Category Archives: Random Thoughts

We are all artists

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My 10 year old checking out her art at the HeART Expo. She is a true artist.

Recently I was sitting in a group of maybe 200 people who were asked if they were artists, and only four people raised their hand.

I was one of the four ‘artists’ who put their hand up. Can I paint or sculpt or dance? No, not at all. Yet I am an artist, because at the core of art is creativity.

An artist creates.

And almost everyone I have ever met is creative in someway. Sure, some paint and sculpt and dance, but most creative people, most artists I meet do nothing like that. Most create in other ways like taking home photos or cooking their favourite food. Some create by making practical things from metal or wood. Others create by raising amazing kids. Some even create using spreadsheets.

In my heart of hearts I believe we are all artists. I believe we are all created to create. And when we create, we should pause for a moment to enjoy our creation. Our Art.

You create things, therefore…

You are an artist.

Enjoy.

Twelve : 12 memorable things for the 12 months of the year 12.

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Twelve - Project Leap begins. A photo each day from 1 Jan 12 to 31 Dec 12. 366 photos in total, including the leap day | 1/366

Happy New Year and welcome to the year of 12.

Because it’s the year 12, and because there are 12 months in the year, why not have a 12 list?

A 12 list is kind of like a bucket list but easier, and just for the year. I think the idea beats new years resolutions (although Jim’s new years resolution is good).

A 12 list is a list of simple memorable things you want to do this year. Don’t worry about the order, or when you will do them. Just list 12 things, anything, as they come to mind.

Then pick one a month and do it, don’t forget to take your camera to record the memory.

Here is my 12 list:

  1. Have a snow fight with my family
  2. Visit Cape Reinga
  3. Marvel at a sunrise
  4. Catch a fish with Jayden
  5. Take my wife on a picnic (without kids)
  6. Fly again
  7. Have someone I have yet to meet, over for dinner
  8. Visit a good.water project
  9. Catch up with a person I didn’t see last year
  10. Go caving
  11. Have a bbq at the beach
  12. Take my kids to a NZ city they haven’t been to before

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‘Twelve’ – Project Leap begins. A photo each day from 1 Jan 12 to 31 Dec 12. 366 photos in total, including the leap day | 1/366

 

 

301 |365 Puzzle

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Day301.jpgpuz·zle (pŭz'əl)
v. puz·zled , puz·zling , puz·zles

  • To baffle or confuse mentally by presenting or being a difficult problem or matter (verb. Tr)
  • To be perplexed. (verb. Intr)
  • Something, such as a game, toy, or problem, that requires ingenuity and often persistence in solving or assembling. (noun)

Hey – They just wrote a definition of my life, I am both puzzling and puzzled.
 
But then aren’t we all.

300 |365 Te Rapa Dairy Factory moves closer to city

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Te Rapa Dairy FactoryEvery year they move the Te Rapa dairy factory on the outskirts of Hamilton closer to the city. It’s a huge undertaking I know, and I never actually see how they do it, but the diary factory is now right on the city boundary.

When I first moved to Hamilton it would take ages to get to the dairy factory from Te Rapa, but now Te Rapa and the dairy factory are stones throw away from each other, rather than kilometres.

Around the same time that I moved to Hamilton, a property developer friend of mine said that cities in New Zealand grow to the north. Almost 15 years later he was proved very correct, the urban growth of Hamilton has all been to the North, and Te Rapa stretches further than ever towards the dairy factory.

Finally, this is one of those on the way home, must take a photo shots. A bit disappointing that my 300th photo was of the Te Rapa Dairy Factory, but that’s the way the 365 project rolls I guess.

297 | 365 Buying Clothes

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Day297.jpgMy wardrobe. There are clothes that hang around within its depths that that may well predate Noah, but certainly are old enough to have lost whatever distant connection to fashion they may have had.
 
I am about to be burdened again with the chore of buying new clothes (it’s a male thing).
 
Burdened by the looking.
 
Burdened by the choices.
 
Burdened by the cost.
 
Burdened by the realisation that I will spend more on clothes, than a person in the developing world may well earn in a year.
 
But once those burdens have past. As they quickly will. I will enjoy wearing new clothes, despite the fact that in years to come they will again be worthless.

292 |365 Dreaming of the ocean

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Day292.jpgSo there I sit on a crisp clear winters day, eating lunch and watching the river flow soothingly by.
 
As pleasant as the river is, all I can do is dream of being by the ocean, where I can taste the air. Where water is clean. Where the sights stretch beyond the riverbank and on to the horizon.

253 |365 Waiting

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Tick tockWaiting for a response can be like watching a clock slowly tick the seconds by. It can be frustrating and annoying when action is not happening. We can feel like we are wasting precious minutes, hours and days.
 
At the moment I am waiting on a person to enable me to take the next step in a project. Because it’s a collaborative effort, I can’t go any further with the project without this persons help.
 
I am starting to resent the waiting.
 
Tick
 
To get annoyed.
 
Tick
 
Then I realise, I need to get over myself. For 2 weeks, I reacted slowly, I was the time waster, I was the one being waited on. My slowness made this persons response time harder.
 
I realise that I do this often. Fast to expect action, slow to act.

251 | 365 Winter has arrived

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Day251.jpgIt’s winter. The 1st of June brings the official change in season, then the season lives up to its reputation and delivers rain.
 
With the darker days comes much difficulty and a lack of energy for my 365 project. 251 days down, 115 to go.