Today’s key takeaway: Make the most of a less-than-ideal situation.
I got almost zero sleep last night because my room was close to the elevator … and people were not using their indoor voices in the hallway at all - then around 11:30pm, I heard what sounded like someone dragging a chandelier down the hall!
Today also goes in the record books for me as my Most Claustrophobic Recording Location - the space was small and I had to navigate the recording part, moving the four-panel recording wall, and moving around to capture the session. I kept bumping into people, they bumped into me, and I was terrified someone would step on my tripod (or my ankle … 😬).
And … towards the end of the session, right as I was finishing up, one of my markers exploded and black ink splattered on the canvas!
One skill a graphic recorder has to have is the ability to handle curveballs - sometimes on the fly without a lot of time to think.
After the ink explosion (and laughing at myself), I noticed the ink happened to fall near one of the clouds. So … I turned it into rain, and drew a sad guy holding an umbrella. Then I wrote something positive (and related to the session) underneath.
Despite running on little sleep, overcoming anxiety about recording in a small room with people moving around for activities, an exploding marker, and dealing with other outside-of-work stressors, I’m happy with the way the final product turned out, and proud of myself for being able to roll with the punches (not an easy feat for me)!
If you’re interested in seeing a live recording (where I honestly have no idea what to expect!), I’ll be doing another Substack Live tomorrow starting at around 1000 EST - this time in a much more spacious venue!
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