Choose Your Own Umbrella(s)

A 3-part exercise to clear the clouds away and shine some light on your creative path.

Paper collage on digital ground

Welcome (or welcome back!) to Multifaceted, a weekly newsletter about finding delight and direction in a creative life made up of many different interests.

How can you make sense of a creative path that pulls you in all different directions?

Last week, I shared some thoughts on why we multi-passionate creatives might struggle to understand and accept our wibbly-wobbly journeys to where we are now. 

This week is all about the how – or at least, how to start.

Here’s a three-part exercise to help you move beyond the confusion to arrive at a clear and simple understanding of your complex creative path.

1. Examine your body of work as a whole

If you’re feeling a little all over the place, it can help to bring everything together in one place – maybe even for the first time. 

Plop all of your passions and activities into a big pile. This might involve listing out all of the projects you’ve done or physically setting pieces of past work side by side. 

Even if it seems like a random mix of work stuff, just-for-fun stuff, and still-in-progress stuff, it all deserves to be seen.

While you’re at it, bring in the future projects you hope to realize one day. Looking at your dream projects alongside the things you’ve already accomplished can give you another perspective on the creative activities, processes, and themes you’re drawn to. 

2. Look for patterns and put them into words

We just finished the data collection phase. Now, it’s time to start analyzing. 

Look for connections and similar themes across your interest areas. Aim for a few broad umbrella categories that capture the spirit of the different types of things you do.

Just be careful not to label yourself during this part of the process. We all know creative labels like “artist” can be loaded. Stick with words that describe the work itself rather than the person behind it. 

For now, loosely categorize and classify your interests and projects in a way that makes sense to you. 

I’ve been flipping through Emma Gannon’s book, The Multi-Hyphen Life. Her own umbrella categories are a great example of this:

• Authoring: A catchall for the columns she’s written for magazines, the books she’s published, and the newsletter she sends out.

• Broadcasting: A descriptor for her podcast and media appearances.

Keep in mind that these categories can (and almost certainly will) change over time. You’re not stuck with what you choose now – you can adapt along the way.

Rewriting your umbrella categories can feel like an identity crisis, but it’s worth doing when things have evolved to the point where your old sense of self no longer fits.

For me, that’s about once every couple of years. So, here we are again – this time with new projects in the works, new ideas on the horizon, new responsibilities at work, a totally new routine and schedule, and (best for last!) a tiny new person lighting up my world.

Here are the umbrella categories I’ve come up with so far. I don’t think they’re 100% perfect, but hey, it’s a process!

• Writing: This covers marketing copy I’ve written in professional capacities and fashion history research I’ve published, as well as older blogs I’ve kept up and my current newsletter.
  

• Designing: This relates to my background in theatrical costume design as well as a lot of passion projects I’ve worked on over the years – from creating a fine jewelry collection to building a bunch of websites. It also feels relevant to the collage series I’m creating for this newsletter. Plus, it describes a sewing pattern design project I have in the works.
  

• Creative coaching / educating: This encapsulates a few jobs I’ve held, like interim Costume Shop Manager, Teaching Assistant for fashion history classes, and Director of Editorial at a marketing agency. It also reflects the art and sewing workshops I’ve led and plan to lead in the future. And it feels relevant to this newsletter and my sewing pattern project as well. 

Here’s why I’m still feeling a little squirmy about these three groupings: It’s hard to find perfect categories to describe things I’ve done in the past but might not be doing right now, and things I’m working hard on now that aren’t ready to share yet. (Not to mention the things I’m actively working on and sharing!)

Plus, some of these phrases feel a little off without context. For instance, I’m not a creative coach in a traditional sense – but the creative mentorship I do at work and the writing I do here fall into that category.

Either way, like I said last week, this exercise is about making it all make sense to me first. To help me understand where I’ve been and how that relates to where I’m at now – and where I want to go next.

3. Write a (confidential) rough draft of your creative bio

First, you have to know how your story goes. (That’s what Steps 1 and 2 are all about.) Then you can recite it to other people. (Enter Step 3!)

By this point, you’ve identified a few themes or categories that represent your interests. These should provide a solid enough foundation for you to piece together a story or bio about how things connect in your creative life.

And remember: This blurb is for your eyes only. You can update it for different contexts later on. But for now, it’s designed to help you make sense of your multifaceted creative journey.

Here are a few tips to help you get started:

Write in a conversational style

Drafting a bio might sound intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Write it as if you’re chatting with a fellow creative who wants to learn more about you. 

For instance, I could start my story like this: “Hey, I’m Jess. I love to do all sorts of creative projects, especially ones involving writing, designing, and helping others make the most of their creative energy. Right now I’m working on…”

Notice I didn’t label myself here; I just described what I do. This takes a lot of the pressure off!

Let your end goal and audience guide you 

Do you ultimately need to submit a job application? Are you sending out a project pitch? Hoping to find some cool, artsy friends? 

Whatever you’re up to, think about what you’d want people to know about you. Having a goal in mind can make it easier to string together a compelling story that hits all the important points and clearly connects the dots. 

Remember: You’re not limited to one version of the story

Just because you’re summing up your background doesn’t mean that’s the only way you can or should piece together your story.

If you’re a multi-passionate, multi-project person, you’re almost certainly going to have a few different “about me” blurbs for different purposes. The parts of your background that you highlight will vary depending on what you’re trying to do.

For now, since this bio is just for you, why not write a few different versions or include several sections? This could be a helpful way to let the different facets of your creativity shine. It might even shed some light on how they overlap or complement each other.

If you try this out for yourself, let me know how it goes. It’s been so encouraging to hear how Multifaceted has helped you all along your creative journeys so far!

Until then,