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Passion & Motivations with... is a little series I started last month. If you haven't already check out the first one with Nana Wintour. This month's guest is Emma from emma etc. Emma writes about beauty, books & etc which includes fashion, music, TV shows, movies and podcasts. She has the most gorgeous blog and I'm so happy to include her in the series.
For you, does passion/motivation interweave or are they separate?
To me, you have passion for something you love doing, but motivation is what keeps you going. I think it’s hard to find motivation for something you don’t like doing, and I think that’s the difference. So motivation comes easily when you are passionate.
What areas are you passionate about? Career, side/creative projects etc.
I’ve just finished University and I’m still trying to figure out what my main passion is. Currently I work at a media company where I help manage a beauty website and I’ve just started interning on the side to gain more experience with digital content creation. In some way I’ve always been intrigued by the glamour of the magazine industry, but I don’t know if I’m the right fit for it. I have always enjoyed working for myself though. I’ve had my blog since 2013 and others before that – this is what I have more of a passion for at the moment because I get to create it entirely by myself and make all the decisions. I don’t get paid to do it, so in that sense it is purely about passion. Blogs are sometimes seen as silly things to some people, however to employers it can show you are hard-working, consistent and passionate about the subjects you write about, and it’s the way the media industry is going.
What is it about these areas that makes you motivated to achieve goals/get stuff done?
Seeing the end result time and time again after putting a lot of hard work in is something that motivates me to write and photograph my blog posts. It’s never been about the followers for me. I really have no reason to blog other than for the enjoyment of it. I think this takes so much of the pressure off, because I don’t care about reaching a huge audience – I would rather connect with a couple of people via Instagram DMs and blog comments rather than get lots of likes. It’s so refreshing to do something purely for the fun of it. The whole online blogging community makes me motivated and comforted because we’re all just creative people trying to make something interesting on the Internet, all the while experiencing the highs and lows of life.
How do you get through periods of feeling less motivated/passionate?
There are definitely times when I question why I’m doing what I’m doing. I think the moment something starts becoming a chore, you need to revaluate the situation and try and work out what made you excited about it in the first place. For me, taking a step back and having some time off from it really helps. If I’m feeling unmotivated, I will just consume other people’s content, read books and magazines, even watch TV and movies. Just experiencing life or someone else’s perspective of life is really comforting and shakes me out of a bad situation. Also, sometimes you might have to accept that you are no longer passionate about a certain thing, and that’s okay – just do what makes you feel good.
Where do you find sources of motivation & ideas? Other people/art/blogs etc.
I always find inspiration by looking at my favourite blogs, but you can’t just copy what someone else has done. The small things make a blog unique in my opinion, and even down to the style of writing. It’s always been important to me to make my own spin on something and not blend into the crowd too much, whether that’s through the weird references I make or whatever – if you’re slightly quirky or unorthodox, people will relate to you. So in that way I always go back to my own values, style, and way of doing things when trying to find motivation. It sounds pretty silly but I find a lot of inspiration on Tumblr, mine is like a scrapbook of everything I love and want to be. Pop culture from my past gives me the biggest surge of inspiration, nostalgia and comfort when I’m feeling low.
And finally, are there any future projects/goals your excited about in 2018?
I’m feeling a little lost this year so I’m not putting any expectations on myself. I’m just trying to experience life day-to-day and not get too overwhelmed, but I think by the end of this year I want to have a better idea of what I want to do with my life! Nothing major, then…
Thank you so much to Emma for her amazing answers. Make sure you check out her blog as well as her Instagram: emmaetcblog
Ashley xx
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