Alright already! I’ll pick a project
At a recent photography meeting, Chris Petrich said, “If you want to do something, you have to do a project, then do another, then do another, and keep doing that.” Later that evening, my friend Amanda told me the same thing, verbatim. Becky, another friend, unknowingly quoted them both the next day. Three people independently saying the exact same thing within 24 hours.
Alright already! I get the hint.
As you can see by the category list on this blog, I have a broad range of interests. I tend to be a generalist by nature - learning a little about several fields of study, then applying ideas from one field to another. I also just love to learn new things. This bent creates an interesting problem: when you’re interested in everything, it’s very, very hard to pick only one thing to work on. Thing is, if I don’t pick something, I’ll never get anything done.
Knowing this, I’ve been trying to pick a particular field to concentrate in. It’s a struggle. Saying yes to one thing means saying no to everything else. The approach of choosing a project and seeing where it will lead (instead of choosing a field first), is an appealing idea. I’m not saying no to anything, just not now. It allows a little bit of wandering and exploration. It gets me working on something. It also short-circuits my perfectionist delusions of grandeur by focusing me on something concrete I can get done in a short time frame. Since the project is by nature short-term, I don’t have to think so hard about it - I can go with my instinct.
So, I’ve picked a project: being interested in digital storytelling, I’m doing a short piece on my sister. I’ve already finished the first draft. After this project, I’ll pick another project and do it. Then, I’ll do another. After a while, I’ll look back and say, “oh, that’s what I’ve been doing.”
