Prioritizing Contentment: A Critical Take on Growth and Expansion
A Foreword:
I started writing this piece when I was living in Charlottesville in early June as a follow-up to my Substack debut. I planned to maintain a publishing schedule that others told me to keep up: to stay active, consistent, relevant.
Well, the truth is that consistency is f***ing hard. Especially now(as a recent college grad who moved back home), I am grappling with how to do anything consistently when transition seems constant and sometimes crippling.
To remain focused in this transition??? Oh brother.
It requires intention and a painful amount of vulnerability to keep creating despite my world, as I once knew it, completely changing. Danced, spun, and flipped on its head.
So, from my childhood bedroom, I’m trying again. This may be bad writing practice(idk, I haven’t really done this before), but I’ll warn you that this piece is unfinished. A bold speculation that reiterates all the changes happening in my life: internally and externally.
Flashback to the Fall
When I participated in UVA Founder’s Fair last November, one lady asked me a simple question that I have been contemplating ever since. At this event, where business owners were invited to network and promote their enterprises, conversations about growth and expansion ran amok. If I’m honest, these are environments where I feel uncomfy: pressured to be entrepreneurial and extroverted when I want to just create my silly lil designs.
She asked me,
“How do you envision the scale of your business developing?”
This was a straightforward question that most founders(I think…) would probably be able to answer right away, but instead, I stammered over my words.
The truth is that scale was not something on my radar. In part, this question revealed that I had a lot more thinking to do about the future of my business and where LOOKS was headed. While I often set short-term goals about production and sales, I rarely ever contemplated what I wanted LOOKS to be in 5+ years.
That’s not to say I don’t have my dream(what else can you expect from a creative?): one piece per month, a slow production model that sells for designer prices(sustainable income stream) to a conscious and fashionable audience.
Still, I never thought of what this looks like logistically, and the woman’s question raised another huge question for me as an entrepreneur(and human being):
What if I don't want growth?
Maybe I sound silly or naïve or (hopefully) rebellious. But, like, what if I don’t want to dedicate efforts toward growing my business?
I am a multi-passionate girly, which has served to complicate and enrich my identity as a business owner. I understand that nurturing a variety of my interests gives me a sense of fulfillment; I’m able to use inspirations from my other passions into my work. For instance, my current leisure read about neuro aesthetics(which I 1000% recommend)has inspired me to create more circular, mandala style intuitive designs for LOOKS.
What I’m trying to say is this: I can’t prioritize growth in the sense of producing more, obtaining more followers, making more connections/appearances, because that isn’t where my attention naturally grows.
More, more, more.
It feels like something that I’m supposed to strive for in all sectors of my life. Chats with my peers reveal that I’m not the only one receiving this messaging.
But I will never want that. I never want to force productivity at the risk of losing my authenticity as a creator; that is MY priority.
So why do I feel pressure to…?
Origins of Expansion/Productivity
Yippeee! I found an opportunity to shit on capitalism :)
Seriously, though, when it comes to breaking down this widespread norm of constant growth and hyper productivity, all roads lead to capitalism. This system relies on non-stop production(growth, expansion, etc.) to generate economic capital. Especially in the entrepreneurial sphere, cultures around self-starting, grinding, work addictions etc, are prevalent and require a critical lens to deconstruct.
I recognize that my perspective is shaped by my own experiences and aversion to toxic work structures, so I researched what the experts were saying. Here’s what I found:
***I had no energy to research outside sources. Hehe, just my speculation here***
Choosing Contentedness
After stammering over my words, I decided on my answer to the woman's question. I envision my business remaining small, now and in the future. I trust that my connections, opportunities, and profits will expand as I settle into entrepreneurship and develop my design skills, but I refuse to prioritize growth for the sake of more.
Since I started LOOKS in the summer after my first year of college, I have only had two summers to dedicate all of my efforts toward growing my business: releasing new products, social media campaigns, starting a blog, and an ecommerce website.
Now, three years later, I am in an era of transition that has called me towards simplification and relaxation. After 16 years of being a committed student, I see no choice but to sit my butt ZOWN and be still.
Only then will focus come to me. I’m choosing to connect with what matters: my health, relationships, spirituality. That means other interests of mine(LOOKS included) will temporarily be on the side burner for now.
Choosing to Create
My creativity is the energy source that connects me to it all, so I am choosing to nurture it. For sustainable living, learning, and (you guessed it)growing.
Leaning into the sacredness of the present moment is challenging in this ever-changing world, but no doubt feeds a future of abundance that no amount of logistics can match.
Creating helps to place me in the moment, using my hands to connect with my surroundings and feelings. Sitting and writing pushes me to be honest with myself and others.
TLDR: As creators, business owners, and humans, we must think critically about desires to expand, accumulate, grow, have more, etc. While beneficial in some regards, it can be a trap that cuts off presence and contentment.
I challenge you to pause for 30 secs, breathe, and check in with yourself. How are you feeling? What do you want? What are you putting off doing? What are you aching to express?
Contentment is liberation.
Stay creative! I’ll catch you next time.
XOXO Lexi Lee
First published on Substack. Read it there and subscribe.