Let me take you back to fall quarter of my senior year.

It
was recruiting season and I was balancing studying for interviews with studying
for midterms. I was interviewing in the aerospace, tech, and consumer package
goods industry. I knew I was going to land a role in one of these fields and
knew I wasn’t going to go into the fashion industry. 

So I decided that I would create a space for my passion for
fashion and I created a blog: Emma’s Edition. At first, I was just fashion
focused. But as I’ve grown up, Emma’s Edition also has grown up and added
career and lifestyle focused posts. 

Emma’s Edition has been a space for my writing, modeling,
fashion, and life advice. It’s been an  space for me to experiment
and be creative. I’ve had incredible opportunities come from blogging and
social media. 

So today I want to encourage you to pursue a creative
outlet.
And tell you why we should all have one.



6 Reasons Why We All Should Have a Creative Outlet

1. Meaningful Life

One of the greatest benefits of pursuing a creative outlet,
whether it be photography, cooking, or blogging, is that it gives you a sense
of purpose and meaning in your life. When you’re creating or doing something you
enjoy, you’ll feel more fulfilled.

2. Makes Your Happy

Pursuing a creative outlet not only lowers your stress, but
also helps you channel your emotions in a healthy way. Whether you’re feeling
incredibly happy or feeling low, you can turn to art, movement, singing, or
whatever you do to help exert your energy. 

Personally, I’m so happy when people reach out to me and
tell me they’ve read a blog post that they connected with or that helped them
in some way. I find happiness when I learn that the content I create also means
something to someone.


4. You Learn How to Try, Fail, and Try Again 

When you decide to pursue a new art or hobby, you will
inevitable face a learning a curve. Whether you’re learning how to do yoga or
learn how to play the piano, you may stumble or fail at some point. No one is
born a classical pianist or a yoga instructor. Even if a person learns how to
quickly master a skill, they still have to go through the process of learning
how to do so.

The process of learning, failing, trying again and succeeding leads you to personal growth. The more you learn how to try and overcome failure, the more experiences you won’t be afraid of in your life.

5. You Learn How to Invest Yourself

When you put your mind to something, commit to it, execute
your goal, and you love what you’re doing, you’re also investing yourself. The
time, commitment, and energy you put into your creative pursuits is the time
you spend developing you.


5. You Learn How to be Confident in Yourself

As pursuing a creative outlet can show you how to value
yourself, it can also show you how to be confident in yourself. Life poses us
many questions in our life. What careers do we choose? When is it time for a
change? Where am I going to be most happy?

I’ve found that pursuing blogging has helped me find
confidence in my writing and modeling abilities. I was always interested in
these two things but worried I was too short to ever be model or not
technically trained to be a writer. But as the years have gone by and I’ve
completed projects, I’ve become more confident in front of the camera and
writing on paper and on the screen,

6. You Learn How Your Work

When are you most productive? When are you most creative?
What does a meaningful work day mean to you? How are you motivated? What gets
you most excited about life?

When you decide to pursue a creative outlet, you get to
experience and learn how you work as a person. It’s easy to get caught up in
the daily routines and even feel bored with it. Your creative outlets may
constantly challenge you and help you learn how to work through them. 

If you’re a photographer or blogger out there, remember that
your work matters –especially to you. If your creative outlet is helping you
feel fulfilled and experience meaning in your life, it’s worth pursuing for
you.

Thank you to ThredUp for this incredible red dress! I absolutely love finding affordable and adorable second hand pieces with ThredUp.

Thank you for reading!

Love,

Emma

Photos: Holly Phan