What Do You Do To Cheer Yourself Up?

Kelly Gurnett just published a knockout post over on Cordelia Calls It Quits. I invite you to, and highly recommend that you, read it, especially f you’ve struggled with the idea of doing your own thing for a crust. God knows, I have. I’ve subscribed to blogs, I’ve downloaded eBooks, I’ve been to networking events – yet I’ve very rarely done the things that They, well intentioned as they may be, suggest I do in order to Build My Own Business.

I’ve questioned that. I’ve guilted myself over it. I’ve beat myself up about it. Yet none fo those things have changed this innate resistance to all this entrepreneurial all-guns-blazingness I’ve encountered. All the lifestyle design advice seems to centre aroudn How Much You’re Earning, Where You Can Live, The Places You Can Go and The Things You Can Buy instead of how to go about making yourself happy and fulfilled.

There’s only one piece of advice I’ve ever found that works for me, mostly because it wasn’t given as a piece of advice. It was part of a conversation, an “and then I did this” amongst a bunch of other “I did this”-es. It’s a simple expression fo an elegant idea.

And yes, it involves Gavin Dunne. I keep thinking of this guy as the model for how I’d like to live life, and not just because he’s a shining example of making a living from doing what you love. (If you want to know the specifics, check out my interview with him for Paid to Play)

But here’s the What gavin Did that made it all make sense:

Gavin Dunne, Miracle of Sound. Image sourced from the Miracle of Sound profile on Last.FM
Gavin Dunne, Miracle of Sound. Image sourced from the Miracle of Sound profile on Last.FM

Gavin wrote and recorded the song that started his all-expenses-paying Miracle of Sound project off, simply to cheer himself up.

That’s it. He needed to feel better after a shitty experience – his band disintegrating right on the verge of Hitting The Big Time – so he wrote a rock-and-roll song about a video game. It was rocky, bouncy and silly.

And because it made him feel better, it made a bunch of other folks feel better too.

So maybe that’s where we need to start when we’re trying to re-gear our lives: What do we do when we feel a little down or a little uncertain or just a little “Okay, now what do I do?”

Then, how do we do more of it?

Then, maybe, how do we get it in front of other folks who are likely to dig it? (Simplest answer: Show it to our friends, whether they’re in the vicinity or on our favourite online hangouts.)

What about me? What do I do to cheer myself up?

I thought it might be play guitar (not really; the sound is nice but I hate trying to wrap my fingers around the neck) or play video games (only certain ones, and achievements aside, there’s nothing to show for the time at the end, really), but I think we both have a good idea what the answer is:

SDCoverSketch
I’ve been meaning to share this for a few days now. It’s part of a series of Slamdance comics I’m doing.

Draw silly comics.

I have no idea where it’s going or how to build an audience for it or what I’ll wind up selling, if anything, but it’s something that feels like it comes more from me than the average blog post (or even podcast interview).

What are you doing?

So, then: What do you do to cheer yourself up?