Brendan Dawes
The Art of Form and Code

It's Good to Talk — How Having Video Calls With My Peers Keeps Me Sane

A few years ago Joel Gethin Lewis sent me a private message on Twitter, asking how I was and how we should have a catch-up sometime on Skype. Not about anything in particular, just, you know, a chat.

A few days later we did just that. We talked about the ups and downs of running your own practice, we shared stories we heard about such things, we moaned, we laughed. It was lovely.

After that call I thought why don't I do this more often, not just with Joel but other people doing similar work (or not)? Working on your own — especially if you're not in a major city — can be pretty lonely. Whilst I like where I live, it isn't exactly a thriving digital culture where I might bump into someone in the same area as I work in. Of course they're not the only conversations I love to have with people, but sometimes it's great to be able to share, vent, moan and laugh with your peers in a like-minded way.

Since then I've tried to make time to have these conversations over video or even just a regular call. I don't have as many as I should, and sometimes things have to be moved due to that thing called work. Yet when I do I'm always grateful that I have, often thinking "shit — they're having the same issues as me, I'm not alone".