Sunday Fun: Quarterlife Upgrade + Life After College Art Carousel

Happy Sunday everyone! Two cool things to share today:

• I'm part of another free week-long En*theos video conference next week called The Quarterlife Upgrade -- it is hosted by one of my longtime mentors-from-afar, Christine Hassler, one of the first writers I ever encountered in the "after college" space. We set up a 30-minute "one-off" call (as I described last week) back in 2008 and it was one of the building blocks that gave me the insight and encouragement I needed to finally pursue writing my book. More on her conference below . . .

• Second, a super fun twist on Life After College: a team of illustrators took on the challenge of interpreting each chapter of my book — consider this our very own Sunday comics-meets-editorial-cartoon-meets-art show -- huge thank you to Caitlin and The Square Carousel for the great submissions!

Quarterlife Upgrade Video Conference

You may have bought into the misunderstanding that you are supposed to have your entire life figured out by your 20s or 30s. This is not true! If you are asking questions like, “What do I want to do with my life?” or feeling stuck along your career path or stressing out about money or relationships, and are ready for some relief, solutions and inspiration, then sign-up for The Quarterlife Upgrade Virtual Conference, which will be streaming live from July 22-26.

The Quarterlife Upgrade gathers 30+ of the world's next generation experts to answer the questions: Who Am I, What Do I Want, and How Do I Get It? Listen in for inspiring and actionable real-world advice about careers, relationships, finances, well-being and making a difference.

What you need to know:

Dates: July 22-26th, 2013 (My interview goes live on Friday, July 26 at 1pm ET) Price: Free. What's included: Six interviews per day, each will be available live to stream for 24 hours. Where: Register for free here 

The Square Carousel Takes on Life After College

The Square Carousel Collective was founded in 2011 by 10 talented up-and-coming illustrators. After meeting at Savannah College of Art and Design, the group was formed around shared aesthetics, and now encompasses a eclectic range of styles. Although they all work in different mediums and styles, they share a common drive for professionalism and dedication to the field of illustration.

Their group posts tri-weekly challenges to stay motivated and connected to each other as they pursue freelance illustration careers, with each artist taking a turn selecting a theme. One of their recent challenges was illustrating each chapter of my book, Life After College. Without further ado, here are their submissions!

Work

Casey Crisenbery illustrated "Work" — I chose to illustrate finding that balance between work and play -- eventually leading to success, both personally and monetarily.

Money

Chris Nickels  illustrated "Money" —  Money is a massive aspect of life after college. I know I’m not the only one that has had to deal with the trial and error process of making enough money to pay the bills while pursuing a career you love. This principal feels like it goes double for anyone trying work freelance. As soon as you secure work and complete a project, the whole crazy process starts all over again.

Home

Sarah E. Carr illustrated "Home" — As someone who lived in dorms throughout all of college, I have to say that the prospect of finding my own real home after college was incredible exciting as well as scary. It’s been almost a year since graduation, and what I’ve learned is that finding home after college isn’t an easy task. It’s something that takes a lot of time and effort, which is where I got the idea for this piece. A home has to be grown, it doesn’t pop up automatically out of thin air. It takes a while to get there, but once you do it feels preeeetty nice.

Organization

Marc Osborne illustrated "Organization" —  A clean space invites mess, but a messy space invites no-one. My grandfather always used to tell me that being clean and organized is something you do to allow yourself the time to make a mess and live. He said if you always live in a mess, that’s all you know and you won’t be able to enjoy life since you’ll be stressing about all the chaos around you.  So, make a mess!  Then clean it up.

Friends and Family

Elizabeth Beals illustrated "Friends and Family" — Truth be told I don’t get to see my family or friends all that much. If I’m lucky I get to see my friends every month or two, and my family maybe once a year. So I’ve come to rely on the powers of Facebook to be able to interact with them on nearly a daily basis. It allows me to share stories, photo’s, laughs, and <3 with all of them and keep a smile on my face.

Dating and Relationships

Courtney Wirth illustrated "Dating and Relationships" — I continually remind myself that I’m too busy to be distracted by boys and dating, but at times I wonder if it’s just an excuse. I honestly want to just focus on my career and my life goals, but some times it wouldn’t be so bad to share that with someone. For now, I’ll just stick to what I know and I guess things will happen when they happen.

Health

Molly Wilson illustrated "Health" — I love working out with my dog. We go running, and play at dog parks. I found out about a version of yoga that you can do with your dog. It’s called doga (doe-ga). My dog, Bruno, always tries to help me or participate in stretches or workouts I do at home, so this will be a great way for us both to keep in shape and stay healthy.

Fun and Relaxation

Charlotte Jackson illustrated "Fun and Relaxation" —  For fun I enjoy spending time out with friends, like going out to lunch or dinner once a week for a break. For relaxation I think that it’s easiest to do so when doing relatively monotonous but fun things that are just for yourself - I’m not one to relax by doing nothing.  As a creative person, I like to do things that aren’t necessarily a part of my normal job, like illustration, but painting and other crafts.

Personal Growth

Caitlin B. Alexander illustrated "Personal Growth" — Personal growth and self-reflection have always been very challenging interests of mine (maybe in another life I could have studied psychology), so I knew when I chose this topic, I had to do it justice. In “Life After College,” within the section about personal growth, author Jenny Blake touches on the struggle with loneliness. Personally, this has always been one of my bigger battles, and for different reasons throughout my life, as I matured and my surroundings changed. Slowly conquering parts of my greatest fear has allowed me to nurture new aspects of my identity to grow.

There are still lots of empty places where that garden has yet to intertwine, and sometimes I wonder, will I ever feel complete? It helps a lot to know how many holes have already filled, though, and gives me encouragement to keep going.  Life after college has presented a whole new set of struggles, and of course, loneliness loves to rear it’s ugly head, but I know in time I’ll find things that are as rewarding as my student lifestyle once was.

Life's Big Picture

James Harling illustrated "Life's Big Picture" — Right now, I'm stuck in a full time job making lattes, needing to pay crazy bills, and it has really diminished my productivity, and worse, kept me away from the girl of my dreams.  The big picture, for me, is to go ahead with this crazy new illustration portfolio and just go for it: freelance and move closer to the girl...I handed in my notice…two weeks, guys...two weeks.

Let's give a big round of applause to The Square Carousel for their awesome work! Ready for your own after college inspiration and interpretation? Grab a copy of my book -- a workbook-like portable coach, with tips, quotes and coaching exercises for every area of your life :)