begin with an idea

happy new year! welcome to 2023! 

when i saw this notebook, i couldn't resist. it seems like the perfect notebook to kick off the year. and the quote is totally in line with my philosophy that ideas in dialogue with other ideas always become something even better. it did cross my mind to question whether picasso actually said it, but never mind that, it's still great and the right note to begin a near year. 

the ideas i'm setting down in it are the ones i have for this spring's CreaGive exhibition. our theme is "totem" and i'm setting myself a 100 days project, to explore the ideas i have for the theme. they are very hazy to me right now, but i'm hoping that doing something towards them every day, they will become something else, something more concrete and hopefully awesome! 

the ideas i have are all over the place right now - hand-stitching, print-making, small sculptures, weaving, so i'm going to explore them all, doing something on a daily basis for the next few months. the exhibition is at the end of april, so i should have something to contribute by then.

a bit of light in the dark

i sat at my computer all day. my bossy apple watch kept reminding me to stand up. i didn't listen. i have a lot to do. it turns out that (re)writing an entire website is a pretty big job (thank goodness i have help). two weeks of holiday helped put my head back on straight, so i'm much more able to concentrate and get down to the work. at the end of the day, in the waning bits of light, i finally listened to my watch and went out for a walk. and i'm so glad i did. the nearly full moon was rising and the air was crisp and cool. i walked 4km and it got pretty thoroughly dark by the time i returned, even though it only took about 40 minutes. 

it's kind of amazing how that 40 minutes of fresh air and being in my body means that when i got back home, i'm full of ideas and energy. that's also surely down to the two weeks of holiday. i always feel like travel fills me with ideas and energy. and now i know that taking a walk helps me keep hold of that. 

the problem is that it's the dark time of year and it's going to get darker for another month. since we live in country roads, i can put on a high visibility vest and get out there and walk anyway. my phone has light. we have a headlamp. this is doable. and worth it for the ideas and energy. 

a brisk walk, like shining a bit of light in the dark. 

fizzy

 

not long ago, i had a conversation with a friend about how ideas can sometimes be paralyzing. and that's how i felt at that moment...paralyzed. but the paralysis is suddenly gone. cleared. tho' i don't exactly know how that happened (perhaps the weekend away?), i'm going with it.

whereas the ideas felt all bottled up and piled on top of each other, with nowhere to go with them and no clear picture of how they fit together, now, they're sort of fizzing and popping. and i can begin to see how they all fit together.  and most miraculous of all, i can see the clearly the next steps to take to move towards bringing the ideas to fruition.

i'm trying not to dwell on how this happened and just go with the flow, but some part of me wants to know what cleared. and perhaps how to make it happen again, the next time there's a block. of course, it could be that whatever cleared it this time wouldn't ever work again, so maybe it doesn't matter.

what do you do to not get paralyzed by your ideas?

waiting for clarity

it feels sometimes like everyone else has all of the ideas. which sounds odd, because i've been babbling on of late about how many ideas are swirling in my head. so maybe it's not a lack of ideas, it's that everyone else actually sits down and acts on them, while i sit here stewing in my idea soup. but it's also that other people's ideas seem profound - like these beautiful little art quilts that commemorate the zeitgeist by exploring the theme of foreclosure.

i can't really remember the last time i had a profound idea. i guess my ideas come in quantity and not quality these days. and that quantity can be paralyzing, leaving you unable to act on any of them. or even just get started. so i sit around, making what i can only begin to characterize as an obscene amount of clarity birds. there is, after all, a kind of meditation in repetition. and i remain hopeful that clarity will come. but i don't feel very patient here in the waiting.

cleaning frenzy

i've reached a point of idea overload. 

there's so much floating in my head that it's very hard to focus. 

so, i'm making a huge batch of clarity birds, 

hoping to encounter some clarity along the way. 

to quiet my mind from all these ideas.

to be able to just work on just a few of them.

and feel it's ok to leave the rest alone for now.

some of them will wait.

and get even better with age.

i just need to get down and DO something.

but first, a cleaning frenzy.

it's what i do.

when i can't do anything else.

