Whatever YOU like
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Whatever YOU like

I’ve always loved magazines.

I remember one summer at day camp, maybe between 4th and 5th grade, my friend Nicole and I thought it would be cool if we made our own fashion magazine.

Inspired by the stacks of old Teen and Vogue and Mademoiselle magazines the college-aged counselors would bring in for us to cut up during craft time, we decided to publish a collection of our favorite images of fluorescent biker shorts and push-down socks, with some hair and makeup tips (turquoise eyeshadow and puff-painted scrunchies, woo hoo!) for good measure.

Now remember, this was before the interwebs took over MY LIFE, and desktop publishing was just a glimmer in the eye of some ambitious geek who is probably counting their millions as I type. I’m pretty sure I still had my Commodore 64 at this point.

Our job as magazine “editors” basically consisted of cutting pictures out of the old magazines and gluing them onto pages of lined notebook paper before stapling everything together in a glossy, sticky, slightly crumpled bundle. We weren’t all that worried about presentation, so we were thrilled with the results! Our ideas about what was cool and important were right there in a collection for all to see! The magazine I publish now is slightly more sophisticated than that, but the thrill is the same.

My point is, you usually know what you like to do at a young age, even if you don’t realize it or haven’t yet figured out a way to make it work for you as an adult. I tend to be a little slow on the uptake when it comes to things like this, but I think I get it now.

What do you enjoy doing? Have you figured out how to make it work?

PS. Nicole showed our magazine to her mom, who suggested that we forego frivolous topics like fashion and create something geared towards helping young girls increase their self-esteem. We entertained the thought for approximately 47 seconds before promptly abandoning the whole magazine idea altogether. Don’t squash your kids’ dreams.

PPS: The title of this post always reminds me of Vanessa Bell Calloway’s turn as Prince Akeem’s Stepford-esque Queen to Be, so here’s the scene from Coming to America. Just for giggles.

10 Comments
  • Kristina | Pretty Shiny Sparkly

    April 3, 2010 at 3:26 pm

    I read this post and realized I was thumbing through the latest issue of Lucky magazine at the same time. I routinely stalk my local Barnes & Noble for foreign editions of my fashion faves: Elle UK, Vogue UK, etc. 🙂

    I’ve got a little Style Sample Magazine love in the PSS sidebar, by the way! 🙂

    • tamia

      April 8, 2010 at 7:43 pm

      Thanks, Kristina!

  • Alicia

    April 3, 2010 at 10:25 pm

    You know…you’re right. I liked making things as a kid, and I LOVE making them now. That stuff never leaves you, yo.

    • tamia

      April 8, 2010 at 7:42 pm

      Sometimes I wonder how much of our personalities are determined from the get-go. I don’t feel like my interests have changed much since I was about 5!

  • DailyDivaDish

    April 6, 2010 at 9:02 am

    I’ve loved being creative (through writing, jewelry design, interior design, etc…) for as long as I can remember.

    For several years I tried to put my creativity aside and concentrate on being more “business minded” in my career path. (I was a little “slow on the uptake” as well.) I now know – I have to stay true to myself. Since I’ve gone back to design and started blogging, I’ve never been happier.
    XO Piper

    • tamia

      April 8, 2010 at 7:41 pm

      I think I’m on the same track, Piper. I love being creative and I love business, so I’m trying to merge the two for the best of both worlds.

  • holierthannow

    April 10, 2010 at 4:36 pm

    LOLZ, Tamia, have you never seen Holier than Now? Cutting stuff up and rearranging it on a page – I have been doing this since tha late 80z. I do it in my professional life too except I call it trend development.

    joking aside, it does amaze me that I figured out how to make a living doing the same stuff i did when i was 11.

    • tamia

      April 12, 2010 at 2:44 pm

      Crazy how these things don’t really change, no?

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