A Life Without Projects
It has been the school holidays, and it feels as though it has lasted for months. Just an endless stretch of time. For the kids, it's great. For the parents ... it's a bit more of a challenge.
So I put all my projects on hold.
It was quite strange, because I often wonder what life is like without hobbies and projects. I always have something on the go. Often multiple things. To have nothing was unique. It was a little uncomfortable. It took several days to get used to it, and now that the kids have finally gone back to school -- today! -- I can start some projects again.
Only, I've completely forgotten what I want to do.
So I have a blank slate, and as I look back I realise that everything I have just said was a lie. I haven't given up projects at all -- I just haven't tried to make money from them.
Normally, I write books. Sometimes I make an app. The books I sell, the apps I give away because they're only for my own use, anyway, and if somebody wants to use them then great. (To be honest, the apps are never finished. They are always works in progress, and they're 'ugly on purpose' so I don't think anybody would ever want to use them.) So what I have done is just stop writing books.
But I started this blog, which is a writing project. So I haven't given up writing, just stopped writing -- and selling -- fiction.
And I made a home gym, which is most certainly a project.
I got out my old solar cooker and cooked up some beans using nothing but the power of the sun. If that's not a project, I don't know what is.
I liberated two owner-less computers and turned them into my PCs. I'm writing this blog on one of them. So that's obviously a project.
I got stuck into cooking, and cooked quite a bit of things I've never cooked before, including ginger syrup, coffee liqueur, tomato relish, shredded chicken, and a whole lot more. I started a family recipe book so we could escape the tyranny of scraps of paper. Clearly: project!
I've cleared a lot of rubbish in my house, with my eye on more. Yep, project.
I redesigned a few points in my kitchen. Every time you get out the drill, I think you can say you're working on a project ...
I've been reading more than I have in years, and have made a point to read every day in bed. Is reading a project? Maybe, maybe not. More of a way of living, I s'pose. But it is certainly 'project-like'.
So I haven't given up projects, and I've enjoyed them all. Maybe it is the chasing money aspect that was bringing me down at the end of last year. Perhaps if I just create I'll get even more done. And today, with finally a bit of time at my disposal, I finally have a chance to start a few more projects.
Which brings me to an uncomfortable choice: do I go back to writing fiction, knowing that I won't make much money but, occassionally, I make a bit ... Or do I keep doing little projects that bring in no money but are fun to do? It's a hard choice, and I suspect there's a bit of balance involved. Previously I would have thought it was all or nothing, but today I'm feeling more loose.
I think there's room for everything, if the passion is there.