December 23, 2015

Outside of coding, who are you?

Outside of coding, who are you?

 

I am a writer.

Earlier this year, I finally gave myself permission to call myself a writer. Not because I got paid for it, not because I wrote a book, but because I decided that writing was a form of art that was essential to my life.

Over the last couple weeks, I’ve been perusing job and internship descriptions related to User Experience, Web Design, Product Development, etc. etc. I copy and paste the parts of the job description that excite me, and I save the document as, “Art and Career Alignment.” I do this because when I assume the title of “Creative Director”, “User Experience Architect”, “Instructional Designer”—I want to leave myself breadcrumbs. I want to remind myself that I am not an impostor. I want to remind myself that I didn’t just get lucky. I want to remind myself that the person that I will become and the title I will hold is an extension of the person I already am and the titles I have given myself.

It is imperative that I infuse my art into whatever it is I do. This allows me to prioritize my art as a foundation while being flexible enough to work in areas that are connected to my art. The only reason I’m drawn to coding is because I want to promote and help shape ideas and ways of thinking that make the world a better place (and because I’m badass and lean in to my discomfort).

I truly believe that when you learn anything—if you remain open and choose to persevere (because that is a choice)—you must find a way to make it work for you. No, really. If want to quit, quit now. There’s no point in suffering. But if you choose to preservere, do it in a way that is conducive to how you work, what you need, and in a way that honors your truth and/or art.

For me, that means being obsessively detailed and thorough with how I learn. That means watching 3 videos and visiting 4 webpages when trying to learn CSS for multi-page layouts. It means waking up at sunrise and writing viciously, so that at 12pm when I’m trying to focus on building a strong foundation in HTML and CSS, I’m not distracted by negative thinking. I’m not focusing on not fitting the mold. I’m not focusing on the fact that I was never the type to take apart a computer or toaster as a kid (I took apart pens, but I don’t think that counts). I’m focused and committed to the work in front of me because I have done the work that is important to my art.

Honoring my art helps me remember that I’m a writer who is learning how to code. And I don’t have to give up that title in order to pursue whatever coding leads me to. If anything, I must write more now than ever. I must continue my search for opportunities that allow me to honor my art, but also challenge me to create my own path. Who knows? Maybe someone will actually end up following the breadcrumbs I leave.

Tolulope Falae

Tolulope Falae is a millennial woman of color who is pretty much making it up as she goes. She's can usually be found watching the sunrise, taking long walks in the park, and sipping coffee--alone--because she's a romantic introvert. Currently, she's figuring out how to turn her passion into profit and make some coin along the way. For now, she has a blog where she chronicles that journey at http://www.softandbrave.com

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