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)

2012: Bring It On!

I'm here to announce that 2012 is the year I get my s*&% together. I've made some big changes as of late (the chaos of which has caused me to neglect this blog) and now that I'm at the ripe old age of 27 (for the record I first entered 28... I don't even know my own age) I feel as though I can actually commit to committing to real live commitments.

First of all, after my travels around the country and seeing all that this lovely nation has to offer, I decided to move back to my hometown of Aberdeen, Washington. What sane, single, 20-something would do such a thing? Actually, not sure if I'm totally sane. Anyway, after living in Seattle and Portland, I realized that having a tight community is very important to me and I actually found it back in my hometown.

Which brings me to my projects for the new year:

A few friends and I have launched a blog called Go Go Grays Harbor! We got a little bit tired of hearing people complain about the area and say that there isn't anything to do so we're bound and determined to prove them wrong. We are still forming and will soon be posting daily about interesting local people, restaurants, activities and sharing some of our random thoughts and interests with people near and far. We also threw an awesome Ugly Sweater Roller Skating party just before Christmas. Since I love event planning and promotions, I'm quite excited by all of the opportunities that may stem from this project.



The bigger project coming up is my new business, a retail shop in Hoquiam, Washington. I will release more details as we move along, but I am so very excited to finally have the opportunity to create a real live space where people can visit and find awesomely awesome things to make them happy! Oh, I really can't wait! Plus, part of the space will be dedicated space to Queen B Quilts, so now people can come by any time to get started on their t-shirt quilt.

With so much happening in my life, I decided that I might as well throw daily blogging on the pile. I hope to give you all some insight into small town life as well as the process of opening a new business. I plan to share as much as possible with you to hopefully help and inspire you to take on the big projects in your life.

The Future of Work is Now

.



I like this idea of no lines between work and play. As opposed to the image of "well-rounded" as a pie divided into different slices or categories, we should probably be using a venn diagram.

As risky and as scary as it may sound to live a life where you seem to have so many things on your plate and without the security of a job with regular benefits and vacation time, it seems to me that this way of life actually has potential for building a more solid foundation and for making us all happier and better connected. In this way, we rely on each other. There are no boundaries! We should always be looking for ways to collaborate and help each other in the world. And think of the potential! If we continually move along to where we can contribute our best effort, the actual output and quality of our work over a lifetime will be much greater than if we spend our life finding ways to fill our time at a 40 hour a week job.

So, does this scare anyone? Living your life project to project is a risky thing! It probably should scare you. And maybe that isn't such a bad thing. Most likely, living on the edge of failure will actually propel you to work harder to succeed. What risks have you taken lately?