17 Comments
User's avatar
Miladiyah's avatar

YES! would love to read about having a full time job!!!

Expand full comment
Jada De Luca's avatar

ā€œa consistent slog toward something really soft and ambiguousā€ is the sentence i’ve been looking for when trying to explain how unknown pursuing creative goals can be. keeping this in my back pocket & remembering i can take it out whenever i want and there’s no rush to shape it (slowly) into something

Expand full comment
Zoƫ Mercedes's avatar

I truly appreciate everything you’ve written here but effort as the sustaining bit and the necessary component really resonates with me.

Expand full comment
Joe Dunn's avatar

"My friends tease me about liking San Francisco, but I think it’s inevitable to have a warped, unrequited love for the place or person that first revealed you to yourself". Yes indeed. Perhaps your love for SF isn't unrequited, however! (I just moved out of SF after almost 40 years here. The City and I are still in love, we just have agreed to see each other a little less, which makes the times we have together even sweeter :-)

Expand full comment
Ron's avatar

This is such an inspiring essay. I wrote down several things you wrote in my journal to refer back to. Your phrase ā€œif you don’t live the way you believe, you will inevitably believe the way you liveā€ hurt, but in a good self recognition type of way.

Expand full comment
Kaavyya Kesarwani's avatar

Would love to read about writing on the side with a FT job, Nix.

Expand full comment
sofia's avatar

Love this!!! Was just talking to a friend about how we can live life more intentionally to achieve our goals :)

Expand full comment
Cissy Hu's avatar

congrats on starting your new job, Nicole :)

love your reflections on being more ambitious, holistically. recently wrote about ambition and have been thinking deeply about how we fuel our ambition. for so long, my ambition was fueled by ego, but as I've learned to bet on myself, it's been about "aligning my ego with my will and my soul"

Expand full comment
Nix šŸ•Š's avatar

Late reply, but thank you Cissy šŸ¤

Expand full comment
Siddhesh's avatar

ā€œif you don’t live the way you believe, you inevitably believe the way you live.ā€ Banger.

Expand full comment
Akian's avatar

Congratulations on the new job! Reading your work always feel like a warm hug from a friend. Looking forward to more hugs <3

Expand full comment
D.W. Eversole's avatar

you stated the following, "if you don’t live the way you believe, you inevitably believe the way you live."

Does this phrase come from you, or have you quoted it from somewhere else?

Expand full comment
irem's avatar

Yes, she quoted it on https://www.startingfromnix.com/p/the-art-of-pivoting :)

Expand full comment
Kathryn Vercillo's avatar

Love this recognition of life and art and love and all of it adding up in teaspoons, in the actions taken daily, in the things that aren't really measurable. <3

Also, based on your comment about it, you may resonate with my recent post about San Francisco ...

https://createmefree.substack.com/p/i-live-here-sf-a-look-back-at-a-15

Expand full comment
Casie Cook's avatar

The way you capture everything makes my soul feel renewed every time. Thank you for you.

Expand full comment
Kechie Anyanwu's avatar

Congrats on the new job! I’d love to read how that slots into your life, especially with writing.

Expand full comment
larry's avatar

"if you don’t live the way you believe, you inevitably believe the way you live." love this

Expand full comment