DOG WALK THOUGHTS - COMPARE AND DESPAIR
“Compare and despair” is a great phrase for a not-so-great concept. You’ve probably come across it before, certainly if you’re into all things “wellness” (air quotes), but if you haven’t then “comparison is the thief of joy” is a comparable one. As we start another term, another quarter, another autumn, I thought this would be a good reminder, both to students starting their new careers and to those of us already on our journey through them, to remember not to compare yourself to others.
One of the things I see in every intake of students (I tutor at the London College of Garden Design) is people comparing themselves to their peers and despairing at their own ability. It’s unavoidable that among the 50-odd new starters there’ll be some who are already working in the arts - fashion designers, creative directors, artists, textile designers - all people whose previous lives have relied on their ability to present creative ideas on paper or screen. When these people arrive to start their new career, it’s no surprise that their work looks great. And when you’re new to garden design (and without real-life experience of what projects involve beyond those initial stages of making pretty drawings to show off your ideas!) it can seem like everyone else has artistic and creative talent that you don’t and could never have (I certainly felt like that).
But the thing to remind yourself is that running a design practice is about way more than just making pretty pictures (the irony saying this as someone who teaches people to make pretty pictures is not lost on me). You need to be able to run a business - monitor your jobs, track your time, bill effectively, maybe do your own accounts, develop your business into new markets, find customers, be good with those customers… And that’s not even touching on the technical and practical skills you need - horticulture, hard landscaping and construction knowledge, legislation, soil analysis, computer skills and so on.
It’s also tempting to think that our past lives aren’t relevant to who we are now and somehow block those skills and that experience from our mind, but not only am I a firm believer that you are the product of your experience, I also don’t think I’ve met anyone who didn’t have something special to bring to the table. The ballet dancer I mentioned in a previous post had one of the most creative ways of looking at how people flow through a space that I’ve ever seen. A recent graduate had an insane CV with lots of board level experience at big tech companies. He was completely burnt out but has immediately used his knowledge to get his business off to a flying start and had done a trade garden at Chelsea Flower Show the year after graduating. On the flip-side, I’ve seen graphic designers who have created beautiful concept work stall because they’ve found the implementation really challenging.
I’ve had a very varied life - computer science degree (massive nerd since the age of 14), being a chef and working in hospitality, a decade in marketing and ad agencies, and couple of years in Japan, teaching in the state school system and learning karate before retraining as a landscape designer in 2010. For a long time I didn’t think most of that made much difference and, if pushed, would’ve said that the computers and the account management were useful, but now as I work on getting this business off the ground I realise that’s not the case. I’ve been incredibly lucky - working on startups with Michael Acton Smith and funded by people like John Hegarty and Saul Klein, working in Old Street in the heady days of the Silicon Roundabout. At the time I found it stressful and chaotic - entrepreneurs are by their nature a whirlwind, there’s a million things to do and roles can be fluid and undefined, not things that were good for me at the time - but now when I look back I realise how much I learnt and how useful it is, alongside years working for what at the time were boring clients like T-Mobile and Arriva Trains Wales. Without all of that there’s no way I’d be so well-equipped for where I am now.
I’m quite sure this isn’t unique to me and that everyone out there has a past life that’s quietly chugging along in the background making them the competent designer and business-owner they are today, so don’t listen to that little voice that says otherwise!