Day: December 1, 2023

I often discuss how powerful it can be to be surrounded by makers. I recently realized that it has been 20 years since I graduated from college with my MA and was surrounded by a solid group of makers. In reality, it feels like my own creativity has slowly petered out over the last 20 years as if all the fueling up I did back then has finally run dry. However, I still find inspiration every day. I wish I could be like Jelle, creating beautiful and thrilling stories about marbles in what has become for me the purest form of sport possible.

I need to develop a plan to restore that sense of creative energy. It starts with giving myself space to relax and recharge, but it is also about what I ingest. Garbage in, Garbage out is a long time philosophy of this blog and by default, my life. As I watch the final race of Jelle’s Marble Runs Marbula 1 season 4 I recognize that creativity and story can be found anywhere and in anything. I need to get out of this rut of a daily life and move back towards a life and space where creativity and wonder live at the core.

Is it about leaving where I am? Maybe. Unfortunately, that is not an immediate solution. An immediate solution would be to be more engaged in how I shape my day and what I allow to enter my mindspace. Over the last week I’ve been drowning in what can only be described as assholery. I let those people rent space in my head and that set me back. I need to cut that out of my life. I need to go back to daily readings of positive material, exposing myself to something new and creative each day, trying new things, and refocusing on the physical side, because the mind often goes as the body goes. Garbage in, Garbage out is not always just about the material you mentally consume.

Let’s stop for a minute to reflect on the end of November. That means the end of NanoWrimo. That means this month of creativity is at an end. How’d I do? not o good. I have been on the shelf so to speak for a week. I lost momentum way before that, but only in the last week have I completely shut it down to get this machine back on the road properly. Tomorrow is that rev up. I have a seven day run planned that ought to get me moved forward significantly on a major project.

So what does that mean for me/about me? It means I was wiped. It means I was overwhelmed and felt the creativity turning to crap. I stopped finding fresh new ideas and delved into the simplest and suckiest. Nothing good popped. So I stopped. Now I think that sort of reload is likely a good thing. King says write every day. I do that but not the kind of volume he’s talking about. I write ten minutes and get the lead out. That is nowhere near enough either.

Some Thoughts:

1. Dallas feels like a fraud all of a sudden. Turns out they haven’t beaten a team with a winning record all season. They’re playing the Seahawks now and it is indeed a dogfight. They might win, but it won’t be a blowout or anything resembling a championship offense… defense though… That bland dude can ball.