Word association. Go! All of these things relate to certain needs I have at the moment. Coffee is pretty obvious; I love it and it makes getting up at 6:30 with the baby just wonderful. The word vacation is also a given. I need one, it’s been way too long. I also think it will help with the other two ideas, because lately I’ve been seriously lacking creative inspiration and the momentum I need to get my media projects and business ideas off the ground.
I think getting away for a few days just to relax and be inspired would do wonders for my creative juices. I’ve been envisioning something along the lines of this:
I’ll go somewhere fairly close but out of state (Texas, Colorado?) where I can sit around by the lake or the mountains and just transfer as much as I can from my brain/heart/emotions through my fingers and into my laptop or pen and paper or whatever medium I feel like using. I’ll have some drinks by the pool, draw some stuff, watch all the crazy people, start a novel, write some music on a beat up acoustic while watching the sun set, ride a train while I tap away at my netbook and watch the mountains go by… sounds great right? I know. It’s just that I have a lot to say, I have thousands of great ideas, I have books and song lyrics and music and blog ideas inside me, but if I don’t have the time or creative energy or motivation to get them out, then I’m just wasting away. Plus this just sounds like such a relaxing and fulfilling vacation… you have to live your life and do what you love, because you only get one chance. Ok, that was a cheesy line, let’s move along.
Perhaps the job search has beaten me down to the point where I’m doubtful that I’ll ever be paid to do these types of projects – and that may be true – but this is what I was made to do. I have a creative mind and I have a base need to get these ideas out of me before I explode. It also gives me a real sense of personal accomplishment and pride to write something that’s really interesting and unique, so getting paid isn’t that big of a deal. It’s just that I’m also trying to start my career and I feel like I should be able to make a living doing what I’m good at, but the industry is undergoing a revolutionary change and people working in media still seem to be fairly unsure about how this new journalism is going to work and be profitable.
This could be a wonderful opportunity for me like me, however, since people my age have experience with online media and know how to effectively incorporate all these new technologies and media forms. The tricky part is this transitional period we’re in now. Newspapers are scrambling to keep up with things like the iPad and how to make online content profitable, while at the same time losing money and customers and having to fire the ‘old breed’ of journalists. If I can just keep my creativity flowing, stay on top of my own media projects and get some of my business ideas going then I won’t have to worry about working for some big, slow-changing media corporation. One day, however, I’ll have such a presence and burning talent that I’ll have to turn down offers from them. Let’s do this!
