“When I see the distant mountains, adventure beckons like the whispers of a long-lost friend.”

In this episode of Getting Work To Work, I talk about adventure and how it shows up as a physical search for new experiences in my life, as well as the role it plays as curiosity in the work I do. In the spirit of adventure, this week’s interview (starting at 13:13) is with Lucy Bellwood, an adventure cartoonist combining her love of  ships and the open sea with comics. Her latest project, 100 Demon Dialogues, I dare say is an internal adventure bringing to light the inner demons that plague our creative work and say, “you’re no good.”

Here are 10 ways I am incorporating adventure into my life and work:

1. I acknowledge the call of adventure when I hear it.
2. I plan for time to explore in my daily schedule.
3. I ask for recommendations from others.
4. I pay attention to what I’m dreaming about. What is my subconscious telling me to do?
5. I do the things I know fill me with life and creativity.
6. I embrace daily variety.
7. I fight the resistance and get my work done so that I can play.
8. I go down the unknown path, even if I’m afraid.
9. I keep learning and desire a beginner’s attitude.
10. I seek to increase the size of my dreams and what I think is possible for my life and work.

Questions to Ponder:

• What role does adventure play in your life and work?
• Do you have enough adventure in your life and work?
• How will you answer the call of adventure?

Quotes from Lucy Bellwood:

“I specialize in work that is about going out into the world, exploring things and learning about them, and then distilling that information into graphic forms.”

“There’s no roadmap for this career, but also when I look back all of the factors that led to me being where I am now make a lot of sense.”

“You don’t have to know the official job description of being an adventure cartoonist because it’s right there in the name. I go on adventures, I make cartoons about going on adventures.”

“The thing that really kicked me into making comics was going to The Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont for a summer class.”

“Your acquaintances, people that you’ve met social dancing, or folks you shared a class with once your freshman year, those kinds of people stepping up and giving you their hard-earned cash and saying, ‘I value this thing you’re doing. Not just with compliments, but with my dollars.’ That’s the most potent form of permission I think I have experienced.”

“Structure is the thing that allows me to relax into my creative process.”

Show Links

• InVision Studio
• The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
• Indiana Jones
• Dream Theater
• The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
• Sons of Apollo
• Lucy Bellwood
• 100 Demon Dialogues by Lucy Bellwood
• The 100 Day Project
• Joe Sacco
• The Center for Cartoon Studies
• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
• Airtable
• Inbox by Google
• Jessica Hische
• Neil Gaiman’s Inspirational Commencement Speech
• The Animation Workshop
• The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life by Twyla Tharp
• Scratch: Writers, Money, and the Art of Making a Living by Manjula Martin
• Getting Work To Work (@gwtwpodcast) on Facebook
• Getting Work To Work (@gwtwpodcast) on Twitter
• Chris Martin (@cmstudios) on Twitter
• Chris Martin (@chrismartinstudios) on Facebook
• Sign up for my weekly newsletter: The Curiosity Lab

The post “Adventure is Calling” with Lucy Bellwood (GWTW153) appeared first on Chris Martin Studios.