Building up my portfolio of stock vectors on Shutterstock over the past few months has been unexpectedly therapeutic. Like knitting; or weaving as the lovely La Ludi said to me on Facebook. A lovely way to get into a state of Flow. Challenging enough to be engaging and satisfying, but not stressful. It is intrinsically (and immediately whenever a drawing is complete) rewarding.
My latest images for sale at Shutterstock:
What is also satisfying is the fact that people want my drawings enough to buy them. This “monetary validation” adds a special spark to the activity – regardless of the actual amounts. This is in some ways more satisfying than blogging - because it is hard to know if people read/appreciate my blog posts. The statistics say they are. But statistics don’t resonate with me that deeply. (To the people who commented,emailed and phoned me, THANK YOU!!!!)
We all need some level of external validation for what we do. It is not healthy for our wellbeing to rely sole on external approval of course. But positive affirming messages from other people are good things for sure – even as I remind myself that my blogging is not about wining popularity contests (otherwise I’d be writing about Kim Kardashian’s entrails…)
