughout the ages. Like most great quotes, I think it stings when you read it because it's true. Progress can come to a stop in the quest for perfection. Many creatives can fall victim to this trap. What's the antidote? Just keep going.

Why I Enjoy Paper Crafting and Making Cards

Why I Enjoy Paper Crafting and Making Cards

Jody Yarborough
My Creative Life

I had such a fun night making cards and crafting with my girlfriends. Sometimes to get the creative juices flowing what matters is just showing up.

That is the approach I took when my good friend and fellow creative, Kate Watson, invited me to be a part of her group, Ladies Art Social. Once a month a group of women gather. Their purpose is to get their creative juices flowing by making art in different mediums.

Reflecting on My Journalism Degree and How It Helped to Define Me

Reflecting on My Journalism Degree and How It Helped to Define Me

Jody Yarborough
My Creative Life

It is definitely a Friday. I've been very reflective lately, which, to be honest, hasn't done a lot for my creativity or productivity. If anything, it just has made me think about all of the goals I want to accomplish and lament how fast time seems to be flying by. Time is the great equalizer of life. We all have it, yet it is never guaranteed. How people choose to spend their time often ends up defining who they are. Some

Reflecting Back on Past Essays and Writing

Reflecting Back on Past Essays and Writing

Jody Yarborough
My Creative Life

The stack is about three inches tall, about nine manilla file folders worth. In them are about three years of intense writing work I did as part of my undergraduate studies 15 years ago while earning my degree in journalism with a minor in creative writing. The writing I crammed into those few years caused me to burn out and turn to the business world for employment immediately after college. It took me about five years to pick up a pen and notepad again when I was a reporter for a small rural newspaper in Wisconsin. I remained at the Daily Citizen for only nine months. My crime and county government beat didn't exactly bring out the passion of creative or feature writing that I was able to pursue in my college days. It did help to build my confidence, however. It affirmed the belief that I had what it took to be a reporter, even if news writing wasn't what I wanted to do.

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