Here Goes Everything

Today is my last day working part-time at the local college here in Grays Harbor. It's been fun bringing in entertainment and putting on and planning events like giant bowling and lunch time karaoke, but it's summer time now (despite the warning email I got this morning about possible lightning strikes on campus) and I've got lots of other projects to get working on!

I've got three major goals or guiding values on my list:

1. Quality > Quantity. I will be focusing on taking all of the things that I do and figuring out how to slim it all down to the top quality projects, then making those things even better.

2. Connect. I love people. I love fast paced environments. I know that if I don't spend some time focusing on ways to stay connected to these things, I will become discouraged and end up spending my days watching The Wonder Years on Netflix and eating way too many burritos.

3. Make some money! Let's get real. I've got bills to pay...

By Banter Banner

Here's the short-ish list of things I'll be doing this summer:

• Use writing as an excuse to have more adventures in Grays Harbor. Drag my camera and friends along and post it all up here, here, here and here.
• Relaunch Gray's General Store... I've got some big ideas including an online store, new product lines and a co-working space!
• More picnics. Fancy ones. Like how they do in Portland.
• More hammocks.
• Fill my brain with inspiring and educational books, podcasts and videos... like this one:

Chris Glass - Designer for Wire & Twine from CreativeMornings/Cincinnati on Vimeo.

• Attempt to take on creative and self-improvement projects that I hear about in these books, podcasts and videos (... a photo a day like Chris Glass does... maybe).
• More, more, more copywriting, marketing and advertising projects!
• Get back into my running and yoga routine.
• Ride my bike more so I can have thoughtful and deep contemplations on my place in this world like my friend Kelly Hogaboom.
• Host a backyard music festival/camp-out.
• Try to help get a few businesses off the ground for friends and family.
• Generally (and hopefully) not be too lazy.

Wish me luck! (please... I'll need it)

Apple's Got INTENTIONS

I am totally fascinated with this ad.

Apple wins again. They take an inspirational design philosophy and somehow turn it into an inspirational life philosophy... so, naturally, I must buy this thing (or things, I suppose) and cling to these ideals.

if everyone is busy making everything

busy... it's like a dirty word. And, yes... my attention is really divided among so many things...

how can anyone perfect anything?

what am I doing with my life?

we start to confuse convenience with joy

Holy crap. Am I happy? Did a buddhist monk write this ad?

abundance with choice

yes.... ok. I've been to the Cheesecake Factory. I've tried to order from their 20 page menu. Abundance is not always a good thing.

designing something requires focus.

eeek. I need to focus. What do I want in life?

delight

yes...

surprise

want...

love

need...

connection

I suddenly feel like I need a hug

then we begin to craft around our intention

that's a word that seems lost in our culture. It sounds so serious... and... intentional.

it takes time

I'm so impatient... I should work on that.

there are a thousand no's for every yes

O_O

simplify

I need to clean out my closet

we perfect

I want to perfect something

start over

life is so hard sometimes

until everything we touch

where's that hug?

enhances each life it touches

I want to change the world

only then do we sign our work.

Oh, right. This is an ad. But I have so many feelings now. What do I do now? Buy the new Mac Pro? Maybe...

Forget Perfection

James Victore Live at AIGA SF from Hillman Curtis on Vimeo.

There is something I just love about James Victore's persona. He has a sense of clarity of thought to every word he says that I really admire. I also like that he takes risks and isn't afraid to poke fun at the idiosyncrasies of the creative process.

He touches on the idea of "perfection" as being, basically, a waste of time as well as being uninteresting.

This is one of my favorite topics and also one of my biggest personal pet peeves. As you might notice over there right above that picture of me is the quote from Chris Campbell: "the only way to train for a startup is by starting." And Victore says this in his lecture, perfection will keep you from starting new projects. I have also previously posted about an inspirational blog from Seth Godin about the fact that many of us entrepreneurs feel compelled to start our own businesses. Compelled.

