"What brings you joy can also make you feel angry" (Carina Lindmeier bonus episode)

0:00Radim Malinic:Hey, welcome to this bonus episode of the Daring Creativity Podcast. This is where I revisit the interview published earlier in the week, giving me an opportunity to zoom in on a few stand-down moments for extra value and meaning. This week I released a conversation with Carina Lindmeier, an award-winning illustrator based in Linz, Austria. The conversation was called Dare to Find Your Creative Home and it's full of transparency and expression of her soul. Our conversation had countless stand-up moments, but as you might know with the format of these episodes, I kind of have to narrow it down to four.

0:34Radim Malinic:So, let's start with the first one, and it's inevitably about the topic of social media and beyond. I don't care about numbers or followers, I care about connections, and this is something which is really important for me. I don't care about, I mean, you can make like a huge following, but in the end it means nothing. if you have nothing where you can connect with someone. And when people cannot connect with what kind of story you have to tell or what kind of things you want to share or your art or illustration work. So I feel like we really have to, but at least that's just my opinion, but I feel like we have to step back now from this heavy influencer thing Also, some artists are more like influencers now, which is really difficult also for people to watch because at the end of the day, you never know.

1:34Is this like a paid thing or are people really doing this for a living or what's the story behind everything?

1:42Radim Malinic:It's almost inevitable and impossible to not have conversation about social media when it comes to illustration, artistry or design. Because in the social media driven economy, Karina's philosophy challenges the obsession with metrics that often dictate artistic decisions. Focusing on one genuine connection rather than follow account liberates artists from algorithmic approval seeking to prevent creative burnout. This approach builds sustainable careers through meaningful relationships that lead to real opportunities, collaborations and referrals. It also protects mental health by grounding creative practice in human relationships rather than digital validations creating authentic artistic growth.

2:29Radim Malinic:And the second stand that moment is? I feel like when you force something, it's not coming. So, like you said, step away, try to focus on something else. and recently I came back to this it's not a quote but it's something that's popping up in my mind quite often lately it's like everything is temporary and I feel like it's so true because every feeling is temporary so if you feel like you're not going somewhere and you're not getting close to where you want to go the feeling will go away but you just have to find your way to get where you want to so just be patient consistent try to find a new perspective and start running if you even if you're not ready so it sounds very poetic but it's so true and you have to find your way through your own strategy so to say how to find your creativity or how to keep your juices flowing this quote was used as the opening hook to the episodes and I had to revisit it again.

3:43Radim Malinic:Because it shows the maturity of the mind. The wisdom in the quote provides essential emotional regulation for artists navigating inevitable creative ups and downs. Understanding that both struggles and successes are temporary states, it liberates creatives to take bigger risks knowing failure isn't permanent identity. It encourages present moment awareness without over-attachment to current circumstances whether facing creative blogs or celebrating achievements. This perspective offers permission to evolve artistically and personally, recognizing that creative identity can be fluid rather than fixed.

4:23Radim Malinic:The next moment is the one that inspired the name of this episode. I wanted to become a graphic designer. And after a few internships, I decided, nope, that's not the way I want to end up. Sitting in front of my computer all day and like this, I call it the shrimp position where you at the end of the day, you feel like, yeah, like a potato or a shrimp because you can't move anymore. so I wanted to find something that is more creative and more where I can have like my own kind of exploration and feel like more in feel like more home so to say in my artistic sense so back then it was a bit different than nowadays because the internet was not such a thing as it is now so at the end of the day i hardly had anyone like a mentor or anyone who really took my hand and showed me things i remember the moment during the conversation when karina said i wanted to find something that feels like home and i knew straight away that that is something i wanted to zoom in on even then a little bit more because it captures the essence of authentic career.

5:49Radim Malinic:Finding work that feels like home to yourself rather than performing for others. In Karina's case, transitioning from just graphic design, what she calls shrimp position, I'm sure graphic designers will exactly relate to the fact how sedentary and still sometimes the profession could be. And in her case, transitioning to illustration, kind of giving at the courage required to trust creative instincts over security the home metaphor suggests comfort belonging and freedom to be authentic it also validates the inner voice saying this isn't right and encourages designing careers around what genuinely makes you feel right the last moment is about the fact that we are both have a love for cycling so i feel like when it comes to sports it teaches us so many things about ourselves and also how we interact with others like cars other cyclists or ourselves and it can bring you so much joy but it can also make you very angry for example and it always goes back to like I feel like when you have a problem with something in your life you feel it while you're on your bike it's not going away so you have to deal with it you have to deal so that's like really the hard track so to say when you are on your bike and you have a shitty day and you want to pedal it out and these thoughts will not go away until you solved it.

7:37So, and that's something I really enjoy. Sometimes I hate it, but in the end, I love it.

7:43Radim Malinic:So our chat about cycling was about the fact that there's nowhere to hide. Throughout the whole conversation we talked about there's nowhere to hide in illustration and creativity. There's nowhere to hide when you're a DJ. And there's a great story we talked about from both sides. I'm used to talk about our experiences of being on the bike because our experience has beautifully illustrated how physical activities force confrontation with unresolved issues. They are mirroring the creative process when you can't avoid difficult work indefinitely. Cycling, and if you're a keen cyclist or recreational cyclist, you will know that, as I've talked about on this podcast before, the headwind is always guaranteed.

8:29Radim Malinic:you might have a good ride one way but coming home or cycling up a hill it's always going to throw up some difficulties because cycling creates sustained focus time where the mind naturally processes problems and it's a beautiful time when things just slot in you just need taking time away from it all some people get good ideas in the shower it's because we do something mechanical and away from just the focus and being knee-deep in work. So just like being on a bike, it's a similar creative breakthroughs that emerge through persistent engagement. And the parallel between physical and creative endurance offers valuable perspective because both require pushing for resistance and finding inner strength when facing challenges.

9:18Radim Malinic:So it was a great episode to talk about these things and find elements of how the outside world of creativity actually not only influences the creative world and creative careers, but also how it mimics the experiences because they're so much alike. And I didn't mention in the episode, I didn't really know how much of endurance cycling has got much to do with endurance creativity because when there's nowhere to hide and you try to wrestle with it at first, it doesn't work it's only when you chill out and you become at one with your instruments whichever they are if it's a paintbrush or bike things get so much easier so if you haven't heard the full conversation with Carina Lindmeyer please check it out it's full of beautiful human stories and I will see you next week on the next one