Picking and Choosing

I gotta go see about a thing

One thing we got wrong was that Dream Projects were about picking and choosing. They’re a lot more like getting sucked into a tractor beam.

I once stayed up until 3 am because I was having too much fun figuring out how to make digital collages in Photoshop. Why? I dunno. I saw some images that I wanted to mash together. So I watched some YouTube videos and figured out how to do it. Next thing I knew there was a gigantic orange wildflower next to a couple of little black bears and a can of wine. It looked kind of cool. So I made another one.

It’s just this sense like, I gotta go see about a thing.

There was no business plan.

There was no commercial interest.

There was only savoring and enjoying.

There was only thirst.

You start and then it’s like double dutch. Your feet are moving and the ropes are swinging but you’re not totally sure how to explain to someone how it works or how to get in or how to get out. It is just something you’re doing.

You find yourself doing a thing.

You don’t think about why you’re doing it or if it matters.

For most of us, our desire to create comes from curiosity. It gets quashed when we are overwhelmed with a need to “get it right” or please the algorithm gods.

It’s not possible to savor and enjoy the process of making if we’re busy picking and choosing what we should do based on how someone else wants us to do it. If we have any hope of creating space where people can dare to dream, we have to get sucked into that tractor beam, where all that matters is that we’re curious about a thing we want to make.

And then we make it.

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Notes from the Road is brought to you by Brainstorm Road. Make a little space to be creative.

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Thanks for being here. If you make stuff or want to make stuff, just for fun, we’d love to hear about it. Our community is full of makers who spend 10 minutes a day working on their projects and then showing each other what they made. We have fun. Even if you’re not a member, we’d love to hear about the last time you got sucked into making something and had fun. You don’t have to turn pro, you just have to be you.

See you next week,

Margo + Kristin

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