Twisting the Viewfinder: 6 Ways to Spot Connections in Your Creative Work
Get a fresh perspective on your kaleidoscopic creative life and see what unexpected patterns emerge.
Welcome (or welcome back!) to Multifaceted, a weekly newsletter about finding delight and direction in a creative life made up of many different interests.
Our kaleidoscope-themed June issue continues with this week’s “Creative Compass” feature article – part of a series of exercises and encouragement to help you tune into your creative voice and confidently navigate your one-of-a-kind path.
For someone who spends as much time as I do thinking about multifaceted creativity, you’d think I’d have a pretty good handle on my own creative identity.
If only! I’m trying to figure it out… and I’ve been trying to figure it out for the past 10-ish years. Naturally, it keeps evolving, so I think I’ll always be in a state of trying to figure it out.
But that’s okay. In fact, I think it’s pretty cool – instead of sticking myself in a rigid box, I’m continually reassessing my trajectory and rewriting my story to suit my latest priorities, goals, and interests.
Over the years, I’ve worn many hats and worked across seemingly unrelated fields. (Theater and fine jewelry and marketing, oh my!) Anytime I’ve gathered these colorful bits and pieces together, I’ve been able to step back and make sense of my jack-of-all-trades journey.
There are lots of ways to bring various – even unrelated – projects together so you can look at them from different angles. And it’s a worthwhile exercise for anyone with lots of creative interests.
In the spirit of this month’s theme, it’s like twisting the viewfinder of a kaleidoscope: bringing together all the unique sparkly shards of your creative passions in one place. With each turn, different patterns emerge. The pieces overlap in unusual ways, allowing you to spot themes and connections you may not have noticed before.
You might land on one pattern you like the best. Or, when you shake ‘em all around, you find that each arrangement looks just as exciting as the last. Either way, it’s worth trying to see what discoveries you make about your creative work and how it all connects.
Here are half a dozen activities to help you see your creative output from a vibrant new vantage point:
1. Try a social media challenge
When I was in between projects, I thought it would be fun to gather some of my old and new work in one place on Instagram. (Find me there at @byjessbarker! 👋)
I decided to share a little bit of everything, old and new, under the theme of “100 projects in 100 posts.” I’ve slowed down posting in recent months, but I’m almost halfway through and in no rush to finish. So far, I’ve included everything from home decor and pressed flower art to ink sketches and appliqué.
Kicking off a self-directed Instagram challenge can add structure to what might otherwise feel like random posts. And, more importantly, it can help you learn about your visual style and creative process. When you see unrelated works sitting side by side, it’s hard not to spot similar themes coming through.
2. Build a blog-style portfolio
If you were making a traditional portfolio website, you’d categorize your work by project type. But this format can trip you up if your work falls into too many categories to count. Instead, consider the portfolio-as-blog approach as your alternative.
With this type of site, you simply post projects chronologically in a blog format. It’s a true representation of your latest and greatest work. If you’re pursuing multiple types of gigs and opportunities at once, this more flexible format can be a great jumping-off point for those conversations.
Plus, you can write a short blurb about each project and add multiple tags or categories using the blog settings. Chances are, your projects have more in common than you think.
For instance, my (more traditional) portfolio site includes one section for fashion history research and another section for content writing. Well, what about the article I wrote for PBS about Marie Antoinette’s dresses? Is that more fashion history or content writing? With a blog-style portfolio, it can be both!
3. Map out a timeline of past projects
In a recent Multifaceted post, I wrote about creating an interests timeline. Essentially, it’s an overview of what types of creative projects and activities you’ve kept up with each year. Check out the full post here:
In my experience, this not only helped me see how my various projects, jobs, and hobbies fit together, but it also highlighted what was missing in my creative mix.
4. Write a bio for future you
Instead of (or in addition to) looking at your past, it might help to peer into the crystal ball at your future.
Pretend you’ve accomplished all the great things you’re dreaming about. You just found out you’ve received the “Multifaceted Creative of the Year” award. (I wish that was a real thing!) The gala’s organizers need you to draft a bio they can read out to the adoring crowd when you accept your fancy trophy.
Time to start brainstorming:
What would your bio include?
How would you describe all the different things you love?
How would you tie together projects across disciplines?
Write the best, most glamorous bio you possibly can. Then, take a step back and analyze what you’ve written.
Even if you can’t say you’ve done all the dream projects yet, this exercise can help you spot connections between what you’re working on now and where you might be headed.
5. Follow the green-eyed monster
Try shifting the focus away from your own creative path for a minute and look around you. Think about the creative people you admire – and envy.
Jealousy can be a helpful indicator of what we desire in our own lives. Sometimes we already have all the same ingredients, but other people we follow just make everything look cooler. Or maybe they’re a few steps ahead.
Dig into the similarities and differences:
What are they doing that you’re doing, too?
What are they doing that you’re not doing?
How do they describe what they do?
How would you describe what they do?
See if you can use this exercise to find new ways to understand or explain your own path. You might come up with some new phrases to describe your work and process. And maybe you’ll find that you’re not that far off from your “cool creative person” ideal after all.
6. Ask around
One final suggestion is to consult the people in your circle. Ask your friends, family, or fellow creatives what themes they see in your work across different disciplines. Find out what words they’d use to describe what you do and why.
They’ll probably sum it up in a way that wouldn’t occur to you. Or, they’ll spot a connection you wouldn’t see.
When I meet with the writers I manage and mentor at work, I’m always listening for themes and patterns when they talk about the type of projects they like best. For instance, one writer told me how much she enjoyed writing for clients in the education and nonprofit spaces, and for corporate clients making a positive impact.
To me, it sounded like she enjoyed writing copy for values-based organizations. “I never thought about it that way,” she said, “but yes – you’re right!”
These exercises are simply different methods to understand your creative work. Each new perspective can add an extra layer of clarity to your body of work and multidirectional path – and how all the pieces that fit together right now.
You may not arrive at one big “aha” moment that explains it all. But keep twisting the viewfinder and watch how all the colorful snippets of your creative life land. You might just be mesmerized!
More this month from Multifaceted
Here’s what else you’ll find in the kaleidoscope-inspired June issue:
Announcement | Moving to a magazine-style format (week 1)
Shapeshifters | Q&A with collage artist, painter, writer, and makeup pro Carly Palmer (week 2)
Creative Compass | On twisting the viewfinder to examine your creative path (this article!)
Creative Living | Exploring a kaleidoscope of color through fashion as collage (coming next week)
This is great Jess. I particularly enjoyed the green eyed monster section and asking around, such great ideas for understanding our multifaceted selves better. I’m slipping further and further away from social media and can’t see myself going back there, I feel like I’ve found my home in Substack (for as long as it feels right to be here) but the one and only social media challenge I did was a ‘draw this in your style’ which really did make a huge impact on my creativity 💛 wise and thoughtful words 💛
I love this! Thanks for the inspiration and helpful exercises. Going down the line, "Write a bio for future you" grabbed my attention immediately. Visualizing my future self and getting really specific about what future Laura is doing has helped me achieve so many goals. However, I've never visualized my future self in bio format. I can't wait to try this! :D As my friend Shulin says, "energy flows where your attention goes." Every post you write is a tool for channeling energy towards a dream life/creative life by showing me exactly what to pay attention to. Thanks for sharing your kaleidoscopic vision with us!