The missing week

So I am finally sitting down to write an update about my Creativity challenge. This is exactly one week later than I planned to be writing this update. The reason for the delay is nothing more than yet another example of my human frailty -- I got sick again. This time it was just a cold. Well, a cold that felt like a ton of bricks inside my sinuses, like dragging by body around under water, like trying to think with only 3 hours sleep -- that kind of cold. Anyway, while I was 'under the weather', I tried to continue my creativity schedule, but things kind of got jumbled up. I mean, that whole week is kind of blur in my memory already.

Excuses aside, I am back on track. I have done some sewing -- mostly going through my stack of 'to do': the missing-button, the needs-to-be-hemmed, the patch-a-hole, etc. I also got some reading done and of course, when you're sick, what else are you going to do except sit and watch a bunch of TV and movies? But tonight I am writing. Not only this (pretty worthless) update, but I also wrote a letter to a relative and updated our gaming website. Maybe not the most exciting stuff, but this is just a start.

Painting and/or drawing is on the schedule for tomorrow. Maybe I'll post a picture of it.

Bumpy again

Well, the creativity challenge has had a very rocky start. I knew this week was going to be rough because of the craziness going on at work, but I wanted to see how well I could handle it all. The evidence lies in the two ruined dice bags now laying the trash can –- I tried to do some sewing but my brain was so fried, that I kept forgetting important steps and wound up with scraps.

So, in the end, I am not going to give myself a true ‘day 1’ credit until hopefully tomorrow. As usual with these small set-backs, I will not let myself give up. I have still been trying to do what I can (which is mostly watching TV shows and listening to audio books) until I can really put the full plan into action. Things are starting to finally settle down at the office, so I am hoping that I can follow through with my roleplaying plans for tomorrow.

Cross your fingers

Challenge: creativity

Well it's past time for me to put my next challenge into action. I've been taking a little longer than usual because this plan is kind of complicated. When I asked for some feedback on which item to work on next, I only got two responses. They were both for creativity.

As it so happens, creativity was one that I threw into the list on a whim. Oh, it's definitely something I wanted to improve at some point, but I hadn't really expected it come up so soon. Yet I did include it in the list, so I might as well follow through now rather than later. Besides, this gives me a chance to work on something fun for a change.

At least, I think this will be fun. I have been discovering that it will be a lot of work too. Coming up with a plan to be creative a little bit every day for 30 days is no small thing. Figuring out how I’m going to ‘measure’ and ‘monitor’ isn’t easy either. When do you know you’ve been creative enough?

So I’m going focus on the doing and the output and let you be the judge in the end. Part of the accountability will not only be to post my progress, but to also include at least one ‘creative’ post a week. Now, the version of ‘creative’ in my head may be a little loose at this point – I’m just starting out after all. My goal is to write something a little more meaty than my usual fair of late. Again, hopefully my friends and family will be reading and help me judge after 30 days.

So what is this ‘plan’ you ask? Well, there’s an activity scheduled for each day of the week. Some activities will be concrete – create a drawing, painting; write something – and some activities will be to stimulate. My hope is that I can spend at least 30 minutes on the given activity for any day. That is a lot more time than I’ve put into any challenge so far, but part of me feels that it isn’t enough. Again, I don’t want to stretch myself too far when trying something new, so 30 minutes will have to do.

This is the schedule that will officially start next Monday, 1/18/10:

Monday

Planning, reading and relaxation: The week begins with planning the details of the rest of the week based on what has been accomplished so far, and adjusting for normal life schedule shifts. Also, I hope to spend some time this night reading or listening to audio books.

Tuesday

Create: This will hopefully consist of sewing dice bags, painting, drawing, or writing. I may also start working on a costume for Burning Man.

Wednesday

Create: Another night to compliment Tuesday with a different activity. For example, if I sew on Tuesday, then Wednesday I have to draw or write.

Thursday

Game: I already have DnD every other week on Thursday nights, and this is definitely a fun and creative activity. On off weeks I now have to read something gaming related or work on writing/refining my own adventures.

Friday

Celebrate my spouse: This may not sound creative, but I think Justin is a great source of inspiration and it is important to appreciate that aspect of our relationship. Fridays will be a sort of ‘date night’ if you will.

Saturday

Celebrate friends: Similar to my spouse, having good relationships with friends is a source of inspiration for personal creativity. Again, this day already is scheduled with gaming every other week. So now on off weeks I will try to plan additional activities like movies or dinner out with friends.

Sunday

Watch: Sunday has always been my day to sort of veg out and drain all the stress from the week. As I discovered when I first started my exercise challenge, I can’t plan anything too involved for this day or it will be doomed for failure. So the idea is to spend some time on Sunday watching movies and/or TV, which will hopefully provide more fuel for the imagination.

So anyone have any last minute comments before I start this adventure in a few days?

Next Challenge?

So my current challenges are still going well. My exercising is practically a real habit at this point. I've caught myself a few mornings, just rolling right into the routine. A big victory! As for the eating slowly, this is taking longer to really sink in. I am starting to notice a difference, but it's not quite where I had hoped to be at this point. I am not going to give up, since I can see things improving. Determination has payed off so far!

So if you like to see charts/graphs, remember you can check up on my progress at Daytum. I'm on day 27 of the eating slow challenge, so it's time to start preparing for a new one. The problem is, I don't know for sure what I want to do next. Here are a few I am considering:

1. Waking earlier
2. Thinking positive
3. Smiling more
4. Creativity

What would you choose and/or recommend?

New Setback

As well as I thought I was doing with my new challenge to eat slower, I learned another important lesson this weekend -- don't try to play hostess at the same time. We had some friends over on Saturday night for an evening of movies and spaghetti. I was so distracted with cooking and serving, that my own plate of food was gone before I even realized I had swallowed anything. This means that although I may plan on inviting people over again sometime soon, I am definitely not going to host any meals before another 30 days are up. I'm starting the slow eating challenge over again -- today is day 1.