DIY (do it yourself) vs GPH (get professional help)
I am exactly here right now. I can do it myself, so why hire (an artist)?
With a background such as mine, it should have been easy for me to make my own website, but I couldn’t. I got it done by a professional. I know. Reason one was that the client in me couldn’t distance myself from myself as the designer. Then, I over think everything, criticize every idea, and the process of self editing makes it so that I was left with nothing at the end of a cumulative of about two years. There was always something better around the corner that I was sure would come to me, and never did. The other reason was that I never really got to it. Between two kids, a dog, a husband, the house, and life there was just not enough time to do the art that I really wanted to do and think about that brilliant idea I didn’t really have and sharpen the tools I needed to actually make it happen.
I could do the art for my house, but I sat on what I had because I was not confident. It took a persistent husband to put up my work all around the house while I was away. I was honestly appalled and horrified at the idea of putting myself out there even in my own home. Now that people actually will ask me questions, I am seeing the merit in what I can do and I’m just about getting comfortable. Who am I kidding, I just haven’t been visiting enough art galleries to truly fall in love with something and replace all my art for validated art.
As a human with ideas, feelings, emotions, and opinions, I believe that every person is an artist waiting to be explored. It doesn’t have to be perfect anymore. It just needs to convey the emotion at that moment so that it can shake something loose in the person who is looking at it, to bring some kind of an internal or external dialogue. So nothing really stops anybody from being the one to initiate the conversation.
What I have seen and experienced is that distance from something extremely close to you is very important. Emotion clouds every judgement. It got difficult to pick a path because I was in an open field. Everything seems just as important. Every problem seems easy and difficult. I wanted to hold everything, say everything that amounted to the fact that I have said nothing until somebody said it for me. In my previous life, I spoke for my client. I gave the client a chance to assess, evaluate, course correct and do what they needed to do for their business while I put the best foot forward on their behalf. It worked well. For me too.
Talking to someone about your story not only gets it out of your head and in front of you, but also gives the other person the opportunity to ask you some questions or make you think about something that you hadn’t thought about at all. It’s fascinating to know that when there are so many things swirling around that when it settles, the calm actually brings up a lot of fantastic ideas.
Would I hire someone right at the get go for my next project? Not at all. I will struggle and be miserable till I give up. But I will do so only because my ego is bigger than reason. My brain will know it all along and watch me suffer before it starts collecting data for the handoff.
Hind sight: DIY is best. I mean, who can tell your story better than you? The pride and confidence that comes from it is worth all the effort. There’s a sense of immense accomplishment in seeing and showing off what you’ve been thinking. There’s really no better way. Your journey is yours and the struggle to find the right way home is immensely rewarding. It’s a matter of time before all the planets align and it clicks together in a sublime moment.
Option two is the one the pragmatic person in me wants to give the pragmatic person in you some pragmatic conclusion. It’s what I assessed very grudgingly about my situation:
Lack of time
Limited skills
The absolute inability to hone new skills of various dimensions
Deadline
Total and utter confusion
In the end, this was never really between DIY and getting professional help. It was a lesson in priorities. Doing it yourself gives you ownership, confidence, and an understanding of your own voice that no one else can create for you. The professional didn’t replace my story—she helped me put it together.
The trick is knowing what is standing in your way and if you can overcome it in time. If it's curiosity, experimentation, or the desire to learn, then struggle through it. The process is part of the reward. But if it's lack of time, limited expertise, impossible deadlines, or simply the inability to see the forest for the trees, asking for help isn't a step back.
Your story will always be yours to tell. Whether you tell it on your own or someone helps you with it, the goal is the same: to create something honest enough to start a conversation. And perhaps that's the real measure of success—not who made it, but whether it made someone stop, feel, and connect.
Whichever path you choose, I hope it brings you a little closer to finding your voice—and the courage to share it.