Jon Wilkening is a truly amazing photographer and artist, but he's also a modern day sage for anyone contemplating leaving the corporate world behind to do their life's work. In this episode, Jon explores his own journey from working for a series of large financial institutions to becoming an artist and bagging his former co-workers groceries.

You can find him at jonwilkening.com, along with his insanely inspiring Monday Morning Dispatches and the super-cool Instant Film Venture.

Show Notes

Books & Quotes

A Hidden Wholeness, by Parker J. Palmer

"Reading is the inhale, writing is the exhale," Justine Musk

Music to Make You Move!

Sorry, The Intermission Project, from the album of the same name, 2013

I've Been Waiting, The Intermission Project, from the album of the same name, 2013

Workshop Items

Cold Shower Therapy, Joel Runyon at TEDxLUC 

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Taking the Leap! podcast by Sean Howard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

We had just left After Dark and I had been driving for over 9 hours. My hands gripped the wheel tightly and my mind was churning. I was thinking about my work in a completely new light. I had such a clear vision of my photographs transferred onto reclaimed pieces of wood.

The wood would be an active part of the image and each piece would be unique. I remember getting goose bumps just thinking about it.

And then a year passed. I avoided working on it at every opportunity, diverted by more "pressing issues".

Two months ago that all changed. I started researching transfer methods and ordering supplies. There was a lot to figure out: the method, the mix of chemicals, and the type of transfer sheets to use. I had more failures than successes. Heck, all I had was failures. I spent weeks attempting transfers onto simple wooden planks with no luck. Time and again the image would not stick to the wood.

I was just about to throw in the towel and write it all off when I achieved a partial transfer. It wasn't much, but it was enough. In retrospect, I have no idea how I managed this as the transfer sheets I were using at that time were actually guaranteed to NOT transfer. Yup. Explains SO much.  

My first partial transfer of any merit

It took more nights of failing, failing, failing to narrow in on what was wrong (the transfer sheets, maybe?) and order the correct supplies. I wrote about my breakthrough in my blog post aptly titled, My First Successful Wood Transfer.

My first, successful transfer.

To say there was much celebrating and drinking of wine would be an understatement. But this was just the beginning of a much scarier journey. It meant I now had the basic skills necessary to begin exploring what I really wanted to do in the first place.

So I did what any sane individual would do, I put it all aside and did my best to not think about it.

I found myself making sly little excuses to avoid anything to do with wood transfers. I'd like to think that my newfound insights into the power of Resistance brought me back to the table, but no. It was my friends that kept sending me time-bomb emails, quotes and poems.

I found myself with nothing better to do one day, meaning I was just bouncing around the social media, so I forced myself to sit down and research wood suppliers. The next day things were a blur of motion as I found myself in a local showroom loading my arms with scraps. They were actually happy to sell this stuff to me! Crazy!

The coolest place on the f'ing planet! And it's in Scarborough? My rant on Scarborough is totally going to haunt me now.

I stacked my treasures in the kitchen, much to the joy of my partner, as where else does one store 25 pounds of assorted lumber, and I set to transferring my favourite photos to the prepped and ready lumber.

Oh, the horror.

I've had my printer going strong and steady for the past few months and have grown used to my images appearing quite sharp and even sexy on rag, fine art and other papers. Only now, I was printing on darker substances with their own personalities and the results were nothing short of awful.

So I created some space and I sat. As luck would have it, I was having conversations with my art friends Doris, Mandy and Jon so a few things were top of mind for me. First, I had to connect my purpose to this initiative. Second, I needed to sit with the medium and what I was feeling. Third, this was supposed to be a scary but amazing journey, so I had to stop with the expectations and just push ahead. 

So I re-prepped my wood, and selected three pieces that were speaking to me.

The new three.

I then went back to work and focused on what was at the heart of what I am trying to accomplish. A word came to me and then an image flashed into my head. This was not an image I ever expected to be working with. It was of Pat Miller's wonderful pig Sturgis.

I carried the wood pieces into my office to sit with them and it wasn't long before everything started to come together.

I don't have a great photo of the final piece yet... this is just a quick shot from my iPhone and before I've even pulled the piece out of the transfer blocks, but this is what came to me over a year ago. I haven't perfected it, but I've found the path.

Earlier in 2014, I had the joy of working with my dear friend and talented designer Blair Francey on a series of images to promote the efforts of the Toronto Arts Council and the artists they touch.

Just yesterday the new site went live and I was pleased to see such a professional and awesome new web presence for the TAC. It was such a joy to work with each of these artists and I am so excited to see them being featured so prominently!

Below are the images from the campaign.

A friend emailed me as she found herself struggling to work on something that means more to her than anything in this world. I found myself unsure of how to answer. She is one of the most talented writers I know. Her purpose in this world is so clearly tied to helping the forgotten, the lost creatures held to our every whim, and all too often living lives of cruelty and neglect.

She had purchased the domain for her blog. She had given her credit card for the monthly Squarespace fees. I had read the first entry and it changed my life. I was mesmerized and within days I had become vegan again. The power of her words were tangible and real.

And yet she had been coming up with excuses to avoid meeting with me of late and had found herself unable to write the next entry.

I hope she doesn't hate me for putting this out to the world, but as I walked and contemplated her questions, I realized that this is something I struggle with each and every day. Further, it is something that everyone I am speaking with in my podcast is also struggling with.

We are all battling what Steven Pressfield calls Resistance. 

How much easier is it to watch television, play video games or even read a good book than it is to sit down and do our true work? The work we are called to is anything but f'ing easy. We sit there and nothing comes out but crap. Every brush stroke, every letter typed, every print we make is anything but up to par. It is beyond infuriating. 

So we walk away. We come up with innocent little excuses. "My family hasn't heard from me in days." "Who am I to do this?" "It's too hard."

Pressfield sees Resistance as a universal force that works from within us. In fact, it arises in direct response to any act that aligns with our purpose or calling. "The more important a call or action is to our soul's evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it."

I urge everyone to purchase, or dig out from their bookcase, Pressfield's War of Art. It remains my most trusted advisor in this battle.

Before Pressfield, I never realized just how insidious a force Resistance can be. It's that little whisper wondering how tired you feel right now. It's the sudden thought to do a chore you've been putting off for months just as you sit down to start your work. It's the dopamine-inducing pull to veg out watching television.

We are at war and Resistance is the enemy. Let me repeat that. We are at war, people, and Resistance is the enemy! 

It's time to don our flak jackets, pull down our helmets and carve out a sacrosanct hour from every day to show up and do our work, regardless of what happens or doesn't happen.

We need defeat Resistance only once to know that it can be overcome. We just have to ship our product one time. After that, it becomes easier to sit down and fight through the loss for words, the lack of talent and the insidious little desires, voices and misdirections. Those never go away, but we become better at brushing them aside and working through them.

I'm unsure what advice to offer my friend except to say that she is not alone. We are all right there with her. We may not walk the exact same path, but we all fight the same forces. Am I right? Please comment and tell her your story.

I couldn't stop dancing to the music in episode 2 of Taking the Leap! 

And when I found out I could pay what I want on bandcamp.com, and have this music every day, I leaped! And the package I chose included a lovely illustrated nameplate. The final piece that arrived is shown above and it appears to be me as a dog training Alfred Hitchcock. I love it!

As winter arrives, let's warm up some artists by showing them how much we love and value what they are producing!

Bones EP, by Kashka.