GUEST SPEAKER
AFTER YEARS OF FOCUSING ON BIG, GLOSSY WINS, ILLUSTRATOR JOHANNA BASFORD OBE SHIFTED HER ATTENTION TO THE SMALL VICTORIES
I’ve always been ambitious and driven. As a kid, I wanted to win every competition, whether it was colouring or fancy dress. After art school, I became a freelance illustrator and spent my 20s building my career. I wanted to run faster, be more organised, travel more. I hoped I’d marry my boyfriend, have a couple of kids, continue to work and run marathons.
I aimed high because I hated wondering if I could have done better. The only way I felt I could measure that effort was by the result – abig result meant a big effort.
Fast forward a few years and I found myself at the centre of the adult colouring book frenzy. My first book, Secret Garden, sold more than 8m copies worldwide and sparked a trend that saw colouring books dominate bestsellers lists. Meanwhile, I was working from home with a baby – soon to be two babies – trying to juggle everything from international sales to breastfeeding. I was exhausted. I wasn’t turning up as the best version of myself. I wasn’t exercising, I barely saw my friends and my time with the kids felt fraught.
I’d always gone after big wins. But now I barely had time to wash my hair, never mind run 20 miles. I’d stare at my once delightfully ambitious ‘to-do’ lists and sob.
Until I had a breakthrough. I was actually achieving lots every day – replying to emails, sending newsletters, sketching new art. I just hadn’t noticed. I was so focused on the glossy wins that come from months of hard graft that I was missing the immediate, smaller things. The ones that might not bring the external praise the biggies drummed up, but that filled me with a quiet sense of contentment.
The problem with big wins is they don’t last long. It might have taken me months to complete a big project, but it didn’t give me an equivalent duration of joy back. I would just acknowledge the achievement and swiftly move on to the next thing. By contrast, the smaller wins invited a softer, more thoughtful appreciation. And there were lots of them!
When life was really gritty – becoming a single mum with lockdowns rumbling on, and Dad passing away from cancer – Irealised I needed an immediate fix of happy every day. I couldn’t wait six months to maybe feel good about something for a few hours.
