I’ve been meaning to listen to Ruts + Routines, a podcast about the creative process and life as a creative, for a while. I generally binge through podcasts in one go. Basically the only one I’ve managed to routinely follow is Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. Current event ones I just can’t do very easily.
I am really enjoying hearing about other creatives and how they deal with this weird uncertain lifestyle, with the process of making things, of learning new skills. It’s nice to be able to find people who you have something in common with.
I spend a lot of time thinking about how to manage my time, what there is and isn’t space for in my life and how to make the lists I have into things I’ve made. I’m learning some valuable lessons from this show
Listen to your body: It has ebbs and flows. You’re not always on. Rest is important. I’m not a morning person so trying not to force
Gather: In her interview Ingrid Fetell Lee talks about gathering information and how the research she did made her book a lot richer. I’m in the gathering phase of a couple of different projects and it’s reassuring to hear that this is actually helpful and a good idea
Tiers: Samuel Leighton-Dore talked about using three tiers for his work and I like this system. Though I’m using it in a more long term way that makes my to do lists feel more manageable
The good old days of blogging: I’ve been missing the days when WordPress was my jam, when I had my Google RSS feed (RIP), when there was more nuance and community than you can build in 280 words. I want to blog more. I want to spend more time making stuff and less time bickering/debating on Twitter. One episode talks about how to visit a blog you have to intentionally decide to do so. With social media there is a serious lack of intention. There’s just scrolling and scrolling and more scrolling. There’s a few sites I really get a lot of value out of and people who are really useful. I want to have these in my life. I want to engage with just that. I want to type in urls. I want to decide that I have a moment for something and make it work. I want to have less time spend scrolling through the trauma that greets me each time I open Twitter. There is valuing in checking out and these days I want to spend far more of my time in long form, depth and going for walks. I want to read a book about how crows share a common ancestor with humans and have a fairly similar sensory system. I want to listen to the sound of waves while salt tickles my nose and I can feel the wind on my face. I want to blog more