“It's like a creative survival guide gone glamping.”

Preview my book! 📖👀

Welcome (or welcome back!) to Multifaceted. I’m Jess Barker – here to help multi-passionate creatives overcome idea overload and carve out a path to the most fulfilling and authentic creative life possible. ✨

Happy belated Valentine's Day!

ICYMI, I’m running a quick survey for people who juggle lots of creative ideas and interests. If that’s you, I would L💗VE if you can pop in and share your thoughts.

Or, if that sounds like someone you know, could you pass this along? Thank you muchly!

I’m circulating these Qs to help gather outside perspectives related to the book I'm writing. So, what's this book all about?

Well, today I'm excited to share a little preview, including the working title, a book overview, plus a fun moodboard and some progress I'm making along the way.

Drumroll please… 🥁 🥁 🥁

📣 Introducing…

Concept cover designed by yours truly.

Idea Avalanche

Conquer Creative Overwhelm to Discover Who You Are and What to Do Next

Big ideas are powerful. As a creative problem-solver, artist, innovator, and dreamer, you know your ideas could very well change the course of your life… If only you could pick the right one to act on.

When you’re hit with a big idea, its sheer force and limitless potential can be overwhelming. And, if too many come crashing into you all at once, it’s easy to get stuck – frozen in place and unable to start on anything.

“What if I…?”

“Could I start…?”

“Should I become…?”

“...Or how about this instead?”

If you’re searching for your path forward through the blizzard of possibilities and creative curiosities, Idea Avalanche is your guide. This book will help you dig out from your creative overwhelm and turn confusion into clarity, self-understanding, and aligned action. And, it’ll empower you to start building a creative life that’s authentically, uniquely yours.

First, you’ll start with a new perspective on what your big ideas really are: They’re not just visions of who you could become in the future; they’re clues into who you are and what you actually want out of your life right now.

From there, you’ll discover a five-step framework to systematically process all of your ideas and purposefully commit to your most authentic and meaningful ones. Across the five steps – Acceptance, Analysis, Alignment, Agreement, and Action – you’ll gain the tools to:

• Capture and make sense of creative ideas without losing their magic.

• Evaluate how different paths fit with your current reality and long-term vision.

• Decide what to pursue now and what to set aside for later.

• Define what success looks like to you before embarking on a new project.

• Release your ideas into the world in a way that feels right for you.

Along the way, you’ll encounter new approaches to challenges all creatives face, like self-esteem, envy, imposter syndrome, and perfectionism. You’ll also explore new ways to value your ideas – particularly when you feel pressured to monetize every creative interest.

Finally, you’ll learn how to define your own creative mix – a purpose-driven structure that accommodates and celebrates a life made richer by multiple passions.

By the end of this book, you’ll no longer see your boldest creative ideas as triggers for endless what-ifs and analysis paralysis. Instead, you’ll see them as signposts guiding you to the fulfilling, creative life you’ve always dreamed of.

Once you begin deeply engaging with your ideas, you’ll find more than projects and possibilities; you’ll find yourself.

⛰️ The vibe

Because I’m a visual person, here’s my Idea Avalanche moodboard. This captures the overall vibe I have in my brain – channeling creative energy and a snowy avalanche aesthetic.

I want the book to be an engaging and energizing read – like a creative survival guide gone glamping! – so I'm keeping these bright colors and dynamic patterns in mind as I write. (And dreaming about those Moon Boots…)

I had a lot of fun turning this visual inspo into the concept cover art above, too.

So far, I've noticed that my writing style embraces more personal, conversational storytelling than I initially expected. So, looking at that top-left picture, pretend you're the snowbunny in pink and I'm the one marching next to you in green, hyping you up for your next creative adventure. Let’s go!

📝 A progress update

I shared an earlier version of the book title and overview with my (wonderful!) writers' group back in November, along with detailed chapter summaries.

After packaging all of that together, I thought, Okay! Now all I have to do is write the chapters one at a time, just as I’ve outlined them. Piece of cake!

😂 😂 😂

Fast-forward a few months and – surprise, surprise – that hasn’t gone exactly to plan. Instead, I've had to gently lift myself out of a beautifully bottomless research rabbit hole.

I've specifically been exploring the neuroscience of creativity to gain a better understanding of how ideas actually exist in our brains. And I occasionally get whisked aside by intriguing concepts from metaphysics and other branches of philosophy.

Not gonna lie, it's absolutely delightful.

Beyond the research, I’ve also been workshopping some of the earlier chapters. Plus, fine-tuning the five-step framework and testing it out in real life.

If it wasn't obvious, I'm unabashedly writing the book I want desperately need to read. So, it's cool to put these hard-earned solutions to the test – and to feel like they're already helping me find clarity.

I'm sure a lot of the concepts and idea nuggets I'm exploring will find their way into future newsletters. But let me know if you're interested in following the real, sure-to-be messy writing process with me:

So far, my favorite thing about this project is that it genuinely feels like me.

It's pretty unusual for all my cross-disciplinary, nerdy, curious, and creative sides to come together in one project. But hey, here they are. ☺️

Now, tell me what you think

Would you read this book? Who in your life needs a copy? What color Moon Boots are you wearing?

And, pssst, don't forget to fill out the survey!