We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Virginia Mason Richardson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Virginia, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
I keep my creativity alive by giving myself large windows of time to do what I feel called to do in the moment versus what I scheduled myself to do in the past.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am the writer and illustrator of The Magic Guide, an ever-unfolding story that helps you see real magic in everything.
As a highly intuitive person, I experience wild, magical things every day. Things like synchronicity, dreams coming true, and psychic messages. I write all about these experiences and help people connect with the magic in their own lives through every chapter of The Magic Guide.
A new chapter is released with every new and full moon, and you can sign up to receive the story for free.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I’ve always been a writer. Ever since I was a little girl. But illustration came later, and honestly, I never took it seriously. I never felt particularly skilled as an illustrator. I know I don’t have the technical proficiency that many artists do, so I devalued my work. But for whatever reason, I still just kept doing these little doodles to accompany my writing, and my readers kept insisting they loved them.
So, I committed more to the illustrations. I spent more time on them. I allowed myself to believe they were good enough. At the same time, I’m constantly pushing myself to get better and playing with new techniques and styles that excite me and keep me curious as I’m creating.
I think – whether with writing or illustration or really anything I do – staying curious has had the biggest impact on me. By not assuming that I already know who I am or what I can or can’t do, I’ve been able to do so many things I never even imagined.
So, I guess if I was going to boil it down to three things, I’d say: work hard, keep going, and stay curious.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
So many wonderful books! It’s hard to choose just one, but I’ll share one of my more recent inspiring reads, which was Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan.
I actually learned about this book from a dream! I’d never heard of it before but woke up knowing about it and just had to read it.
It turns out that it’s all about the internal conflict between the logical mind and intuitive/imaginative thinking. I’m obviously a highly intuitive person and all of my work is basically about focusing on the magic of life, but still, I’m very analytical. Sometimes my logical mind trips me up and gets in my way, and this book really helped me embrace my magical side and shush the part of me that just constantly doubts and plays devil’s advocate.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.virginiamasonrichardson.com
- Instagram: @virginia.mason.richardson
- Other: The Magic Guide: www.themagicguide.co
Image Credits
Amanda Crommett, Virginia Mason Richardson
