13 January 2011

52 lists

so I started the list project about a year ago. I wanted to see what a year of list-making might look like. 52 weeks later and I am only a little over halfway done. the original idea was to have a weekly creative writing exercise in place should words fail me (and so often, they fail me). but, as it turns out, I am unable to rattle off lists week after week. I get an idea for a list and sometimes I like to sit on it for a while, come back to it when I'm ready. I write and re-write, contemplate topics, vacillate between yes and no. the very obstacles I was looking to avoid. the project took on a completely different life (as personal creative projects so often do) and at some point, I had to let go of the 52 weeks thing. I am definitely a girl who needs a deadline but I am also a girl who tries to recognize when to let go.

and so I continue on with the project (because I really do love the project) and I do intend to finish. just might take a little longer than originally planned. 21 more lists to go and one on deck for this afternoon. and to that, I say: yay.

8 comments:

  1. To that I say yay too. I am a full-on meanderer myself.

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  2. I love reading your lists (and am often inspired to write them myself)and I think you should feel no pressure to produce them in a format that doesn't feel comfortable to you. Better to take time and make them meaningful to yourself. Looking forward to your next list...

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  3. I'm only half done my own 52 list project, but like you, I shall continue it through out this next year.

    I love reading your lists, they're so much fun!

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  4. love this list project - i didnt realise your lists were a part of a whole larger thing! cool as! love this idea!

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  5. I just posted on another blog about how a bad planner I am so I really salute you Andrea, for this 52 lists project which would got me killed in no time...But lacking the fundamentals of planning, I am a big fan! xo

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  6. sometimes creativity + inspiration cannot be bound by time or specific work. sometimes it has to find you.

    i adore your lists because i adore lists. for me, making them helps me find a connection when a series of sentences do not.

    i commend you for letting go and knowing this means you'll still be able to finish what you start. they are not mutually exclusive. i get that.

    happy weekend to you, andrea. looking forward to more of your lists...ideas...photos...everything.

    happy twenty eleven.

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  7. You know I jumped on board with you, but I found I couldn't do one a week either. Just couldn't.

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  8. If there was a degree offered in procrastination, I would have a PhD. So my idea is: what if, the next time you're a little blocked, you write a list of all the reasons you don't feel like writing a list? That might sound insane, but I've always found that just getting started is the hardest part, and then you wonder what all the fuss was about. So maybe a procrastination list could serve as a jumpstart?... Plus, I always love to see the way your brain works.

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