Elements of Intrigue

This post started as the draft leading into my decision to put trials on hold, but I didn’t end up finishing it in time.

The last few years have involved trying out a lot of different things which allowed me to test the waters and gauge my actual interest. Thinking on what I’ve done recently I’ve found a few similarities in the things that I’ve enjoyed: creativity, challenge, and flexibility.

Be Creative

Generally, I like to work on things that allow me to make things from scratch. Whether it’s a full fledged DnD campaign or a simple sketch, being able to mold something from nothing is a great feeling.

Right off the bat the process of creation is a blast. Making decisions and building on the consequences of all those before leads to a unique creation every time. Watching something come together piece by piece into a final result is one of the best feelings I’ve had. I especially love working on DnD campaigns, because of how often I need to shift my planning to accomodate for unexpected turns the players take.

Creating solutions to present problems have long gotten me through challenges of life. Whether it’s embracing a new viewpoint or rigging up some system to break a bad habit. Developing the ability to look at the tools and techniques available to address a problem and pick one that works best is a skill that will benefit me for my whole life.

Always a Higher Peak

Most of my interests force me to face some form of challenge. Be it a mental challenge of overcoming a particular problem, a physical challenge that requires grit and persistence, or a social challenge of nonconformity.

Learning and developing my ideas wasn’t something I really embraced until after my education ended. From pre-K to college, I found myself going through the motions. It wasn’t until the end of college, I found a passion for chasing new ideas. I think removing the requirements helped build excitement for making my own path in learning a subject. Whether it’s reading old philosophical texts or taking an online course, picking an area to learn about has become a favorite pastime.

While my mind took some time to find interest in learning, I’m lucky to have long been interested in fitness. My passion definitely started with running cross country, which built into a distance runner’s passion for marathons and the sort. Finishing a challenging race with a proud time was a feeling that lasted only briefly, as now there was a new mark to beat. Challenging oneself from yesterday has long been a driver for me.

This didn’t just stop at running. After my college career came to a close, I pushed my attention to weight lifting and nearing the end of that, I was surpassing personal bests regularly. The strain and pain of working out has long been a feeling I love.

The feeling doesn’t apply to just the mind and body, but in social interactions as well. For most of my life I’ve been interested in niche (nerdy) hobbies like playing World of Warcraft, watching anime, and other weird things. If not for a willingness to try things out I wouldn’t have found myself writing this blog. In my youth, sharing these interests wasn’t easy, but as I’ve grown older, finding others with those interests, be they past or present, has led to many great friendships. The only way to find those people is to talk about those passions.

The buck doesn’t stop at nerdy hobbies, but also in my daily lifestyle. Practices like minimalism and pursuing financial independence have me making decisions that my family and friends may not entirely follow.

Constrained, But Flexible

One of the only ways I’ve been able to get anything done is to set up a deadline for a project. Setting a time limit has often pushed me to get things into some degree of a finished state, even if I think there is room to grow. Be it the weekly blog post or a game jam coming to an end.

Constraints, especially deadlines, are great at holding accountability, but there are some cases where the experience feels too rigid. Throughout the years, the promise of a weekly post has been the only reason I’ve been able to get this blog written. However, as time has gone by, something began to feel lacking in my writing. Periodically, I find I don’t have much to say one week or have dwindling interest in the given trial. When these times hit, getting anything on the page falls beyond a challenge to a painful slog.

Live streaming was especially a big challenge battling this feeling. By the end of the trial, I’d basically given up. I just didn’t have it in me to force myself to feel like I was wasting hours. Having to be “on” at a given time multiple times a week was just something I struggled with greatly. Having to work around a strict schedule is really something I don’t foresee myself working within for long term projects.

Something else I believe will help is to batch time for writing posts. I plan to spend more time writing on a variety of ideas, no longer under the constraint of updates relevant to a given week or trial.

Ultimately, deadlines are a great tool for consistent creation, but they need to be applied in the right settings. Finding what types of projects work best for time pressure and what needs room to breathe. Also, the ability to change direction when something isn’t working is crucial.