“TAKING YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY ACTUALLY MAKES THE WORK SUFFER...

EL Definitely predates Covid for me. I’ve always had a problem taking myself too seriously. I believe in professionalism, attention to detail and working hard and these are all things that are super important to me but at some point you have to also relax and remind yourself that you don’t matter as much as you think you do.

No one likes a stickler. I’m not a fine artist, I’m a commercial photographer, right? At this stage of my career, I neither need to take myself seriously, nor should I.

In fact, it actually makes the work suffer. We’re not solving climate change or curing cancer. You always have to kind of remind yourself of that. And I often do –

[INAUDIBLE YELLING]

– sorry, I’m at my parents, we’re outside and my dad is spraying a garden hose at me –

[TO HER DAD, BRIAN] : I’m on the phone! Now is not the time for this!

SB This is pretty on the nose… in the spirit of not taking yourself too seriously it kind of feels like we should end it here.

EL Go for it. To the masses reading, go slap yourself across the face, take a bath, find a way to laugh at yourself, crack open a beer, call a friend. Do whatever you need to do to knock yourself off of the pedestal, and come back with a new approach.

ANYO.NE/EMILYLIPSON