…and that is ok. I am in a period of life where I have everything I could need, yet still feel that I’m not satisfied. I have a well paying job, a loving partner, loving parents, I own a house, a car or two, and more technology than I can poke a stick at, yet I’m still longing for more. When asked what do I want to do, my answer is “I want to make things”.
I’ve always been an ideas person. As a young child I came up with lots of random ideas for toys (a cool canon), things to help with everyday tasks (Mum, wouldn’t it be cool to have a dishwasher that you put the plates in, then they would cycle around and then automatically stack back into the cupboard) & I would just notice little things in life.
I can think, and solve problems & sometimes even build solutions and see the problem solved.
But now I’m playing in the world of little c creative. I’ve picked up a camera, and started learning how to take photos instead of just pressing the button & hoping something good will come out. I’ve been playing in the world of graphic design, learning to create flyers and posters and banners. I’m experimenting with video projects, both being in front of the camera and behind. In short I’m throwing lots against the wall and seeing what sticks. This is another one of those things I’m throwing. I’m writing for an audience of one, I don’t care to know how many people read this, and it actually scares me to think that someone would.
So why bother? The idea has been on my mind for a while. While playing in the box of little c creative, I’ve been thinking back to how I learnt IT (my day job). I learnt purely through practice, projects and research (couldn’t get a third P). The new skills required for the 21st century I see as being someone who can think creatively to solve a problem and then is able to communicate that. Communicate with words (writing), as well as with spoke word, and as a subset of that into a camera. Standing in front of a group of people to communicate a message feels to me a lot easier than an emotionless camera lens.
The idea that pushed me over the edge to take action was while watching the interview between Seth Godin and Chase Jarvis (http://youtu.be/6xMxAZhgVvU ) as part of the Creativelive 30 days of Genius series. Seth brought a couple of ideas to mind that made me stop.
Here is a short quote / transcript from the interview (15:00 – 17:20)
“Well it might not work, but if it does work, will I be glad I did it? And do I have enough in the ‘bank’ to keep doing this? If we can acknowledge what it’s for, we can focus on why we are doing anything. And that framing of saying ‘What I do is…..connect people, help people, give them a smile, get picked by a gallery’ whatever it is. Am I a professional who is doing this in a way that the work matches what the work is for? ……….. This work you are doing is for X is actually for Y. So get yourself in alignment. And the sooner we can decide what it is for and decide what it is for is important enough, that we are willing to fail along the way, we can having that other toil conversation”.
The ideas that I took away from the interview are:
- ‘What is it for?’ is a much better question to ask than ‘What will happen?’
- Will I be glad I did it? Seth comments on how it would be easy to write ‘popular’ books for the masses, but that wouldn’t sit well with him. He would rather leave an impact on a few, than sell lots of books & leave no impact.
- Stop hiding behind the excuses.
- What do you have to be afraid of (Tim Ferriss talks about this in the Four Hour Workweek)
- Start a public blog of daily observations for 6 weeks.
That last point leads us to this blog. I can do that, 6 weeks. Some will be long others short. I think what has stopped me in the past is fear. Fear that everything online is archived and catalogued, that for some reason or another what I write today will come back to bite (my partner has first hand experience of this). The other fear would stem from the thoughts & opinions of others judging me. While usually I’m not overly concerned with what others think about me, unfortunately the Internet can be a very nasty place.
But what makes this different from writing projects in the past, is that I’ve always tried to write for some unknown random of everyone, this time it’s just me.
Let’s see where the next 6 weeks takes us.
P.S I can list off the three scariest moments in the past 6 months, each time stepping out into a new idea. This one sits at number 4 on the list.
Resources mentioned: http://youtu.be/6xMxAZhgVvU