One of the challenges with my shift to working part-time and being a full-time Dad has certainly been the lack of “me” time, but that didn’t really explain the gap I’ve been struggling to cover since shifting my hours and days around. While reading Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte though, I came across a passage that seemed to nail it.

“self-expression is a fundamental human need. Self-expression is as vital to our survival as food or shelter. We must be able to share the stories of our lives—from the small moments of what happened today at school to our grandest theories of what life is about.”

I’ve been missing that element of self-expression that I used to get though work in very tangible and easily visible ways. The writing I share. The videos I record. The problems I help solve. All of those are shared and commented on and visible in my work. It’s very satisfying.

I don’t think I’ve stopped expressing since shifting my time around, but I don’t think I’ve been good at noticing how that expression is different now.

Case in point, today we just got this book in the mail that features a couple of pieces of art that Vivian and I did during lockdown as part of a postal art project.

I also hung a bunch of frames with rotating artwork in the house this weekend.

So, I’m still expressing like crazy, I can’t stop if I wanted to, but I feel like I’m not because some of it isn’t in the same format or in the context of work.

“The world is desperate to hear what you know. You can change lives by sharing yourself with others.”

I know I that I need opportunities for self-expression and I think that if you look closely you probably do to.