We caught up with the brilliant and insightful David Garcia Casado a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

David , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you take vacations? How do you keep things going – any advice for entrepreneurs who feel like they can’t step away from their business for a short vacation?

Yes, I do take vacations. First of all a vacation implies the idea of “vacating” meaning, leaving empty. I believe it’s very healthy to empty yourself and make room for new things to come and also maybe to change a few of the things you were doing. Being disconnected from your usual activity leaves a gap for you to see better what where you doing just out of habit.

Taking a vacation also helps you be more productive because when you come back to work, things look more exciting and you get more things done, especially if you are a creative, you will find you have more ideas and you find yourself being more resourceful and inspired.

You should take at least a few days off every couple of months to reset. In the end it will help your workflow and your life in general.

David , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I got into the business after a long academic career and then spending time finding out what I wanted to do. I always wrote and I always was doing creative endeavors. For me it wasn’t about the money, it was about finding myself and figuring out what I wanted to do in life. I still think it’s helpful to do things you don’t necessarily find profitable as long as they inspire you and help you see the world as an ever changing place. This will eventually help you in any other field you are working with.

When I write I always try to feel things beforehand. How things make me feel and how I believe others can feel about them. It’s always an exploration of yourself and an inquire on the life and experiences of others, a questioning. I don’t take things for granted and I like to question my own beliefs. Sometimes I come to the conclusion that many of the things we believe are constructions made by others that not necessarily apply or are outdated, or are unkind. It is crucial to see how what you say affect others. I believe the truth always finds its way out, and job is to be as kind as possible while letting it out.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me the most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative is knowing that my work is helping me knowing me better as well as knowing the world and the people, or the way I see them. Being creative for me is not a choice, it’s something we all have, you just have to cultivate it. All kinds of situations in life can use a creative input, it just makes the world better and inspires the people around you. Sometimes it’s good to have certain things that don’t change much but in general there is always something that can be done to improve systems because every situation is different so readymade solutions sometimes simply don’t work. And that applies to all professions, from doctors to mechanics, to teachers, to writers….

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I don’t think there’s someone that is non-creative. Even an accountant will need to develop creative solutions in certain aspects of his or her daily work. On the other hand I think some people that don’t work in what is considered a creative field don’t realize that creatives have also very static methods or routines and those can be really helpful for being creative. For instance, having a cup of coffee in a certain way at a certain time, or writing thoughts on a piece of paper without knowing if something goods is coming out of it. Some routines can be the basis of great ideas. I don’t believe in an absolutely flexible schedule, I believe it’s good to have a routine and fixed things in your day that you try to follow.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.davidgarciacasado.net/
• Instagram: davidloss

Image Credits
All photos by Leila Jacue