Meet Erica Clark

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Erica Clark a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Erica, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

I can’t say I’ve mastered any kind of miraculous method of bouncing back after setbacks, but I can definitely share a few tactics that have been massively helpful for me! I think that more than anything, striving to be more gentle with myself when I feel that I’ve fallen short in some way makes a huge difference. I’ve always had a habit of evaluating my own performance through an overly critical lens, and have noticed over time that this kind of thought patterning only ever serves to weigh me down and inhibit growth.

Another helpful tool has been to remind myself that no one gets to decide how others perceive us and there will always be factors at play that we have absolutely no control over. Sometimes those factors can even be unknown and take you completely by surprise. It took me a long time to process a somewhat recent professional setback that was especially difficult because I wasn’t able to determine exactly what went wrong or whether I could’ve done anything differently to prevent it. Allowing time and space for processing the associated loss was vital, and then it came time to regroup and take fresh inventory of my priorities, passions, and strengths. Allowing those forces to guide my next steps led to some really meaningful and fulfilling professional opportunities, and I couldn’t be more grateful to have landed where I am now.

I think that to heal ourselves, it’s important to work to know ourselves. I was lucky to learn early on that I feel most fulfilled when channeling my energy in two primary directions: work that enhances the quality of life for others and regularly practicing creative expression. This has looked different at different points in my life, but for me, overcoming and thriving means continuing to focus (and keep refocusing!) my efforts towards personal and professional endeavors that feel authentic, meaningful, and impactful.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m involved in various different professional projects, but my personal artwork consists primarily of figurative drawing and painting. I love to combine aspects of realism and abstraction to create imagery that is expressive of ideas or emotions. Right now, I’m working on a series that is partially in collaboration with some truly amazing artist friends of mine – we will be sharing more details about that project soon!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I think that one important key is making an effort to maintain a patient and understanding mindset when it comes to not only those around you but also towards yourself! Regularly re-evaluating your approaches through an analytical but kind and forgiving lens is so important. Also, generally assuming that others come from a place of good intentions can have a powerful positive impact. In order to reach specific goals, I think taking the “backwards design” approach can be especially effective: start by envisioning the desired end result and then work backwards to determine incremental steps towards accomplishing those goals.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

One of the best approaches I’ve found is to just unload everything onto a “to do” list and then number tasks based on priority. If the first task on my list is huge or overwhelming in itself, I’ll usually first allow time for a smaller, quicker task before I take it on. The tiny sense of accomplishment that follows can get the dopamine flowing and put me in the right mode to start knocking out those bigger list items!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://ericaclark.art
• Other: Email: [email protected]