Comments for Owltastic — writing about web design by Meagan Fisher

Comment on In Control 2012 by Veronica

Veronica — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:02:18 +0000

I actually live in Tallahassee and have been applying for design jobs in Orlando :D! It’s about a 5 hour drive so may have to make the trip to see you and the other great speakers speak :)

Comment on In Control 2012 by Angel Y.

Angel Y. — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:46:05 +0000

I was so excited to when I heard you were coming down! I hope I get to go, if this year’s budget provides. You’re such an inspiration. as well as the other speakers. Hope to see you there.

Comment on Just keep going by Jim

Jim — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:31:38 +0000

Just keep going! Great post. You can add me to the list of people here who started the guitar because I absolutely loved it, but then eventually quit :(. For me the process started with a thrill a day because every new thing just seemed awesome. But over time my skill seemed to suffer from diminishing returns from practice. That’s my excuse anyway.

As you describe, one response to frustration is to adopt a defeatist attitude. “I just don’t have the talent”. Let me tell you that half the population in this country has that attitude regarding math. I know this because if I tell someone that I am a math professor, then the odds are 50-50 they’ll say “Oh, I am terrible at math”.

I have made similar excuses (long distance running for example). Last spring I was at an Iron Man competition. That’s a triathlon where you swim two miles, bike 112 miles, and then run a marathon. One guy (most of the way through the marathon) didn’t look good and pulled up short near where I was standing. He was quitting after all that (and only another 10 miles to run!). I would have quit for sure. But after a couple minutes he got back up and finished it. The person I actually came to watch was picked up off the ground just after the finish line and helped into a wheelchair. They could have taken her picture and put iit on one of those PSA billboards with the message “Guts, pass it on”.

Comment on Just keep going by BevE

BevE — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:48:20 +0000

I think we were separated at birth !

Sending your post to my daughter who just graduated from cc in graphic design. Kiddo – you are wise beyond your years no doubt you will succeed at what you try to do – looks like you already have : D

Comment on Just keep going by Kalee Eversole

Kalee Eversole — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 05:36:31 +0000

Wow, this so closely resonates with my current situation and feelings towards building better habits and life skills it kinda made me a bit emotional. I am so happy to have stumbled upon this blog post when I did. Thank you for writing this and never stop learning. Good stuff.

Cheers,

Comment on Just keep going by Birgit

Birgit — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 10:03:15 +0000

Hi Meagan,
I recognize myself in this in so many ways. I’ve been trying to get better at playing foosball for about a year now, and many people tell me that I’m very talented, but many times, it has just been frustrating and I told myself “you’ll never learn this, just stop trying”. But then again, the moments come where you reach a new plateau and then you know it’s worth it.

In web design, I look at my work from a few years ago thinking “OMG… what did I think?!” :D

Still, I’m not nearly as good as I want to be. It’s good to know that even you, whose designs I admire truly, has a similar story.

Wish you Happy Holidays!

Comment on Shadows and CSS3 by DMC

DMC — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:51:58 +0000

People who use IE hate the internet. Fact.

Comment on Flat, simple icons for interface design by Facebook URL Shortener

Facebook URL Shortener — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:54:56 +0000

These icons are just amazing, very nice collection, thanks for sharing them here.

Comment on Just keep going by I want to excel at everthing

I want to excel at everthing — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:02:19 +0000

[...] Meagan Fisher recently published article entitled ”just keep going”. [...]

Comment on Just keep going by Kevin Esther

Kevin Esther — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:19:41 +0000

This article is well written. Learning something new is both exciting and overwhelming. Self learning is even tougher. You bring up some really good points. The way I see it is we are not born to walk and talk. We learn. Every day my 3 year old daughter draws. It started with scribbles then more and more I can see her drawing improving. Practice, practice and more practice. My best friend is example of someone that self learnt the guitar. Spent hours playing one chord and doing warm up exercises. He never quits and once he decides he is learning something he sticks to it and puts in the time. I take inspiration from him. I am learning web design and the one thing that has help me the most is limiting my creativity and practice.Any thoughts of self-defeat are crushed. Am like you.I’m not a naturally optimistic person. But am working hard to change this way of thinking. Loved this article. Well done and good luck.