* * *

don't forget the garland giveaway. i'll ask my lovely assistant to draw one lucky name tomorrow!

one time at blog camp*

yesterday when husband suggested blog camp, i was just kind of fording the stream of consciousness, talking to him about this interface culture of the blogosphere and all of the naked conversations that result from it. and wishing out loud that it was more than an imagined community, but sort of more of a sunday philosophy club. and so in a fit of whimsy, i posted my little wish list about what i imagined blog camp would be. and the comments poured in. it seems that in you guys would actually be interested in doing this! and since it is a liquid life we lead in these days of globalization (even in light of GEC**), i began to think, hey, why not? we could really do this!

we can easily accommodate four guests at our house (hence the rule of four) and possibly five if i got my ass in gear and cleared some junk out of a room upstairs. but let's see how it goes with four, if interest is great enough, i might be motivated to clear out that room for one more. here's what i'm thinking about how this will work...

because of deadlines, travels and events at work, the first weekend i could host a blog camp would be june 19-20-21. i'm thinking that this first round will no doubt attract those of you who live within a reasonable distance of denmark (e.g. right across the sound (and with your dog, perhaps?)) or within an hour or so by air (ahem, oxford and london spring to mind but i am certain there are others!!) and who are fairly spontaneous (tho' in my view, this is plenty of time to plan ahead).

for fabulous bloggy friends from farther afield, how about a long weekend in early september (the weather is usually pretty reliable in denmark in september)--september 4-7 to be exact (since the 7th is labor day in the US and therefore a holiday).

here's the deal:

1. you are responsible for getting yourself here (i'll happily answer any questions you might have about the best route).
2. you will have a place to stay once you get here.
3. if you'd be willing to pitch in to help buy some groceries, we will feed you well.
4. all of the fun, laughter and wifi is included.

the first group will be a bit of an experiment. we will do activities to include all of you who can't attend either because it's too far or because space is limited. we'll try out that stickam thing and/or others that work well (i've seen stickam working, so i know it's more or less ok) to be live and interact online. we'll tweet. we'll blog. we'll laugh and laugh some more. maybe we'll make some stuff. and perhaps we'll even do some vlogging, just for fun. we'll go on photo walks, so bring your camera. we'll spend at least one day in copenhagen taking the city in through our camera lenses. the rest of the time, we'll hang out here, eating, drinking and laughing:

if you are interested, please send me an email (email is in my profile) with "blog camp" in the subject line. i am open to suggestions for other dates (subject to veto by me due to work schedule with my real job). and if interest is great enough, i'll definitely add some more dates.

just one more thing...if husbands/boyfriends/significant others/random people you live with are difficult to convince that this is a good idea or there are guys out there who think it sounds like fun but rather girly, there's also a rather more masculine playhouse at our place, so either bring 'em along (one of the bedrooms has a double bed and we could arrange for one more) or just don't be shy:

i'm sure i'll be writing about this again along the way, so pls. ask any questions in the comments to help me figure out what people need to know (for obvious reasons, i'm not publishing my address here, but will definitely provide that information to who are serious about coming). once again. shoot me an email (it's in my profile) with "blog camp" in the subject line if you're interested in attending one of the two dates i've listed above--stating which date, of course. other than that, start packing your pjs and have a nice day!

* with thanks to iasa !
** global economic crisis (i hope i can stop typing this out soon)

a weekend in denmark

i'm tumbling so many upcoming posts in my mind. when my inspiration/action correlation began to clear on friday, it provoked so many thoughts and ideas. so in the coming weeks you can expect posts on:

1. alice in wonderland
2. architecture
3. whether hyperlinks represent a topography of thought
4. nordic mythology
5. really tiny mushrooms
6. bullying in the workplace
7. whether it's possible to fast-track the process from inspiration to art
8. a perfume review (i've been thinking for awhile of doing these on a weekly basis)
9. hugin & munin
10. eyeballs

* NOTE: checking them off as i do them. 

but all of these things are still swirling in my head at the moment so for now, i'll just share some scenes from a winter-almost-spring weekend in denmark, some of which are hints to the above:

sabin's first riding lesson

it went smashingly and she's in love

mmm. latte.

and felt heat protectors in scrumptious colors (#22).

ATCs for sabin's swap

oops, we were supposed to mail these yesterday.

oh well, they're so good, tomorrow will be fine.

"where do i report my quest?"

lots and lots of world of warcraft

eyeballs (#23)

really tiny mushrooms

hope your weekend was full of laughter, candlelight , fresh bread, inspiration and a bit of fresh air.