Loud Quitting & What's Next for The Green Paint Society

It’s been exactly one year since I started the Green Paint Society. One year of journaling, sketchbooking, and exploration. I hope you’ve grown as an artist has much as I have in the last year. Just preparing the content for you all helped me learn so much about myself.

As I was deciding what the theme for August should be, I drew a blank. My first instinct was to repeat last August’s theme of inspiration. But how boring is that? This was my first clue that I needed to make some changes around here. My second clue was all the issues I’ve had with Squarespace’s membership platform. They’re great for web design, and I’ll always use them for that. However, they still have kinks to work out with their member feature. Over the past year, I’ve dealt with a host of issues - from payments not processing to them randomly removing a button that disabled my signup for a month. It’s all been more work to maintain than I predicted.

This month, I started researching alternative platforms. I needed to find one quick if I was going to make the switch by August. The best and most popular option seemed to be Patreon. Once you have more members, Patreon can get expensive. Also I wouldn’t own the platform like I do on Squarespace. Despite that, I decided this was the best way to go. I grew excited as I started building out my Patreon page.

This past year, I was careful not to show too much of my art. I wanted to inspire you to create your unique best work. Looking back, maybe I didn’t share enough art. I also received feedback that I could talk more about the business side of things. So, this time, I wanted to dive right into art and owning an illustration business. I made a time lapse video of a recent painting I was working on. Then, I created a post about some new supplies I’ve been trying out. I even recorded an audio clip with updates on my art business and life. I’ve also had feedback that you’d love a community feature where we could post and interact, so I planned on adding a Discord integration. I had a plan and was ready to go!

Me and Connor hanging out :)

However, when I was done creating these initial posts, I felt tired. Real tired. As most of you know, I’m a new mom with a 7-month-old son. Right now, I’m his primary caregiver and I like it that way. I could hire help, but I don’t want to miss this short phase of his life where he’s really small. I get work done by passing him off to my husband in the evenings or on his lunch break. Weekends are great too. This is when I ship print orders and do client work. I was even able to wrap up a dream project of writing and illustrating a children’s book this past month. I’ve maintained my productivity in these little increments of time, but trying to do it all has been exhausting. After going through a high risk pregnancy last year, a tough physical recovery after the delivery, and adjusting to life with a new baby this year, I’m craving rest.

I recently came across these words from Lisa Congdon’s instagram on Loud Quitting:

“I’ve been thinking a lot lately about quitting. And I’ve been on a systematic mission to examine and quit everything in my life/work that feels finished or draining or one-sided or obligatory or without purpose or joy. So far in the past 9 months, I’ve quit alcohol, food restrictions, teaching college, my podcast (more on that to come), two boards of directors, working on Fridays, working on umpteen client projects at once, coffee dates with people I don’t know, most public speaking, writing any more books, several friendships, and most weekday evening plans. I have not felt as happy, “balanced” (if such a thing exists) and such a sense of spaciousness in nearly 20 years. I’ve begun to think of this as “loud quitting” — intentional, communicated, assertive (as opposed to passive), and unapologetic.”

Her words hit home. Suddenly I had a moment of clarity. I’ve taken on too much and I can’t do it all. I so badly want to create the perfect membership program, and teaching does give me purpose. However, I don’t have the capacity right now to make it the best it can be. Last year, when I was pregnant and needed a distraction, it fit into my life perfectly. This year, it’s been tough to be held accountable to a schedule. It’s ironic that, even as I’m writing this post, I’m standing at my kitchen counter holding my son in the carrier. He’s fussing and I can barely get these words out. If this isn’t a sign I need to quit, I don’t know what is.

To be clear, I’m not quitting the GPS forever. I’m just saying “not right now.” I will resume my membership program at a later date, when I can put my heart and soul into it. That, I’m sure of.

So what does this mean for our little community here? I’ve made the membership free and I’ll be leaving the content up for the next month for you to enjoy. In September, I’ll be discontinuing my membership program with Squarespace and returning to Patreon at a later date. For updates on my return, make sure you’re subscribed to my newsletter. I’ll still be blogging periodically as I have time.

I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for joining me on this journey. There are about 30 of you who have been tried and true members since the beginning, and I’m so grateful for your love and support. You know who you are. You guys are the best and I hope we can meetup on Patreon in the near future. I hope this post inspires you to quit a few things in your life as well (guilt-free). The older I get, the more I realize happiness isn’t as much about adding as it is subtracting.

Thanks again for your continued love and support!

-Nicole