I have been thinking about the upcoming New Year quite a bit lately, more so than I would like to admit. I have been looking back over the last years (years) and deciphering what it is about my life that needs changing. What issues need resolved. I know this is nothing new, and in fact almost everyone starts to spend a bit more energy pondering the rearview mirror this time of year.

But what is it about that day that gets people all in a tizzy? Why is it so important to so many people? I think that perhaps it all comes down to hope. New Years gives people the opportunity and permission to wipe the slate clean. To go forward hoping that they wont make the same mistakes or give up so easily. Honestly, the whole thing has started to really bug me.

Sure there is plenty of stuff that I would like to change about my life. Plenty of things about myself I would like to improve. But what is it about that day that makes me believe I am going to be able to make these magical over night changes in my life. Like some how turning a page on the calendar is suddenly going to give me the courage and self discipline to make changes that I have wanted to make for years.

So this year (actually just this moment) I have decided not to make any resolutions (well, more over to take back those things I decided to resolve to do). Not entirely though. I am not going to give up on improving my self, or striving to make my life better. I am just not going to rely on a calendar to give me the will to make the changes. There is no magic in that moment when the glowing ball of lights finally hits the bottom of the tower. No magic in the cheering and well wishes for a new year. Nothing really changes in those few moments. If the changes are going to come, they are going to come from me, from a place that has always been here. And to be frank, the changes come anyway. Good or bad, fast or slow, if life is defined by one thing it is change.

A good friend of mine recently said that they are resolving to “keep on keeping on” (or something to that effect). To that, I say rock on. Making changes is hard, and takes lots of effort and time. Who needs the pressure of trying to make it all happen overnight?

I was intrigued when I saw the title of today’s “how to of the day” I don’t consider myself an angry person, but who couldn’t learn to be a little more understanding. I was hoping for something really inspiring to make me want to call those mean girls from high school and tell them they are pretty and I didn’t mean all of those horrible things I said. Instead, I wanted to send iGoogle a message telling them where they could shove it. Too harsh? I don’t think so.

Theirs is a 12 step process, that alone should have been enough to prevent me from reading on. I gave them the benefit of the doubt, they are Google after all. I will summarize the steps for you since they tend to go on and on, and offer little as compensation for time wasted.

Step 1. Realize that the hate you feel toward your enemy does not harm them in the slightest. Chances are, they’ve gone on with their life and haven’t given you another thought.

(Step one just makes me want to call the person I am angry with and give them a piece of my mind to remind them they are a total looser)

Step 2. Make a list of the good things that happened as a result of this awful experience. (How often does something good come of getting irrationally angry)

Step 3. Look for the helpers. (What if all they did was help make me more angry)

Step 4. Was someone your “good samaritan”? I(What kind of hippy crap is this)

Step 5. Be compassionate with yourself. (If I was being compassionate with them, I wouldn’t be this angry)

Step 6. Learn that the Aramaic word for “forgive” means literally to “untie.” (What does that have to do with anything!!)

Step 7. Forgiveness must be unconditional. (crap)

Step 8. Stop telling “the story.” (ok, this one actually makes sense)

Step 9. Tell “the story” from the other person’s perspective. (didn’t you just tell me to STOP telling the story)

Step 10. When your enemy and their evil actions come to mind, send them a blessing. (This is as irritating as when my dad would tell me to pretend my vegetable were chocolate cake)

Step 11. Remember: you’re not the Lone Ranger On hearing my story of woe, one wise preacher said, “I worship a God with holes in his hands and feet.” Considering Jesus in the Bible – he unconditionally forgave those who did terrible things to him. And if you are wronged for doing right, then you’re experiencing what it is written that Jesus did, and that’s a good example to follow.

(I didn’t know how to sum this one up, or how to respond to it to be honest. If I was chill like Christ I wouldn’t need an iGoogle post to teach me to be forgiving)

Step 12. Maintain perspective: While the “evil” actions of your “enemy” are hurtful to you and your immediate surroundings, the rest of the world goes on unaware.
(The world might not know, but that doesn’t mean I should turn a blind eye.)

In closing, I think Google should stick to search engines and the like. Leave the spiritual healing stuff to people that have a clue. Hmm, maybe I shouldn’t have tried to read this on a Monday.

I think a Ninja stole my creative mojo this morning while I wasn’t looking. Some times I wake up and I can feel the creativity coursing through me, mostly I just hit snooze and wonder how anyone is suppose to feel “artsy” before the sun comes up. Some days are worse than others, days like today for example. I have been rearranging the same four images for almost two hours trying to make something happen. Well maybe I am just killing time, trying to LOOK busy waiting for some motivation (inspiration) to find me. I would never actually admit to the latter.

