No Makeup March: What a Month Without Eyeliner Taught Me About Boundaries

I made it a week into March and hadn't worn makeup, so I decided to commit to it. I created No Makeup March. I realize the no makeup trend is not a new thing, but it was new to me. I work from home most days, so makeup doesn't play too big a role in my life. I was curious about no makeup date nights, and no makeup meetings. Truth be told, they were a little scary at first. Gradually, they became liberating. Wandering around for a month without makeup taught me a lot. I though I knew what it would teach me, but there were some pretty big surprises too. 

Surprise: NO SUNSCREEN!

I sat out in the sun for a whole morning with my mom and got mega sunburn. I have been taking for granted the hidden SPF in many of my products. So, I guess I have to admit, makeup is good for you in some ways. 

Surprise: I PUT IN MORE EFFORT

Without my eyeliner wing(ed) woman, I put a little more effort into my outfits. I wore shoes that sorta matched. I wore jewelry. I spent time on my hair. I got my eyebrows waxed. It was a nice way to change things up. No Makeup March allowed me to take a step back and evaluate my whole look.  

No Surprise: NO ONE CARED

I repeat, no one really cared. I think people were interested in the idea. But no one seemed to be horrified by the fact that I would show my face in public without makeup. I got a few high fives, and no gasps of disgust. (Thanks, friends!)

No Surprise: I HAD MORE TIME / Surprise: I STILL WASTED IT

I did save about 30 minutes every morning. But I have no idea where that time went. Some days it went to more sleep. Yay! Other days to more time creeping on social media. Boo! 

THE BEST Surprise: IT TAUGHT ME ABOUT BOUNDARIES

This is the best part. This no makeup manifesto taught me more about boundaries. Learning to say "no" to myself every morning was helpful in learning to say "no" to bigger things. I used to think boundaries were about pushing people away and protecting yourself. I realized in this challenge that boundaries are about saying "no" so you can say "yes" to something more meaningful. When I said "hellz nah" to makeup, I was saying yes to a plan I had put in place. I was strengthening my commitment muscle. It was a small no/yes, but it helped me get acquainted with the process. 

So will I be wearing makeup today? Probably not, but maybe. Mascara would be nice! We will just have to see! What about you? Have you learned any lessons from unexpected places recently? Would love to hear about it!

Hugs!
Mads

Studio Update

Well hello there! It’s been a while. Dusty and I have been in midst of finishing up some great projects. A digital store for Ember Yoga, digital and print annual report for the Kula Project, and other amazing projects with good people. I will be writing Behind the Scenes / The Making of’s for each of them, but mostly I just wanted to say HEY! It’s been too long! How is it already March? Where is 2016 rushing off to? Here’s a few things going on:

No Makeup March

This deserves a full post in itself. It got to be March 6th and I realized I hadn’t worn makeup all month. So I decided to go all in and commit to this as an actual thing. Both amazing and terrible things have been happening to my skin, ego, and time. It’s crazy how changing up one little thing can teach you so much about yourself.

A Business Coach

I’m so excited! I met with a business coach a few weeks ago. I am so excited to have some help working out the kinks in my business and in the way I think about it. Specifically how I relate to it and how it relates to my family. If you want to meet her, (you want to meet her), you can find her here. Here's to clarity! 

We’re Not Moving

So we were moving. Then we weren’t moving. Then we were. It was all confusing. After crunching the numbers, we just couldn’t justify the move. We were looking forward to starting out in a new place, so it was kind of a gut punch to realize we weren’t able to do it. Good thing Woodstock is awesome! I grew up here, in this same house. I remember the Cub Foods and the Country Corner, before there was a Target or Starbucks in sight. Now Woodstock is all fancy with a hoppin’ downtown, green trail, and a growing arts community.

The Paint Love Art Auction

Paint Love is hosting it’s first ever art auction! It’s on April 17th from 6 - 9 PM at the beautiful Solarium in Decatur. Tickets are $20 in advance. Catering is from Victory Sandwich Bar. Artist Miranda Kyle will be leading a metal pour, like this project but on a much bigger scale. You don't want to miss it. Plus if you're interested in donating art, you can score free tickets! Let me know. You can find more info on the event here.

Projects in the Works

I have been painting and lettering a ton of circles lately. I'm considering branching out the circle project to more mediums. I’m partnering up with Heidi Rew and her blog Parties for Pennies to create Parties in a PDF. The first few have been collaborations with other designers, but there’s a really exciting, illustrated, one coming out soon! On the internal side: Dusty and I are in the midst of reorganizing and redesigning our site. The cobbler's kids are always the last to get shoes, ammiright? 

Thanks for hanging in there with us! What’s going on with you? How are things? Are you ready for spring?

Hugs!
Mad + Dusty

Game Trailers, Hugs and the State of Entrepreneurship

So this week, a content provider called Game Trailers shut down. GT is made up of a group of dudes + Elyse. I've grown quite fond of them over the years. They live-stream, podcast, and produce a ton video game related content. I don’t watch them personally. For me, they were the friendly background chatter that meant Dusty was home. I didn't always understand everything they were talking about. But it's hard to see people that passionate about a subject and not be more interested in it. I know they were special to Dustin and to the gaming community as a whole. Despite being so special, they were all fired in one fell swoop this week.

Hours after being let go, they streamed a heartfelt farewell on Twitch. In the end Brandon Jones, founder of GT, gave a speech and I heard every single feel I have ever felt about losing your job, your business, and your dream.

Skip to the one hour mark unless you want to watch a bunch of dudes play Grand Theft Auto!

View Here

Last year, I was let go from two jobs and it did a brutal number on my heart. I had all these doubts. Was I a valuable person in any way? Did I do any good work at all? Looking back, if I had not been let go,  I never would have left. I’m not one to let go. I am a stick-it-out-to-the-end type of person, even if what I’m sticking to is not right for me. I feel like if I let go, I’ve failed in some way. I think that might be an entrepreneur thing.

This stream made me hug our business a little tighter and release it a little bit more at the same time.

There is so much hard shit you have to do when you run your own business. There's a lot of responsibility that doesn't look beautiful and trendy in an Instagram feed. The trade off is being able to make the big decisions about your work. It's such a gift. Brandon's speech helped me let go a little bit of the permanence. When I start something, I usually think that it will be a forever thing. Diets, decaf coffee, clean bathrooms, these things don't last forever. Maybe dreams don't last forever either? If so, that's okay. It sucks, but it's okay. 

As entrepreneurs, we will never know what’s to come, but we can’t let that keep us from pursuing our passions. We can’t base our value as humans on the work we produce or the way the world sees us. Good or bad.

The only thing we can really do is work hard at something we love and enjoy each stage of our journey as it is. 

There’s a balance to this that I have yet to nail. But I know the only way to build balance is to be open to falling, right? What do you think? Where are you at in the state of entrepreneurship? 

P.S. I totally jacked this title format from my friend Angie Webb’s amazing series on getting things done. Go read. It’s amazing!