Small Pond Graphics

July 13, 2011 essays

The Courage to Make Change

“I want to make changes. Not let change happen around me.”

I read that comment this week, and it rocked me. I write a lot about change, it seems. I guess it comes from being in an intense season of change over the last year. That whirlwind can sometimes blur your vision where change (and everything else) is concerned. So the comment rocked me. It stopped me and made me re-examine the subject.

It’s one thing to accept change. Even to want it. It’s quite another to make it.

So often we look at change as this ethereal force happening all around us that we are left to compensate for, overlook, grab hold and ride, or be blown away by. Take your pick of one of those positions; the navigation is the same. It’s out of our control. Some unknown and seemingly rampant tide is in charge, pulling us along for the ride. And we are relegated to letting it happen.

I haven’t written about courage (my 2010-11 theme word) in several months, but I think the decision to”make change” certainly requires it. To reject the mentality that change is out of our hands and firmly take the reins of responsibility ourselves takes courage. (Why does a rodeo bull-riding metaphor come to mind?)

It takes courage.

The courage to imagine something new and different — to see it.
The courage to see it as possible.
The courage to see ourselves as worthy of this new possibility.
The courage to recognize our own value.
And our own values.
The courage to ask questions.
To take stands.
To dare to be bold. Even brazen in our pursuit of that possibility we see.
And the courage to move and step and act and speak.

Just as “making change” in the mundane sense is exchanging currency like dollars for coins, to make change in broader strokes requires a more prominent exchange. We exchange this direction for that one — the one that more closely aligns with the destination (and journey) our souls require. We exchange someone else’s priorities for our own — the ones we own in that secret place that comes alive in our hearts when we know we are where we need to be. We exchange the superfluous for the necessary — that list of essentials representing the lowest common denominator for our unique life of joy. We exchange the ever-abstract big picture for exquisite details — those nitty-gritty, real-world specifics that characterize the life we MUST have each and every day.

Those exchanges can never happen by chance in the billowing tide of an ethereal “wind of change.” No, those exchanges only happen with intention, with choosing, with moving and acting. With making change.

And that takes courage.

July 1, 2011 in the studio

One Year

I’m celebrating the one-year birthday of Small Pond Graphics today! It’s been a year marked by new things, for sure. New starts. New day-to-day activities. New creative environment. New skills. New collaborations. And, thankfully, new clients. I’ve had the opportunity this year to spread my wings a little. My task has been to do the very things I so often help clients do. Differentiate myself. Own my unique offerings. Determine what I’m passionate about in this industry. Establish my own voice. Tell my story. And do the work.

As I acknowledge the milestone of one year in business, I’ve been thinking over the story of Small Pond Graphics — what I want my company and my design life to be about — and I keep coming back to two ideas that continually get me hopping.

It’s a small world.

You only have to enjoy a 140-character Twitter conversation with a web designer in Australia on a Thursday morning to realize it. You only have to look at countries and businesses and people half-way around this ball pushing through the same struggles and successes to realize we are all companions in this journey called work and life. So many times, we eschew small in favor of bigger and better. But, what I’ve seen with the growth of social media and the changing climate of our digital lives is that this new technology is moving us smaller and smaller with the ability to share the details of life and business with folks we would never have imagined just twenty years ago. In fact, the social marketplace we inhabit is becoming more and more like the word-of-mouth Main Street of black and white movies. The Main Street is just a global one now.

With these realities comes the fact that we all start small. Small is inevitably the beginning of big. Giving attention to the small things and doing them well is the foundation for bigger things — bigger services, bigger markets. I want to cultivate in Small Pond Graphics an appreciation and attention to small things, seemingly small clients, small details. I want to be excellent, not “even” in, but especially in the small.

Frogs can be princes.

In my very first blog post here, Prince Potential, I was thinking about the old tale of the frog and the princess — more specifically, her willingness to look past the wartiness of the creature to see his potential. And, her willingness to risk a kiss to make it happen. Yes, it’s a great fairy tale, but there’s something about it I want to capture in the real life of my business. So often we live in a world where WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) is paramount. I think that’s a shame. It defies one of those remarkable things about entrepreneurs and great thinkers and just humans — the ability to exceed expectations, to offer well beyond what has already been conceived. I want “what you get” from Small Pond Graphics to be much more than what you’ve already imagined. It’s how I see my role with my clients. One of my passions has always been to apply creativity, good design skills and even a few new thoughts to a client’s “big idea” — to help it achieve fruition with it’s best face on. In essence, to give marketing and visual wings to someone’s dream. No, not every project requires that kind of flight. But, I do believe every project and every client deserves that kiss of uncommon imaginative attention. I want Small Pond Graphics to be about giving it. Every time.

So, you’ve been privy to my own evaluations and ramblings on this Small Pond birthday. Thank you. And thank you for your support and confidence during this first year in business. I’m looking forward to another year of finding princes.

