Author: Michelle

Measuring Time

Why is it we measure time using big, monumentous occasions? For example, if I asked where were you when you heard the Challenger blew up? Or President Reagan was shot? Or the planes flew into the twin towers? You could probably tell me exactly where you were, what you were doing, and who you were with. (Provided you’re old enough to remember some of those events.)

But what if I asked you, where were you or what were you doing on March 13, 2001? Or last Tuesday at 2:47 pm? Would you remember what you were doing then? Who you were with? Would it evoke a pleasant memory or something you’d rather not face?

As a mother to a now 11 year old I find myself wondering where have the years gone already? We celebrated her birthday just a couple of weeks ago, and during that time I realized in just 7 more years she’ll be old enough to start college. That’s 3 years less than since we adopted her. She’ll be old enough to vote then. And old enough to do a lot of other things that I don’t really want to think about right now. (I still have memories of what I was doing when I was 18) So as I write this, it’s a reminder to me to cherish those small, every day moments. To stop measuring time just based on the big milestones, but to enjoy the little ones too.

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And to answer my own questions posed earlier ~ I was on an airplane flying to New Orleans with my dad when I heard about the space shuttle blowing up.  Our pilot used the unfortunate choice of words when he first came on the PA system. He said “I’m afraid I have some bad news.” You can imagine what my first thoughts were there.

I was living in Virginia, just outside of DC when President Reagan was shot. And for some reason I was home from school that day, so I saw it on tv, over and over again.

And on September 11th, I was getting ready to take my mom to the airport. She was supposed to fly from Atlanta back to Seattle that day. Needless to say after seeing the second plane hit, live because I had just turned on the news, I turned to my mom and told her I don’t think you’re going anywhere today.

As for March 13, 2001 – I do remember this day, only because we were still in China, getting to know our new daughter. As to last Tuesday, that sadly I don’t have much recollection of. I’d have to go back and look at my calendar to even see what I was doing that day.

Creative Kickstarters

We’ve all had them, the creative slumps, blocks, emptiness. Whatever you call it, if you call yourself a creative, you know exactly what it is I’m talking about.

I have recently had a bout with the creative block, where absolutely everything I would do just wasn’t turning out as I had it in my minds eye. So I decided to try something different this time. Instead of relying on all the old stand by ideas to get myself out of my rut, I did something new. I went back to something old.

I decided to pick up a project that had been relegated to the back of the closet, probably put there in another one of my creative slumps, and finish it. Not just work on it a little bit, but really finish it. And if you’re anything like me, you know you have a stack of those unfinished projects somewhere too. They may be sitting in your drafts folder, or in a basket near your sewing machine, or on that music stand. Whatever the project is, it’s somewhere not far from where you are now. Okay, maybe you threw one or two out, but I bet if you look around, there are more, there always are.

While I was working on said “old” project, I suddenly realized that the creative juices were indeed flowing again. Not only did I finish the project I picked up, but I had ideas for 4 new blog posts (5 if you include this one), an epiphany on how to embellish another item that I was working on, and finally a name for a character in a story I’ve been trying to write for… well let’s just say for a while now.

The fresh eye that I brought to the old project also brought a new perspective on what was bogging me down before. So even if you have one or twenty one unfinished projects, don’t beat yourself over the head because nothing is done and you feel your creativity has slipped away. Take a step back. Do something you haven’t done in a while and finish just one thing. And make it a doable something. Don’t expect to finish painting your all time masterpiece. Just pick up one of the smaller items, and get it done. You’ll be amazed at what that will do to boost your creativity again, not to mention make room for something else to be worked on too.

So I ask, what do you do to kickstart your creative juices again when they’ve run dry? Share your ideas in the comments.

Results

So I post a poll and my traffic spikes. Yet most of the visitors that came by didn’t actually vote in the poll. Really, it wasn’t that hard. 🙂

But the results are in. And as of the writing of this post (Tuesday morning, 11 am Pacific time) 84.62% said yes, while the remaining 15.38% said no. (Sounds more impressive than 22 of you who voted said yes and 4 said no.) Based on the comments I received, it seems that age had a lot to do with the answer given. Most of my more mature readers said no. But they also commented as to why they voted this way too. Most were content with their homes and the life they have. They like to be around family and friends and the creature comforts they have surrounded themselves with. I had a few younger readers comment here and on facebook as well as to why they would go. I think the adventure of it spoke to their souls. Also a desire to learn more about their heritage or history.

So there it is in a nutshell. I’ll leave the poll open in case anyone else wants to vote or comment.

And this was a completely unscientific poll, just done for fun, and to see what you would say. Thanks for participating. We’ll do it again sometime soon.