Step Away from the Screen and Make Something
I’m launching something new at Upside Up this year, and I’m super nervous about it, y’all. It’s a 365-Day Project, which means I’m planning to post something here every day. Yes — you read that right. Every. Day. And I’ll need you to help me stick to it. Because you may have noticed, I’m hilariously not good about posting regularly.
So what am I doing? I’m giving myself both a design challenge and some much-needed motivation. See, I’ve been feeling for a while that I’ve lost touch with my “maker” side — the part of me that makes stuff. If any of you know me from high school or college, or even my early years in the “real” world, you know me as a person who makes stuff. And that’s what I was for pretty much my whole life. Lately though, with kids, work, and blah blah blah life, it feels as though I’ve ceded that part of me to the “not enough time” cliche. So I’ve come up with a message to motivate me:
Step Away From The Screen and Make Something.
Turn off the computer. The phone. The tv. Get up off the couch. Get out of your desk chair. Get out of bed. And make something. Anything. With your hands.
And for my design challenge, I plan to create a design, every day, of that very message. And maybe by spending a whole year with those words, they will sink in and I’ll find my maker self once more.
And heck, maybe it will even inspire some of you, too.
So that up there is design #1. The first of 365 designs. I would love to hear what you think. And I want to thank you, in advance, for making me stay on task 🙂
Now step away from the screen and go make something!
I love this, but I find a commitment to show up at my blog each day to write is counter-productive to making. I hope to find a better personal balance this year. I look forward to seeing your designs.
yay. balance between creating and consuming is so important. we’re lucky we have creative outlets to pour ourselves into.
Selfishly, I cannot wait to see what you make. And for you, I can’t wait to see the evolution of this project.
Awesome.
Any thought on including (briefly) what materials/techniques you used? Not an instruction but just to heighten awareness of possibilities. It’s easy to look at this and think it’s digital. (You make it look too easy!) Would be interested knowing if it was various papers sewn together or some other technique.
Lance – Sorry for the misleading description. I’m not actually making the designs by hand. I’m designing them in the computer (though hopefully some of them will actually be done by hand). One per day. With the hope of motivating myself to go make something more often. If it works, maybe next year I’ll be ready to make something by hand every day for a year 🙂
Kim – I agree. I definitely can’t make myself show up to write every day. But where I am right now, committing to designing something every day – for me, not for a client – is on the right track. Good luck finding your balance – I hope this project brings me some 🙂
I love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the clarification. Inspiring all the same. Looking forward to seeing what happens and I may have to try some form of this myself.
Lance: I would LOVE to see anything like this that you might do. Please keep me posted.
You are so brave to do this, Laurie…to challenge yourself like this and to bring us all along. How inspiring.
Brave, or crazy. Not yet sure which, Asha. But thanks for your confidence 🙂