June 16, 2011 beautiful ordinary, free art + printables

Summer Daze

It’s Summer time, and I don’t have anything profound to say about that fact. Nope. Summer just seems to defy profundity and position itself squarely in the camp of carefree. And, I guess that IS a little profound. Sometimes in the thick of real life, carefree is very elusive.

Who can’t smile at gumballs? Aren’t they the the epitome of instant sweet-filled and quickly-fleeting summertime carefree moments? I took the photo in this month’s desktop wallpaper image one Sunday afternoon earlier this month. That day, I did just what I imagine I did as a child on a summer weekend afternoon. I gazed at the scrumptious offerings inside a window, but was too drawn by the possibilities of the moment to stop and go inside. Summer daze gone by — when the endless opportunities of free time were almost overwhelming. And the absence of time constraints almost made me dizzy with possibilities.

I love that feeling. And, even though my constraints are a little more rigid in this grown-up June and July, I hope I can still capture a touch of that daze. Just a touch of that carefree heart peeking in the window, but too busy with loving life to bother with dropping in the coin. Enjoy my personal glimpse of summer, and feel free to download to use in your own devices. *wink*

June 12, 2011 beautiful ordinary, on faith

Day of Rest

I’ve been thinking about rest again. It seems to happen on the weekends naturally. This being Sunday, the “day of rest,” I’ve been thinking about it again in the context of the Sabbath. The Bible says that God instituted the concept of the Sabbath on the seventh day of his creation of the world.

“On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.” (genesis 2:1-2)

Thus, the idea of a holy day of rest was born. In the account, God had surveyed the words of his mouth and the work of his hands at a stopping point the day before. He determined that it was all very good and he “rested.” Just what was this resting about, that the God of the universe chose to do it?

Was God tired? Did he need sleep after the exhaustion of his labors? That doesn’t really fit with the concept of God revealed throughout the Bible, and yet I see that pervading some of the ideas surrounding what men do with the Sabbath.

After the success of his creative endeavors, did God suddenly feel the desire to be worshipped? Did the demand for a designated day of worship somehow reveal itself on the seventh day? That doesn’t seem to fit either. No, God was no more worthy of worship on day seven in his pause of creation than he was on day six or day five. He made no command for any of his creation to join him that day in his “rest”, nor did he demand any act of worship for himself out of the day’s holiness. Although, that seems to be the popular sentiment as well. That admonition came later, and I’ll admit that I’ve always viewed it a part of the idea of Sabbath. But, it really wasn’t indoctrinated that way in this dawning of a day seven.

A year or so ago, I came across the definition of the Hebrew word for Sabbath — “shabbat”. To cease. I’ve written about it several times in this EyeJunkie space. Yet, as evidenced by this post, I keep coming back to it. I keep coming back to trying to understand it, or trying to implement it’s obvious importance into my life. Why an obvious importance? Well, God himself observed it, after all. Between the thoughts of worship services and just catching up on sleep, what does it mean to rest, to set apart a “day” of rest? What did it mean, that God would choose it?

It’s interesting to me that this was perhaps the first act in a process of worship that began as a declaration of a holy moment–a designation–and progressed into a command to remember it and continue it. To keep stopping. To keep setting it apart.

To cease. It makes perfect sense, but so often I overlook it. I breeze right through it in an attempt to get on with the business of doing something. The ceasing part so often eludes me in the process of doing and creating and living. Yet, God chose to stop, to cease. He surveyed what he had done. He evaluated it. He recognized it’s significance. And he claimed it’s success. He named it “very good.”

That’s a powerful concept. I’ve been reminded recently how important it is in roads of change to recognize milestones. To take stock and acknowledge the small (and big) successes along the way. It makes long journeys shorter. It gives difficult moments an easier comparison. And yes, it brings rest to weariness. It brings the chaos of moving forward to a welcomed cease.

I’ve had a crazy idea since I began this adventure in paying attention of creating a 12-step program for EyeJunkies — yep, one of those hare-brained notions I may or may not get around to. But, should the idea materialize, surely “to cease” is the first step. I certainly can’t pay attention to anything until I choose to stop — least of all my own progress. The choice to cease enables so many other choices. It enables that intention I crave so often. It defies the notion of busy-ness. And yet it sometimes defines the idea of accomplishment. And the emotional, mental and spiritual “rest” initiated from simply stopping and looking and calling it good is hard to come by any other way.

June 7, 2011 letters + numbers

signs . Magee, MS No.7

I saw these specimens of artistic ingenuity on the facade of one of the buildings in downtown Magee, MS last Fall. The cool color palette is really inspiring me in today’s summer heat. But, I also love the effort applied to adding just a touch of creative warmth and attention to an otherwise hum-drum surface. I can’t help but imagine that the person who put them there really loves what they do. And they love where they do it. What details am I giving attention to today that let folks know I’m following my passion?