Matt’s Mix Tape, Vol. 120
Hi, I’m Matt Tillotson, and this is Matt’s Mix Tape: essays + links on living a vibrant and creative middle life.
This week’s Mix:
When big things hit, do the small things
The pitfalls of monetizing hobbies
The best iPad apps to be creative
This week’s Florida photo
When big things hit, do the small things
It’s unavoidable.
Sometimes, we get hit by big things that suck.
When bigger and badder happens, keep doing the small things you usually do. If you can.
In tough times, the small things give you reason. They give you rhythm. They give you respite.
So go for your usual walk. Drink your favorite coffee. Write a newsletter.
Keep doing the small things.
The pitfalls of monetizing hobbies
“Do what you love.”
“Follow your bliss.”
The advice is alluring.
But there are trade-offs to monetizing hobbies, as Marian Bull wrote in Vox, even though it’s easier than ever before:
The swiftness with which modern craftspeople can and do monetize their hobbies is, of course, not a surprise. Traditional careers are crumbling, and side hustles are fetishized; Instagram has turned marketing into a basic skill we’re all expected to have.
Some people share creations just to rebel against the soulless corporate grind:
She was burned out from working a full-time job in graphic design, where in order for an idea to succeed, it needed to be marketable. “So many interesting concepts got dismissed because they couldn’t fit into a business context,” she remembers. “It became a situation where I started feeling really empty — I didn’t know how to have fun anymore.”
Be selfish about it. Do it for yourself and because you want to. Let go of expectations around money or amassing a huge audience.
The right people will be attracted to your authenticity. Any external outcomes are gravy.
Even if you’re totally ignored, you still created something. You still learned something.
So go for it.
The best iPad apps to be creative
On the latest episode of the Apple Insider podcast, Stephen Robles and Wesley Hilliard amassed a list of their favorite iPad apps and iOS Safari extensions. Definitely worth checking out.
Or: here’s a shortcut to the full list.
Among my favorites they citied:
Procreate, which I use for the drawings in this newsletters, is an incredible value at $10.
PiPifier lets you run any video using the iPad’s picture-in-picture feature. This includes YouTube videos, which YouTube would like to charge $15.99.
Bear is the best looking notes app. Very customizable with tons of fonts and layout choices.
This week’s Florida Photo
Harbour Island, near downtown Tampa.
Welcome to 65 new subscribers!
(That’s what happens when Josh Spector links to you in his excellent For The Interested newsletter. Thanks Josh!)
Please reach out and say hi, ask a question, whatever. Anytime.