Soda Free

After more than a few weeks (lost track of days) I think I’ve kicked the
soda pop habit. I still have cravings, headaches and withdrawals from
the cold, sweet concoction but have resisted. I’ve been managing with a
lot of water and soda water. So…yay me.  

Create vs. Consume

I am reading and curating a lot lately for various reasons. Inspiration, mostly but also for reflection and knowledge.

What I am not doing lately is creating. I learn better by doing but haven’t been inspired yet.

This doesn’t make sense.

I’m torn. Should I “just do it” and learn as I go or do I study then practice what I’ve learned?

Create vs Consume

I am reading and curating a lot lately for various reasons. Inspiration, mostly but also for reflection and knowledge.

What I am not doing lately is creating. I learn better by doing but haven’t been inspired yet.

This doesn’t make sense.
I’m torn. Should  I “just do it” and learn as I go or do I study then practice what I’ve learned?

Scrivener

While reading through some inspirational articles on writing, I came across a recommendation for the Scrivener book-writing software. While it is geared mostly towards Mac users there is a passable Windows version. This software is more like a workstation than just a word processor but time will tell.

What it won’t do is write the damn stories for me.

Noted

“Five hundred years later, Leonardo Da Vinci’s notebooks are around
to astonish and inspire us. Fifty years from now, our own notebooks, if
we work up the initiative to start writing them, will be around to
astonish and inspire out grandchildren, unlike our tweets and Facebook
posts. “
 

“The more than 7,200 pages now extant probably represent
about one-quarter of what Leonardo actually wrote, but that is a higher
percentage after five hundred years than the percentage of Steve Job’s
emails and digital documents from the 1990s that he and I were able to
retrieve.”

 
– Walter Isaacson

How much of our digital selves are trapped inside social media that we cannot retrieve, use or archive?
Digital note taking is fine but what happens when I am offline and need to gather my thoughts?

I have been documenting my research and thoughts in multiple and redundant formats and platforms hoping to find a system that sticks. Pen and paper so far stands the test of time. I hate the act of physical writing and my penmanship sucks but here goes.

image

Noted

“Five hundred years later, Leonardo Da Vinci’s notebooks are around
to astonish and inspire us. Fifty years from now, our own notebooks, if
we work up the initiative to start writing them, will be around to
astonish and inspire out grandchildren, unlike our tweets and Facebook
posts. “

“The more than 7,200 pages now extant probably represent
about one-quarter of what Leonardo actually wrote, but that is a higher
percentage after five hundred years than the percentage of Steve Job’s
emails and digital documents from the 1990s that he and I were able to
retrieve.”

– Walter Isaacson

How much of our digital selves are trapped inside social
media that we cannot retrieve, use or archive?
Digital note taking is fine but what happens when I am offline and need
to gather my thoughts?

I have been documenting my research and thoughts in multiple and
redundant formats and platforms hoping to find a system that sticks. Pen
and paper so far stands the test of time. I hate the act of physical
writing and my penmanship sucks but here goes.

And Action!

How beneficial is all this research I am doing for various projects if if I’m not willing to apply it?

I tend to overthink and research topics to the point I am overwhelmed and paralyzed into inaction. I will do a little more research and thinking I haven’t done enough. Procrastinating?

It gets to the point when I get comfortable with just doing the research and thinking that is enough. Learning isn’t the same as doing, I know this but ignore it.What I don’t know is if my applying what I have learned is going to be either perfect or will it be half-assed?

This shouldn’t paralyze me but it does. If anything else I will be closer to my goals by trying it and editing along the way. Like Nike tells us, “just do it.”

And Action!

How beneficial is all this research I am doing for various projects if if I’m not willing to apply it?

I
tend to overthink and research topics to the point I am overwhelmed and
paralyzed into inaction. I will do a little more research and thinking I
haven’t done enough. Procrastinating?

It gets to the point when I
get comfortable with just doing the research and thinking that is
enough. Learning isn’t the same as doing, I know this but ignore it.What
I don’t know is if my applying what I have learned is going to be
either perfect or will it be half-assed?

This shouldn’t
paralyze me but it does. If anything else I will be closer to my goals
by trying it and editing along the way. Like Nike tells us, “just do
it.”

Tools

Attempts at putting ten year old thoughts and plots into a novel is frustrating. Finding the right/write tools even more so.

They matter and then they don’t.