"I find myself being too comfortable. If it gets too easy, maybe something is wrong and I need to shake things up." - Danaé Gosset

In this captivating conversation, Danaé Gosset shares her remarkable transformation from a rebellious French student kicked out of multiple schools to becoming the founder of Pencil TV, a acclaimed mixed-media animation studio. Her journey reveals how embracing difficulty, trusting intuition, and finding the right mentors can turn chaos into creative gold. 

Danaé discusses her unique approach to stop-motion animation, the power of silent retreats for creative breakthroughs, and why she deliberately chooses the harder path in both her work and life decisions, including her upcoming move from Paris to Los Angeles.

Key takeaways:

• Embrace the difficult path - Choosing harder processes often leads to more distinctive and meaningful creative work that stands out commercially
• Trust your inner compass - Even during chaotic periods, maintaining faith that "things will be okay" can guide you toward the right opportunities
• Create space for purposeless play - Not everything needs to serve a business goal; creative experimentation without agenda often becomes the source of breakthrough work
• Build creative habits like fitness - Treat personal creative work as essential maintenance, like going to the gym, rather than a luxury
• Use silence as a creative tool - Regular retreats from digital noise and social media can unlock deep creative insights and major life decisions
• Work with obsessive dedication when you find your calling - When you discover your true medium, the intensity of focus that emerges can accelerate your career exponentially
• Separate personal and commercial work - Maintain clear boundaries between client projects and personal expression to preserve artistic integrity and business relationships
• Teachers appear when you're ready - Being open and prepared attracts the mentors and opportunities you need at exactly the right moments
• Use healing practices to enhance creativity - Meditation, mindfulness, and therapeutic work can transform rebellious energy into productive creative fuel
• Put out the work you want to be hired for - The most effective portfolio strategy is creating personal projects that demonstrate exactly what you want to do professionally

Mindful Creative: How to understand and deal with the highs and lows of creative life, career and business

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