Franklin Taggart's Unconventional Life Blog

Do you have enough time to work on your dream creative project? What other commitments, responsibilities, and distractions keep you from getting started and finished?  For many of us, the frustration of working on our projects only sporadically keeps us from seeing them through. I've experienced that on many of my projects.  My first and only CD took over two years to finish, from when the first song was written until the release concert. During that time, I moved three times and changed jobs twice, and a week before the release concert, 9/11 happened. How any of our projects ever get finished is miraculous, especially with the busyness of life.  My clients manage full-time jobs, parenting, mental health challenges, personal tragedies, and more. Finding time to create is not at the top of the list for many of them, but they are getting it done. People hire me to help them start, finish, and launch their creative passion projects. Together, we've created and launched blogs, podc

▼▼▼Watch and Listen Below!▼▼▼   Personal development insights from season 1 guests of Your Own Best Company - a podcast for people who love to work alone. Eli Hans https://outoftheblueshow.com Full episode: https://youtu.be/i-tM_AMKqMs Yifat Cohen https://yifatcohen.com Full episode: https://youtu.be/lVPPbP5neUY Regan Espinosa https://thevisitbox.com Full episode: https://youtu.be/w169MuW_b7A Larry Kaul https://revenueclimber.com Full episode: https://youtu.be/GivtiK9il_M Karen Diffey https://ksdcoach.com Full episode: https://youtu.be/w-Ytd3O7aWI Joanie Connell, PhD https://flexibleworksolutions.com Full episode 1: https://youtu.be/SwtPHHp60iE Full episode 2: https://youtu.be/fcsMMxcNCRM Joseph Bennett https://artbybennett.com Full episode: https://youtu.be/jBP8PK8o6ZU Heather Chavin https://gogodone.com Full episode: https://youtu.be/ElcRR5Yhfy8 Alan Heymann https://peacefuldirection.com Full episode: https://youtu.be/roAUEMQZZe0 LeAndra Foster https://linktr.ee/elanlyfe Full episode

On days like today, when I've worked for hours and only have three small tasks finished from a much longer list, it's easy to feel like I'm not doing enough. Time for a different list. I made another list of all the things I've done and helped others do in 2022, and I was amazed to see that this year has been one of my most productive and prolific. I've stuck with my original commitments, and I'm seeing a lot of progress since vowing to consume less and produce more. And my clients are rockin' in all the best ways. New programs being launched, new websites being built, new marketing strategies being created, new blogs and podcasts being started, dreams old and new being taken seriously. I am delighted to see these things on one page. Would you be pleased or disappointed if you were to make the same kind of list? Are there gaps in what you've hoped to do and what you've actually done? I love the groups I'm a part of who help me stay accountable to

Lots of friends publicly announced on Facebook today that they've deleted their Twitter accounts in response to the news that Elon Musk has raised the money to buy it. I seriously doubt that any of them have tweeted anything since 2009, but those accounts will surely be missed. I'd like to see what he does with it before I make a decision one way or another. I was more active on Twitter in my early days there, but have let it sit for the past several years, much as I have most social media. I don't like the way it makes me feel so I'm not interested in giving any more time to it than necessary. So I'm going to wait to ruin Elon's day until he gives me a good reason. I do think it's funny that these folks are making their bold announcements on Facebook. I'm willing to wait because the guy has been known to have some brilliant ideas. PayPal, Tesla, and SpaceX - are the most well-known among many. He could really have an idea for something that will be wort

  Listening to my son practicing drums. He started only a couple of months ago, and he's finding a knack for it quickly. It's also the first instrument he's played that he hasn't lost interest in after only a few lessons. I'm enjoying watching this happen. Creative activities teach us more about ourselves, life, and the world we inhabit as much or more than any other pursuit. In the video, I compare creativity to sacraments, outward and visible manifestations of inward, invisible graces. For many of us, our creative time does carry a sense of sacredness that other times don't. While I wish every human would find this side of themselves, I know many don't, and I'm curious why this is. Is it a personality trait, a learned preference, a socialized lesson, a sad result of childhood ridicule and comparison? What keeps people from seeking and finding their own expressions? Finding mine when I did saved my life, and it's given me a center to return to every

I've spent probably $100,000 on creative tools in my lifetime, and that's a conservative estimate. My output should be so much more based on the embarrassment of technical riches I possess. But Shiny Object Syndrome isn't the real problem here. That's a made-up name and another side of perfectionism that creative people deal with constantly. But I refuse to make it a pathology, it's just a feature of the process. We all have psychological protective behavior patterns. That's a part of being human. For some people, it shows up as high achievement; for others, it appears as ambivalence in our commitments, and for others, it's a compulsion to never move out of our safe zones. Impostor Complex is a similar condition. It's a way of protecting ourselves from exposure, embarrassment, and failure. And it's a part of almost every creative person's life that I've come across, including my own. Creative people learn to work in spite of these protective

A friend who is raising funds to produce a new album was accused by an acquaintance of begging for money. That didn't sit well. In this Coffee Break, I have some history to share, and I reveal what it's been like to watch my chosen profession and industry be disrupted and devalued to the point where I wonder if there will be any creative industry that will survive the digital age.  Those who think creative people should work for free will have a reckoning ahead. There will come a time when all that is available to them is the growing sea of mediocrity because those who would choose a creative profession have had to bypass that option for career paths that actually sustain them. If your life is being touched by a creative person's work, pay them. It's that simple. #paycreatives #crowdfunding #exposurekills