Tag Archives: creativity

The Fork in the Road

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I’m at a fork in the road. Truthfully, I’ve been standing here a while, for several months in fact. One direction is lit up in bright neon. Down this road lies ambition, dreams and risk alike. The other is murkier, but I can sort of make out an alarm clock and getting old before my time. All my life, I have wanted to create and build things, from songs and photographs to a self-sustaining business. Creating jobs for other people is high on my wish list too. You’d think choosing a path would be easy, but it turns out, it’s not.

Creatively, I have reached the point where I really should hire a part time assistant, because my projects get more and more complex, as my ambition grows. Which is great, and the way it should go. Another Passion is the best example. What started as a side project grew into a priority, and instead of a one-man creativity blog, I wanted to build an Arts & Culture site with multiple contributors and high quality content, as well as a framework through which other, original projects could take root. And all of that is happening, slowly but surely. It’s pretty awesome.

But. Other things have made me reconsider many a plan and ambition. Most importantly Kelly’s cancer, the treatments and the toll all of that has taken on our household. A situation that makes life difficult, even if you’re not trying to make your own way and build a business. It’s made me realize, that if I really want to go down the neon lit path of risk and possible wonder, I need a better plan – and help.

Of course, while I’m busy working on said plan, Life keeps happening.

Kelly is not out of the woods yet, which means I still have to focus on supporting her more than anything. It’s not a chore or a duty, it’s a privilege, but it does drain a lot of energy of both the physical and emotional variety. I channel most of what I have left into Another Passion. And when there is nothing left at all, I hop on Minecraft and take a mental vacation.

On tough days, you might find me here in the Clearview Lounge, hanging in the bar or at the jukebox.

While standing at this fork in the road, I have been living off of my savings – leftovers from selling my apartment last year. There is still a little left, but not enough for another year of living like this. So I need to get that plan done, get my ducks in a row and buckle up (and whatever other clichés you can fit in) – or dial it all back and focus on work that pays me, instead of being paid for by me. But I’m not quite ready for that.

The one good thing I have to say about cancer, is that it puts everything in perspective. There’s a lot of little stuff I don’t sweat anymore, and I appreciate the good people in my life more than ever. Even on the tough days. For that very reason, I still want to build and create, and I still want to create jobs instead of just taking one.

These are interesting, and scary times.

Focus on Another Passion

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Some time in the mid 90s I began toying with the idea of publishing a magazine much like the arts and culture section of a newspaper, without all the other, uninteresting stuff. Throughout the years, I have filled many a notebook page with different ways to approach this idea. At one point I researched the cost of a small print run, and quickly decided the web was the way to go.

Finally, in January 2010 I fired up a blog — Another Passion.

Since day one I have run Another Passion magazine style, with lots of interviews combined with portrait photography, and editorial posts, all of it somehow relating to the life and work of artists and creative professionals. Along the way I have met many talented and kind people, and gotten to see things I otherwise wouldn’t have. But as a lone wolf I can only do so much, and a one-man show was never what I had envisioned.

Early on I gave the blog 3 years to grow and with the Fox/Tribune syndication deal, I was off to a good start. In late May of 2011, well into the site’s second year, I started seriously working on ways to grow Another Passion. It was that or shut it down and incorporate the content into this, my personal blog (for which I have no other goals than to share whatever I feel like).

In late June, I hinted that changes were coming. At that point, I had a couple of possible outlines and scattered notes but had kept it all pretty much to myself. Putting it into words made it real and no doubt sped up the process. I was shooting off more e-mails than I had in years, asking help and advice from friends with any related experience or talent. That was just a few weeks ago, though it seems like a lot longer.

Three writers were quick to rally under Another Passion’s banner. So far, only one has been published, but that’s one more than before. All are talented people I know can help boost the rate of publication while also raising the content quality.

Based on advice and research, I set up memberships and sponsorships/ads to at least make it possible for revenue to start coming in, and I wrote my first ever manifesto – a surprisingly fun and inspiring exercise, by the way. The first 2 members signed up within minutes, essentially paying for nothing, since I had no exclusive content yet. These people gave me a vote of confidence, and for that I thank you. A few more have since joined, enough that I’m feeling a bit of pressure from it, which is good.

A big part of my renewed focus has to do with my mother’s passing in early May. Her death made me re-evaluate my own life. I’ve been fueling a lot of that energy into Another Passion. She was a big fan of the project, and she would be proud to see it grow. And so I do it in her honor. I’ve spent weeks of 10+ hour days and more money than is probably wise, hoping to give Another Passion the boost it needs. I am far from done, but I could not have done any of it without the support of Kelly Cline. She has been a rock, an anchor and the best friend I could have ever wished for in my greatest time of need.

I do believe that steady flowing, high quality content will carry the site to (some form of) greatness, but only if I can get it off the ground. Three writers is good, but I need at least twice as many before I am really happy. And though I have started producing members only content, there is little time to promote memberships and advertising. Content is king and until it starts flowing, my focus is there.

Pleased to Please, Mostly

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Warning: This post is as fragmented as many of my thoughts lately. That has roots in an ongoing family crisis – my mother is very ill from cancer. It’s the kind of thing that tends to fill the head with all manner of thoughts, most of which are pretty distracting to put it mildly. It also brings with it its own insight and inspiration, and the following statement popped into my head this morning.

I like to please.

I think most people do, really. Certainly us creative types who spend our time making things for others to enjoy or use later. Unless we’re seeking a different and specific response like shock or outrage, pleasing people is pretty much the default.

I’ve been thinking a lot about video lately, because it’s fun and offers an awesome way to combine words, visuals and music. My three favorites! But I also have a tendency to want to do too much, mainly with editing and B-roll which can take forever. I have to remind myself that 99.9% of the people that are going to watch it will only watch it once. And I’ll be lucky if they watch it all the way to the end – so at some point I have to call it good enough, or accept that the time I am spending is really to placate my own anal retentiveness.

I haven’t shot a ton of actual video, mind you. I’ve been watching, reading and learning, and shot mainly little clips for myself. At some point I decided – for no apparent reason – to write a 30 page script. I’m about 18 pages in, and I still don’t know what compelled me to begin. Other than a lingering want to try. It’s not like I’m dying to tell this particular story or make a short film.

Pleasing the audience vs. myself (yes, I just said that – and no, not in that way) is a fine line. Go too far in either direction and the result loses power and appeal. That’s not what I’m aiming for, though I am definitely guilty of having been both too self-centered and too eager to please from time to time. No one is perfect, right?

As an artist I want to stay true to myself, tell my own stories and share my crazy, stupid and occasionally insightful ideas. Sometimes the message outweighs the need to please, sometimes I have only myself in mind when I create something, and the decision to share it comes later. Not everything should be shared either, but that’s a tangent I’ll save for another time. I do think that any creative person who claims to never take the audience/recipient into consideration, is either being pretentious or an idiot.