Hi friends, welcome to Ad Astra and thank you to everyone who’s joined us since the last issue! It’s so good to have you here.

First: a quick reminder.

This issue is open to everyone and so will be the March 1 issue. To get access to the three issues in between, consider subscribing below. If you sign up in the next four weeks, the subscription is going to be $5 a month going forward. Think of it as taking me out to coffee, once a month, and getting four opportunities to read my thoughts on the topics of creativity, living boldly, and chasing your dreams while you’re at it.

After March 1, the subscription is going to be $6 a month (or $65 a year if you choose an annual subscription).

Ok, now onto today’s topic. I’d like to dig into the anatomy of a story: what this process looks like for me from beginning to end.

I’ll use this story I created for AFAR Magazine as an example. It’s one of my favorite stories to date.

Prelude: inspiration or curiosity?

Inspiration is everywhere if only we pay attention. The source of our next story (or a project, or a creative endeavor) can often come from the most unusual direction. And it needn’t be something massive, either. It doesn’t even have to qualify as our passion to feel inspiring to us.

I love the way author Elizabeth Gilbert frames this: she talks about choosing curiosity over passion.

Why?

Passion is intimidating. “Follow your passion,” we often hear. But what the heck does that mean? We have no idea, and so we just freeze up and get discouraged on the road to creative living.

Elizabeth Gilbert offers us a much more approachable choice. Instead of trying to figure out what our passion is, we can follow the ‘breadcrumbs’ of curiosity.

Does that book on 18th-century hat fashion pique your interest? Pick it up.

Does spending an afternoon in a letterpress studio sound like a good idea? Go there (I actually did just that once in Brooklyn).

Curiosity gives us a stress-free way to explore our interests. And over time, these tiny breadcrumbs (or “hints from the universe” as I like to call them) add up and point us in a direction that we could choose to pursue.

How does choosing curiosity over passion relate to today’s discussion?

I got curious about Turkish tiles two years ago and today, the topic of reviving old artisan traditions is becoming one of my specializations. In the process of creating this story (and a few others after), I discovered that I really enjoy working on this subject. My curiosity, not my passion, led me here.

Inception: always read your friends’ blog posts

Some time ago, I was scrolling through my good friend Erol’s website.

Erol is an incredibly talented designer, creative director, and an inspiration to me. (We met on Instagram!)

About halfway through his journal, I stumbled upon a single image of a lovely blue and white floral dish, accompanied by Erol’s crisp description: “SOURCE — İznik blue and white dish (c. 1480–1500) sold by Christie’s to the Detroit Institute of Arts.”

The image and the words piqued my curiosity. I followed this blue and white rabbit down its stunning floral hole.

I learned that Iznik tiles from Turkey have been legendary during the Ottoman Empire times. Today, cheap Iznik replicas fill the streets of Istanbul but real Iznik, as I learned from Erol and Christie’s, can sell for as high as half a million dollars!

The story idea was born.

Fermentation: take your time and don’t skip your research

I now had a kernel of an idea but it wasn’t enough to form a story proposal or approach publications. I needed to do more research.

For the next few weeks, I’ve read all I could find on the internet regarding Iznik tiles.

I learned that what makes Iznik tiles so vibrant is a secret sauce of ingredients called sır (translated as ‘secret’ from Turkish).

I learned that this secret had been lost with the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Although unfortunate, this event made the story’s potential all the more interesting through a touch of history’s drama.

Finally, I discovered organizations in Turkey that have been working on reverse engineering sır and reviving the craft. One of these organizations set up operations in the town of Iznik, the original home of the tiles.

My plan of action was starting to take shape.

Execution: resourceful is the name of the game

Luckily for me, I had an upcoming trip to Mongolia on an assignment with Turkish Airlines. I arranged a four-day stopover in Istanbul on the way back: just enough time to go to Iznik, learn the basics of the craft, document the process, and even visit places in Istanbul where real Iznik tiles can be spotted or purchased.

Why luckily for me?

Because the days when magazines send photographers and writers on all-expenses-paid assignments are nearly gone. (If you spot one of these opportunities in the wild, do let me know!) Stacking several assignments on one trip is often how we make the finances work.

Side note: this — trips for travel media professionals — is a topic for an upcoming issue. Stay tuned!

Because I did my research during the fermentation stage, the execution went off without a hitch. I was on a tight schedule so it was important for me to arrange meetings ahead of time and to know where I needed to go on which day to gather my story materials.

I loved walking the streets of Iznik, a sleepy town of bygone fame near Istanbul.

I marveled at the process of making the tiles, each painstakingly crafted by hand (compare that to cheap replicas made by machine-stamping patterns onto the tiles).

I enjoyed Iznik so much that I never expected to find my most poignant encounter for this story in Istanbul, meters away from the Blue Mosque in Sultanahmet, Istanbul’s touristic corner. (You can read about that in the finishing paragraphs of the AFAR article.)

And that’s what I love most about the work I do.

I love meeting people who care deeply about their craft.

I love being touched by a piece of living, breathing history and helping shine a light on it for new audiences.

I love pursuing my curiosities and getting paid for it.

I love sharing my knowledge and experiences with you and getting your feedback.

I love knowing that what I do matters (even if just a bit).

So thank you for joining me on this journey. You have already given me your support by letting me land in your inbox once a week. It means a lot in our crowded world and I hope that the stories you’ll keep finding here will be worthwhile for you.

Onwards!

Yulia

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P.S. Ad Astra is a weekly discussion on these four topics:

* Living Your Boldest Life: tools, tips, and strategies on pursuing big projects, such as pitching National Geographic or launching a company

* Going Pro: my tips on quitting the job you don’t want and becoming someone you want to be instead (in my case: a writer, photographer, and entrepreneur) 

* Putting Your Imagination To Work: insights on storytelling and creativity, i.e. creating a winning pitch or coming up with ideas, consistently

* Personal Growth: how not to stand in your own way to your dreams and on being human with failures, doubts, and struggles (we all have them!)

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