There is a connection between journaling and thinking [ideas], between sketching and design. Being a designer, a good designer, long-term is a challenge. The pressure to stay on top of your game, to be creative on queue, sometimes at a moments notice. Sometimes I feel like my creative muscles are getting soft. As a runner I constantly have to train to maintain a level of fitness … get out at run. Don’t think, just do it. Get off your butt, make a commitment, and charge ahead ! Putting ideas/thoughts down on paper, that’s where the journaling and sketching come in to play.
I’ve decided to start a Daily Practice ( also referred to as a 365 Project ) … not that there’s a lot of free time available in my life. With work, running, being a husband and father, walking the dog, seeing friends and family … my life feels pretty full. But what the heck, I’ll have time to rest in when my grandchildren spread my ashes in the hills someday. The fact is, I’ve started things like this in the past, no commitment, no written goals, just a decision to journal or sketch. It starts out well for a couple of days, maybe more. Doing it becomes sporadic and the exercise loses its priority, forgotten. So today I’m making my goal SMART … (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and trackable) … I borrowed that piece of conventional wisdom.
So today, 01/14/12, I begin a Daily Practice. My theme is … A Smile-A-Day! And how, why, did I choose this topic? Not certain exactly. I often come up with brilliant ideas in the middle of the night, half-dreaming, half-awake fretting about the looming deadlines of the coming day or week. This topic came to me a couple of nights ago. You remember “Have A Nice Day!” right? The ubiquitous mark created by Harvey Ball back in 1963. Well, it was before my time by a few years, but “Have A Nice Day!” made it’s mark on the world. It became a phenomenon–stood the test of time. So simple yet so, well, happy. A good concept, a good cause and voila!
Sometime over a decade ago I shared a house with a couple of roommates. In the beginning things were great, but after a while it became stifling. Separate people living separate lives, getting along but not really thriving with each other. It felt like poison, I needed out. After a short search I found a new roommate … Stephen. A really cool, interesting, motivated individual who I shared more in common with (cycling, music, a creative streak). It just felt right. Anyway, one of the more impactful things I learned from him was that, well, having a good day was a choice. Sure things happen on the way to derail your happy-train but to start a day on a good note is a deliberate action. “Have a Great Day!” he said with enthusiasm as he left the house for work on that first workday in my new house. Those simple words hit me like a brick. It was probably just as much the contrast of my previous residence that struck me, whatever, I was going to have a great day!
Creating a 365 Project is not exactly a new idea. The first project I remember catching my attention was The Daily Monster, after that I think it was A Skull-A-Day. The idea was intriguing, a daily discipline, an exercise to flex your creative muscles and get unstuck. A rut or habit I’ve seemed to develop over time is not taken action on some pretty cool ideas. Something about self editing, about fear of putting an idea out there. Fear can be paralyzing if you let it get a foot hold.
Fast forward to the present … 365 days of “Have a Nice Day!” … or as I’m calling it, A Smile-A-Day. I’ll be keeping this simple … no long blog entries (too much work), no fantastic promises (too large an obstacle), just a smile a day with all the imperfections that can come along with it. It’s a blank canvas. I’m sure it won’t be easy, nothing really worthwhile ever really is. But I’m making the commitment, making it public and forging ahead. A new day begins, make the most of it! Oh, and Have a Great Day!