At the intersection of Creative Work and Learning lies a space that invites experimentation, trying new things, getting our hands dirty. A space I like to call play. It’s where we explore those things that sound intriguing, that grab our attention, that make our ears prick up, or our hearts skip a beat. The things that we suspect with little or no experience or knowledge, might just be meant for us. It’s also where we give ourselves the freedom to do those things that just plain make us happy.
And because it can sometimes be very hard to give ourselves permission to “indulge” these seemingly non-productive dalliances (NOTE: they are not non-productive dalliances, they are essential to our well being), I’ve decided to make a list of activities, events, skills, whatever, that just plain sound like fun. Just in case I forget.
SEWING
- Slow Stitching
- Hand piecing class
- Hand quilting class
- Embroidery
- Embellishing
- Learning to use the alphabet stitches on my sewing machine
- Stitching curves
- Quilt deconstruction
- Quilt Guild retreat
- More advanced free-motion techniques
- Stash-busting
- Apparel
- Clothing and accessory modification
- Apocalypse fashion and accessories
- Electronics-enhanced fashion and textile art
- Actually doing all my Craftsy classes
- Quilt challenges
- QOV or other service quilts
WRITING
- FOGcon
- Another poetry class with Tony Hoagland
- The Brainery Spec Fic writing workshop (alas, will probably have to wait until next year)
- Experimental poetry
- Apocalypse poetry
- Slow novel writing (all mine have been written during NaNoWriMo)
- Short story and novella writing
- Playing with mixed forms and genres
- Riffing off other people’s work
- Blogging, blogging, and more blogging
ART
- Photography
- Tarot-inspired
- Medieval/Celtic motifs and themes
PREPPING/APOCALYPSE
- Apocalypse and disaster stories, movies, and art (review, share, make)
- EDCs
- General prep
- History
- Profiles in resilience
- Skill building
- PrepperFest
- Prepper cuisine
- Games/apps
- Prepping in small spaces
- Prepping for artists
RESEARCH
- Transition
- Tiny homes and homesteading
- Journal publishing (online and print)
- Video game/app design
- Art of protest, social change, injustice
- Shamanism
TRAVEL (doing/dreaming)
- British Isles (Wales, Ireland, Scotland)
- Truth or Consequences, NM (again)
- Pacific Northwest road trip
- Famous authors pilgrimage
- Sacred sites pilgrimage
It’s improbable that I’ll get to all or possibly even any of them, but the mere existence of this list makes me excited for the new year. And since I plan to add more ideas as they come up, I will probably be even more excited as the year goes on.