For me personally, there really is no choice in the matter. I have to start things. I have to create. I love thinking about the future. I love facing challenging circumstances. I know that this is the path I have to take if I want to gain major fulfillment in my life.

Still, there is a desire for perfection. Or, maybe if you flip it around, it's actually a fear of failure and rejection. I love Victore's rebellious attitude about this, because I think that's what we all need sometimes. I dare you to spend a day thinking only radically positive thoughts about your work and taking some time to explore the weird ideas you might come up with throughout the day instead of pushing them aside, possibly forgetting about them completely.

Seems to me that starting a business is a mix of gut instinct, experimentation and commitment. When you have a good idea, go with it. Develop it. Push it to it's outer most limits. Get out of your comfort zone.

I love hearing people I admire, those who are out there achieving their goals, talk about how scary it is. About how they actually feel a little bit sick to their stomaches all of the time... and how that's when they know they're doing the right thing. It is such a great reminder in those times when you have some goal you really want but the risks seem high, that you must keep going.

And, again, forget about perfection. If you really want something, go for it. There will always be reasons to hold off until tomorrow, so just take a step in the right direction now. Yes, now.

I Want One!

A horrible logo for only $5!

Thinking Outside the Box

As you may, or may not have noticed I own a t-shirt quilting business. For the last four years I have been creating custom quilts for folks and it has been really great and just the right amount of work I was willing to do in my extra time, after the full-time job was finished.

However, I started thinking that I should get more creative with this business. When I had only been targeting a very specific group of people based on the product I offered: people who don't know how to sew. So I started to think outside of the box and came up with a few new ideas, one of which finally came to fruition tonight!

I am teaching t-shirt quilting classes! The first one was at Assemble Gallery & Studio in Greenwood and I am hoping to offer these classes at other crafty locations. From there, I thought... Why not in people's homes? I am hoping to get some attention about this opportunity to host a t-shirt quilting party.

This is one of my favorite parts about business - creating something new! Brainstorming! Putting an idea out there and seeing who grabs it! I was told that my class actually gets the most interest of all the classes offered at Assemble and that it might be in the upcoming Sunset Magazine... I am OVER THE MOON about that.

The class tonight was super fun and I can't wait until the second part next week! Lovin' my life as a business owner!

A List

Obviously, things have been a little crazy around here lately. I'm still limping quite a bit due to my sprained ankle and I've been all over the place trying to run my summer events. In about 2 weeks things should be slowing down again (finally!).

Here are a few things I've been reading about lately:

-When Less is More in Consumer Choice

-Are you an Early Bird Entreprenuer?

-Retail Analytics

-Researching Packaging Design for a new project I'm working on

-Finding new things to do on Friday Nights

Tiny Office

Speaking of Tiny Houses, how about a Tiny Office?

I think I need a job where this makes any kind of sense. At this point I don't, but someday!! I'll just have to get creative since I do not have a green thumb. Not even close.

I was thinking that maybe I should get a trailer like this for my great American road trip and deck it out with a bed and a desk.
Thanks Sunset! You always keep me focused on the important things.

Sculptivate

Cleverness from ROOT.

Popsicle Picnic

Cute idea for a Popsicle Picnic via DesignSponge.

As soon as it's warm enough to eat a popsicle in Seattle, I will do this.

Quick Starts

I always seem to be in a search to define myself through a test or put myself into a category, and judging by the number of personality/temperament tests out there I think most of us are searching for definition too.

Anyway, back down to earth. Inc. has a two parter on Entrepreneur personalities! I got a little bit lost in the first part, since I'm not much of a baseball fan but part two really lays it out nicely.

I didn't take any test, but I know myself well enough to know exactly which category I fit into right away.

“Quick Starts” enjoy initiating new things. They are creative problem solvers and think laterally. Easily bored, Quick Starts tend to begin lots of projects but need help finishing any of them.

