Back to basics.
Social media is a harsh mistress.
Seems lately that one of the very things that I’ve used to professionally put a stake in the ground is slowly eating away my soul. It’s something that I came to realize a month or two ago when I was preparing material for the “Creative Turtleheads” presentation.
As I looked through my archive of personal projects, not only did I notice that the majority of my projects were unfinished, I also noticed that beginning in 2004, the number of personal projects I attempted each year began to dwindle.
I thought this was interesting and I got to thinking about it. Why would that be? There were a few reasons that came to mind. 1999-2001 were prolific years because I was a single twentysomething that finally had his career in full swing. I had the ideas and the energy, but that seemed like it wasn’t enough. I still have ideas and energy but less output.
Then it hit me — I didn’t have Facebook to check all the fucking time! Of course I did more, because my time wasn’t so fragmented by online destinations. So, this made me take stock of what types of things I was doing online during that time. The list was pretty simple:
- Napster
- IRC on rare occasions
- Web surfing for product information
That was it!
Most of my free time was spent offline making things. I made short films. I made music. I made websites. I played video games and read books. I listened to music, and not listening while doing something else — I just sat there and listened, unencumbered by other tasks.
I say enough. My life is dwindling away and I’m taking what little free time I have back. I’m making a conscious effort to minimize social media usage in the evenings and I’m going to back to basics.
I just finished a book this week — the first book I’ve read in a year. It was I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell by Tucker Max. I picked it up at DFW on an extended layover and figured, “What the Hell. I could stand to read a book.” I’m glad I got it. It reminded me a lot of some old college friends, and was just a good, mindless escape. It prompted me to order two more books to read: Born Standing Up by Steve Martin and 39 Years of Short-Term Memory Loss: The Early Days of SNL from Someone Who Was There by Tom Davis.
I’m playing more video games. After almost 3 years, I’m getting close to completing The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess and just picked up Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
In short, I’m letting my mind wander and experience new things. Hopefully by relaxing more, my mind will become more fertile again and the ideas will flow more easily.