We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Abigale Moon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Abigale below.
Abigale, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
Keeping creativity alive will probably always be a challenge for a part-time creative. As someone who works a full-time job in a field where there is little creativity, keeping that creative fire going is difficult. So often I would find myself stuck in a creative rut and just locked into the mundane activities of daily life. But, the beauty of creativity is that it is endless. Once I realized that creativity didn’t have to be all-encompassing, I found joy in the little creative endeavors. Maybe being creative today means that I spend five hours working on a house drawing. Maybe being creative the next day means I spend five minutes editing a photograph to share on Instagram. The key to keeping creativity alive is just doing a little something creative every day!
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I have had the pleasure of writing a travel and lifestyle blog called “Wanderings and Beautiful Things” for about 8 years. This opportunity has lead me to many wonderful opportunities such as having photographs published in a book and having a story featured in a French magazine. Because of my love for travel and my experience, I have recently joined a business called ‘Destination Unknown’ where we plan surprise vacations! Our clients are given a questionnaire with questions about budget, interests, and travel history. We then take that information and plan a trip based around their interests. It’s incredibly exciting to be a part of something so unique, but also rewarding. For so many years I have given advice on where to travel and what to do while you’re there, and now I get to put all that experience to even greater use! The owner of ‘Destination Unknown,’ Sherri Jackson, has been planning surprise vacations for 10+ years, so I am extremely excited to be working with her and expanding her incredible business to the Knoxville area!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The first quality that I think is important to any type of creative endeavor is resilience. Things will not always go smoothly, so learning to how to pick yourself back up is essential. When I started blogging back in 2015, I was going strong for about three years. I was posting at least once a week and updating my socials almost daily. Year four hit and a lot of factors started interfering with my progress. I took a break from blogging and it was very hard, but I had too much going on in my life that I needed to put it on the back burner. Fast forward about two years later when I decided I was ready to start blogging again. I did a complete redesign of my website, took out old post that lost relevance, and I started fresh. It was exciting to be back in it. If I had not have come back to blogging, the story I wrote honoring my late Grandpa would never have existed and I would not have had the opportunity for it to be featured in a magazine. Resilience is key.
The second quality that I would encourage is having the desire to learn. I think so often many people think learning is done when you are out of high school or college, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. In any creative field, there will always be some element of learning. I have been a photographer since high school when I received my first really nice digital camera. I’ll never forget taking it outside on a random afternoon and photographing the plants around our yard. I had to learn what all the buttons were for and what I could do to make the photographs have different effects. For years I have taken that knowledge and tried to do even more to learn about photography. Just two years ago I picked up my first film camera and had to learn how to use it. Now, film photography is one of my favorite hobbies.
The third quality I think a creative needs is learning to not doubt yourself. Sometimes that little voice in your head that tells you things like “you can’t do it” or “you’re just wasting your time” can be really really loud. In a society where we are constantly told to just follow the leader, it’s hard to trust yourself enough to get out of the line. There will always be people who don’t believe you can do something, but don’t let yourself buy into that. Trust your gut and learn to step out of your own way. If you would have asked me eight years ago if I thought I would be blogging this far into the future, I would have told you “no way.” But here I am eight years later, still writing and producing content. You can do anything if you put your mind to it and don’t let that little voice get in your way!
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
My husband Jackson has been such an incredible support to me. When I told him I was thinking about starting a blog, he was so excited for me. He took interest in my ideas and even helped take my photos for some fashion posts. He helped me talk through ideas and encouraged me when I was feeling self-doubt. Even now when I told him I was thinking about starting planning surprise vacations with ‘Destination Unknown’ he was immediately excited and supportive of me. I am constantly inspired by him. He has his own podcast called “Amateur Hour” that he has been doing weekly for (almost) 100 episodes! The commitment he has to his podcast is really incredible and gives me hope that my passions can warrant the same kind of commitment. Words cannot express how thankful I am for a husband as wonderful as he is. I know I would not be where I am today and have the passion about my creative endeavors without his constant love and support.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wanderingsandbeautifulthings.wordpress.com
- Instagram: @abigale.moon
- Facebook: Destination Unknown- Abigale Moon
Image Credits
Jackson Moon
