One Hundred Days

Mobile Photography

One hundred days in the Hundred Acre Wood, or at least it felt like it. Because...

The rain, rain, rain

Came down, down, down

In rushing, rising riv'lets

'Til the river crept out of its bed...

The rain came down often in those one hundred days.

On April 2, I began #the100dayproject for the fourth time, determined to finish it for only the second time. Two other years where aborted attempts. What is the #the100dayproject? It is committing to 100 days of daily creating. You get to choose what you want to create. 

Collage, watercolor, and acrylic paint

I set one and only one constraint for myself I was going to do all my creating on 5" X 7" pieces of art paper that I would binder together into a journal at the end of the 100 days. This lasted until Day 22. We were on vacation for the week. I was fully prepared with plenty of blank 5" X 7" pages to create on. But once surrounded by the beauty of the north country, I was inspired to reconnect with my love of mobile photography and the amazing editing/creating apps that I had at my fingertips. 

Mobile Photography

At first I thought; "Oh, I will just print those out in 5 X 7  size and I can still add them into the journal." This lasted until Day 50, when I much preferred the square crop of my photograph to the vertical 5 X 7 shape, and that was the end of the #5X7artjournalpage 100 day project. 

Mobile Photography

I could have quit there. I had made it half way, which is further than I have gone the last three years. But I was also half way through, I couldn't give up, it would feel like I was abandoning all the work I had done already. Plus, it was about darn time that I finished something! So, I readjusted my focus and renamed my project - #100daysoffreedomtolearn. This renaming opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me, I was excited about the project again. 

Mobile Photography - iColorama

It was around this time that I was also reading the book Refuse to Choose. This book opened my eyes to the fact that I am probably a Cyclical Scanner. What is a Cyclical Scanner you ask. Here is the book's definition:

"If I ask you what your interests are and you have no trouble doing it, you're probably a Cyclical Scanner. You know all the things you love to do most. Your list may have only a few items on it, or it may have 20, but it isn't endless. You know what you love, and you usually return to each activity over and over again."

There are three subcategories of Cyclical Scanners - the Double Agent, the Sybil, and the Plate Spinner. 

I am a Sybil. "If you're a typical Sybil, you're usually surrounded by lots of "creative clutter." Sybil types can't always find their materials, because they have so many projects going on at the same time they can't keep track of them. All the same, most Sybil Scanner have very little tolerance for chaos and have bursts of organizing energy they find very satisfying. But order never lasts for long because when the creative urge comes, there is no patience for putting things away."

That's me in a nutshell. 

iColorama

My list of things I love:

• Photography
• Film making
• Being outside
• Writing
• Hands-on art
• Reading

Collage

The hands-on art is still all over the place. I love art supplies, and trying new things, but haven't quite settled on what "the" thing is yet. My other subjects are more clear yet there are still a million different paths to explore within them.

Pastel Painting

The big takeaway that I got from the book is that no matter what type of Scanner you are, you need to occasionally finish projects to feel productive, and joy-filled. So I set about finishing the 100 day project, to have that feeling of accomplishment and not failure. Also, since the beginning of June, I have been giving myself the freedom to explore whatever I want each week, but the goal is at the end of the week I have one finished project. A sense of accomplishment and something tangible from the week of exploration. It feels good to finish.

Mobile Photography

So I made it through the one hundred days, explored many paths within the hundred acre wood, and I have to say I came out into the daylight stronger because of it.