I've managed to teach myself to stop starting so many projects, but that desire is always ALWAYS there. As Lewis Carroll wrote in Through the Looking Glass, "Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

My challenge is, as always, how do I put this strength to good use? I often think this is a good skill for millionaires who don't mind losing a few bucks on a new business or at least have a few bucks to get something off the ground. How can I find a way (within my means) to put my creativity to work?

Paint the Town

Growth By the Numbers

Apparently, I love lists... so here's another one! This is Bruce Mau's "Incomplete Manifesto for Growth." His ideas are simple yet brilliant, perfect for your business - no matter what kind of business you're in.

There are a few personal favorites of mine:

1. Allow events to change you.
You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.

10. Everyone is a leader.
Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge. Learn to follow when it makes sense. Let anyone lead.

14. Don’t be cool.
Cool is conservative fear dressed in black. Free yourself from limits of this sort.

15. Ask stupid questions.
Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant.

24. Avoid software.
The problem with software is that everyone has it.

25. Don’t clean your desk.
You might find something in the morning that you can’t see tonight.

32. Listen carefully.
Every collaborator who enters our orbit brings with him or her a world more strange and complex than any we could ever hope to imagine. By listening to the details and the subtlety of their needs, desires, or ambitions, we fold their world onto our own. Neither party will ever be the same.

33. Take field trips.
The bandwidth of the world is greater than that of your TV set, or the Internet, or even a totally immersive, interactive, dynamically rendered, object-oriented, real-time, computer graphic–simulated environment.

39. Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms.
Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces – what Dr. Seuss calls "the waiting place." Hans Ulrich Obrist once organized a science and art conference with all of the infrastructure of a conference – the parties, chats, lunches, airport arrivals – but with no actual conference. Apparently it was hugely successful and spawned many ongoing collaborations.


After reading so many lists like this (my other favorite belongs to Stefan Sagmeister) I think I need to make a list of my own. I think this might call for a new notebook.

Why?

I have quite a few pet peeves. For the most part, I don't let them get the best of me, but there's one that I find particularly frustrating: Group Think.
Maybe it's because I go to a lot of meetings and, typically, the people in the meetings are from similar backgrounds and often friends. As soon as I see the first signs of discussions becoming one-sided or conversation hurling toward some sudden quick decision, I like to jump in and play devil's advocate. I start asking "Why?" a lot and asking for more clarification. Basically, I just don't agree with anything.
I often wonder if everyone sees what I'm doing or if they think I'm just being annoying by diverting our train from it's track.
I also often think that it's probably why many of my ideas always win, because I'm the first one to jump in and nobody wants to disrupt the flow.
Well folks, without questions there's no creativity. If there's no disagreement, we're probably not coming up with anything innovative.
I've been reading Seth Godin's book Tribes... it's fascinating. He really knows how to motivate his readers, not because he tells you how to make great changes and improve how you do business... he just tells you to do it. DO IT. You are the only thing keeping you from greatness.
So, my suggestion is to start by actually voicing an opinion during your next meeting. When you hear that voice in your head questioning things - say it out loud.

Jones Soda Labels

Being a Seattle resident, I love the Jones Soda Company. I think they are hilarious, artistic and creative. That being said, I hope one of my picture submissions might end up on a bottle of soda someday. Hopefully a weird flavor, like Grass or Orange Crayon. Anyway, here they are. Help me out and vote!

Just another day at the office.

Meghans love to dance.

Multi-talented.

Thinking Cap

I have this horrible habit of buying many many journals because I think they are cute. I also like what they represent: ideas, creativity, art, stories, brainstorming, memories, etc. Of course, what makes this habit horrible is that I have a tendency of holding everything in my head. It works most of the time. When I got my first Moleskine notebook I was immediately attached. I love that thing. Maybe it's the leather. Or that little rubber band that holds it all together. It's like magic.
I'll be using it to brainstorm ideas for this competition. A lifetime supply of Moleskines... a LIFETIME!
My Moleskine 2.0 Competition