December 3 - Collaboration

So I've been blogging daily for nearly two years and I have to admit, I feel like I'm getting kind of stale. Or at least the exercise isn't producing the end result I might have wanted when I started out on the endeavor two years ago. My first thought was to make it through December and then release myself from the self-imposed obligation to post every day, go back to posting only when I have something really interesting to say. But then I had another idea.

This idea has the potential to kick-start this blog into something better than what it is, and also to gauge how many people are even reading it. Which also means that if nobody participates in this idea with me, I'll probably just stop the daily thing and blog when I have something to say. But my idea is to have a blog where you guys get to pick the topics. All of them. And they can be whatever you want them to be.

My thought is to start a public Google calendar where you guys can fill in the topics for each day of the year. They can be random, they can be poignant, if you want to claim your birthday now for a special shout-out, go for it. Whatever you'd like me to talk about, whether I've talked about it before or not, I will be beholden to your whims to write my blogs. If you fill in enough dates, I'll blog daily. If you don't, I'll blog on the days where there are topics. And I will certainly credit you and link to your blog or whatever when I post about your topic if you provide that information when you fill in a day.

So what do you think? Do you want to steer the direction of this blog in 2015?

June 2 - Inbetween

There is that moment somewhere in the middle of the creative process, after you've had the idea, after you've done the planning, after you've gotten the tools together, but just before implementation starts, when the fear sets in. What if the finished product doesn't look like the vision in your head? What if you need more tools? What if, for all of your planning and research and preparation, the project is just too big?

I think this is the hardest part of the process for the creative mind. That moment of doubt when you feel like you have already passed the do-or-die moment. When it's too late to stop, but too scary to keep going. I don't know that I have an all-around mechanism for fixing or getting past this moment that works in every situation. Sometimes, I have to back up a step to the excitement of the planning. Sometimes I have to remind myself that even if it doesn't turn out the way I hoped it would, there is a chance it will turn out better instead of worse. Sometimes I have to remind myself that other people are counting on me. Sometimes I am successful. Sometimes, I am not. 

I got the tools and supplies for a project today, that needs to be finished in about three weeks. I had all sorts of energy and excitement and then a phone call with a friend happened, and the need to do laundry put the execution on hold. I hope I can get excited again tomorrow night so I can actually do this project. Because it is going to be awesome, even if it doesn't look like it did in my head. 

Wish me luck!