Documenting Life

A great part of my life is spent documenting things. I write, I paint, I take photos, I design ads and stories so that they are fit for public consumption. I blog, I write in diaries, both on the computer and in notebooks. I sketch things that I see in my dreams.

I find that as time goes by – and with the progress of technology – that this documentation is increasing. I love going to AdFed conferences, where everyone is whipping out their cameras to take pictures of almost anything. If we're not taking pictures, we're having someone else take our picture in front of something or with someone.

I will be doing a project called 24/7 this coming weekend. A friend and AdFed colleague (founder of AD3), Jim Clark, came up with this brilliant idea as we were running around Atlanta taking photos of what-the-hell-ever. We will choose a day, any 24-hour period, and both take whatever photos we want as we go about our lives normally. Now, I have to say, this is something that I'm excited about! How fun!

What is this innate need we have? Does it correspond to our love and preservation of history? Do we want every single event in our lives put on record for others to view or read about in the future? Is it our need for significance? I bet everyone has a good book in them, directly taken from their life... or at least everyone probably thinks they do.

Sting is one of my favorite musicians ever. I bought his book "Broken Music" and got about 1/4 or more into it before becoming too bored to continue. It's not all about the exciting part of his life, but rather school years. Maybe it will get better if I trudge ahead, but my point is that no matter how cool, famous, talented and interesting you are, does everyone really want to read about the minutia of your life? Probably not. Still, I continue to grow my obsession with documentation.

In the end I think that's why humans love the arts. Art is just a documentation of life, emotions, moments, messages, beauty, pain... all of it is just creative, expressive, documentation... and I am simply becoming more and more of an artist.

Doors

I live uptown
I live downtown
I live all around
I had money, and I had none
I had money, and I had none
But I never been so broke
That I couldn't leave town
I'm a Changeling
See me change
I'm a Changelin'
See me change
~The Doors, from The Changling

Sometimes the best change comes to us in the form of a sharp kick in the ass. I was laid off last week from the publishing company that I worked at for 5 1/2 years. I know the economy has taken a downturn, I know even Vanity Fair is pretty thin this month, but it was still a surprise to me. I wasn't prepared to be hitting the proverbial street that day.

I'm getting there, though! It's been one week now and I've done a lot of networking, meetings and calls. I am deep in the middle of creating a new website for myself... not just to feature my fine art anymore, but to represent the whole professional me. I think I will do it in stages, there is so much I want to do with it but I need to get the basics up so people can see what I do, so I can be marketable, and then I will keep adding to it as time allows.

One door closed suddenly last week, and now it seems to me that I'm standing in a world full of open doors. They are definitely not all for me, but they are there. Even in this economy, opportunities are everywhere! It's exciting. The trick is going to be to make the right choices without taking too much time... to keep paying the bills while holding out for the right thing.

The idea that I have the power to create my career right now, that I'm not stuck in any situation, that I'm free to go where I want and do what I want, is just sinking in. It's amazing that that kind of freedom must have always been there! Any feeling of being trapped I've ever had must have been completely false!

Change is good, change is fun... I can't wait to see how this big change unfolds!