There are lots of tips out there for reclaiming your creative steam. There are countless sites, forums and blogs devoted to this subject, proving that I am not alone in my artistic malaise. I have to admit it is rare that any of these sites actually help do any thing more than kill time for me. So I wonder if these little tips are helping other designers out there. According to the forums they are life savers. To me, that insipid complementing is even more frustrating than the initial lack of creative spark.

I have been giving this a lot of thought today, considering the gusto I have for my current projects. I have come to realize a few truths about me and my work habits. These aren’t things that will inspire creativity. This is just a list of things I have noticed about my work habits, and some of my favorite ways to pass time on the odd days that I can’t find my creative footing. My top ten in no certain order:

1. If I didn’t get enough sleep I am doomed. Boredom, frustration and fatigue are a lethal cocktail. So, the best thing is to learn to sleep with your eyes open. Just kidding, sleeping on the job would be totally irresponsible.

2. Drink lots and lots of water, it is super healthy and if nothing else it gives me an excuse to get away from my desk more often and usually in a hurry.

3. If it is the first week of actual spring, especially in Ohio (the week that the sun comes out for the first time in almost 5 months and it is warm enough to be outside longer than the walk from your car to the door) I have very low expectations. Spring fever is a real illness that can only be cured with many visits to the local metro park.

4. Working in intervals helps, especially in the case of spring fever. This is one of the very few things I miss about being a smoker. It gave me an excuse to go outside several times a day. Being a non-smoker my employers frown on me leaving the building for “stare at the sky and look for pictures in the clouds” breaks. But, this doesn’t stop me from trying. (I would like to add, I am still glad I quit smoking. One of the best things I ever did for myself) And when all else fails drink some more water

5. Good music is always a nice distraction. Even better if you are not in the groove is good talk radio or audiobooks piped through headphones. If nothing else you can look extremely focused whilst accomplishing nothing.

6. Call off for the day, be it sick time or vacation time. Just take a day and play. As children we had summer vacation, is one day of slack so much to ask for? Sometimes a well needed vacation day can clear up all the clutter that keeps me from seeing anything fresh on my screen.

7. I keep a journal and a blog. Sometimes I need to do some 13 year old girl type of venting, this is what my journal is for. It isn’t something I am particularly proud of, but I figure better on paper than swimming around my head! Usually this isn’t the case and I blog about whatever topic has been on my mind most that day. Either way if I focus on the written word for a while it can make getting back to the visual world of graphic design a welcome change.

8. I subscribe to lots of news and blog feeds. Somehow just knowing they are there to read at will helps keep me from getting desperately bored.

9. Financial tracking, I hate it more than anything, but those moments at work that I know I am not going to be productive make for the perfect time to balance check books, savings accounts and verify all bills have been paid in full and on time. It is something that I know I would only spend about half as much time on if I weren’t doing it as a distraction so this really kills two birds with one stone. Plus I can spread it out over the day or even a few days.

10. Surf the net. This one is always listed, and while it doesn’t really help me be more creative, Google is a sure fire way to kill some time. It is obvious, but it works. Occasionally you might even run into something inspiring, just don’t count on it.

The lecturer replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”

He continued, “And that’s the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won’t be able to carry on. As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we’re refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don’t carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you’re carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can.”

I have gone round and round many different times on what the first installment of this blog should focus on. Should it be about me, Akron, Dirty City Design, does it NEED to be about design, should it be introductory? I have jotted down a million and one topics, expounded on the merits of each and eventually disregarded each as being “too trite” or “not a good place to start.”

I jacked the quote off a friends blog. When I read it I realized I had been carrying this blog around for months and it had grown insanely heavy. Finding the “perfect topic,” one that could centralize everything that I am as a designer as well as everything I hope this site will be, had gotten in the way of the site being anything. For too long this site has been the resting place of Lorem Ipsum. The proverbial glass had gotten so heavy with the burdens of starting, it had anchored me to one spot, so I put it down.

That brings us to today, picking the glass back up. I stared into it, full of all the disregarded topics, I remembered why I had put it down. Where should I start. What do I have to say that anyone would want to read? Round and round we go….so for now, instead of putting the glass back down, I’m taking a nice long drink and moving on.

To conclude, I have realized that blogging is a lot like designing, if you over think it, it isn’t going to be any good, and sometimes the best place to start is where someone else left off.

Hopefully this quote will inspire you to put down your burdens and enjoy some of the first signs of spring.