Photo by romainguy on Flickr
When you’re ordering something online, include a gift note (it’s usually free) with a positive message to yourself. Something like “Smile, buddy! It’ll all be okay!” or “Don’t worry, be happy!”
When you get your package, open it up and see the note, I dare you not to smile. What a fun way to cheer yourself up!
Chris Brogan has an annual tradition where he decides three words that will guide him through a new year. Think of it as a broader alternative to New Year’s resolutions. A lot of awesome people have followed suit since.
I thought I’d join in with a few of my own that I’ve been mulling over. It’s a little late being that it is after January 1st, but I’m still in the early stages of formulating the upcoming year because of my ongoing trip to Italy (and Mike Vardy outlined some great reasons why you might do the same, even if you aren’t vacationing abroad).
So here are my words, carefully considered, for the year ahead.
This one is an easy one. This is my first year of committing fully to Van Patten Media, and I need to make it a successful one to prove the business can survive (and start paying off those pesky college loans). I’m confident I can do it with a little hustle and a lot of the same high quality work.
This word didn’t come so easy. At first, it was risk, a word that definitely embodies a lot of what I’m looking to accomplish here, but at the end of the day adventure better captures the spirit of my goal. All too often, I resign myself to safe, boring days and constant work. In the next year (and beyond) I want to make sure to balance my workaholic personality with a healthy dose of adventure. Spur-of-the-moment trips, being more open to excitement and chance-taking, and generally stepping out of my comfort zone will aid in my pursuit of new experiences.
I need to find an emotional center in my life and be more present, aware, and happy with myself. Mindfulness is a technique to help accomplish this, and also a word that I think embodies the end goal. My recent dabbling with various Buddhist practices after reading the books of (Hitch-approved) author Stephen Batchelor (like Buddhism Without Beliefs) have excited me about the possibility of “tuning up” my mind and becoming more at peace with who I am and who I am becoming. I’m only 21–a tumultuous time in a person’s life–and I am incredibly eager to find an emotional anchor in my life.
So those are my three words. What are yours? Leave a comment or write your own post and send it my way!
Looking back, 2011 was a rollercoaster. I thought I’d take a moment to focus on the ups… who and what I’m thankful for, particularly over the past 365 days.
I’m thankful for:
Here’s to a happy, healthy new year. See you on the other side…
And at once I knew I was not magnificent
high above the highway aisle
(jagged vacance, thick with ice)
I could see for miles, miles, miles– Holocene, Bon Iver
Italy, and the spring and first love all together should suffice to make the gloomiest person happy.
– Bertrand Russell
It has been a long year.
I opened the year with (what turned out to be) my last KCACTF festival, directing for the Student Directing Institute. Then I ended up directing and designing my own play at school. Not long after I found myself in New York City working for A+E Networks, all the while picking up countless freelance design clients like LML Music, Cortney Wolfson, and more.
School in the fall was just as busy. Even though I had commitments to school projects, the clients kept coming, and I decided to drop a few projects to focus on web work. And as the end of the semester approached, I decided (1) to focus the spring on growing what was now a fully-formed Van Patten Media and (2) to apply to go on a three week study-abroad trip in Italy.
Phew.
And today, on Monday December 26th, the day of my departure, as I sit awake in a mostly-asleep house typing away, I’m tired. I am as tired as the year has been long. I truly love my clients, and have been thrilled for the opportunity to work with each and every one of them. I very much believe you learn something from every person you encounter, and my clients have taught me so much.
But man was not made to balance school and work commitments. Even the greats (yes, I’m reading the Steve Jobs book…) let one slide, and to an extent my focus has certainly shifted in one direction. But I still try to balance. I have one more semester left; I can’t quit now. It’s to a point where I have a twitch in my eye that’s probably caused from all the work. In fact, I just spent a madcap week finishing (or getting to a comfortable place) three major website projects, so I would feel comfortable leaving on this trip.
This trip is all too exciting though. Although it is a study abroad experience, the work takes place in the spring so I can relax, enjoy the sights, and take in Italia. We’ll see Naples, Rome, Pompeii, and dozens of sights throughout the course of the three weeks. In the second week of the trip, we have a two night break; I’ve booked a fairly cushy hotel so I can just relax. And before I come home, I’ll be spending a night in London where I’m planning to visit friends and see the West End production of Matilda the Musical. This vacation is for me.
There are a lot of exciting things coming for Van Patten Media. As I keep reiterating (because it is true) we have absolutely mind-blowingly awesome clients. In 2012, I’m focused on growing our corporate clients, to help boost our bottom line. We’ve just open sourced two projects, and have more on the way in the new year.
In order to make it all happen though, I need a break. A little time to stop, re-evaluate where I am, where I am going, and how best to get there. I’m bringing my copy of The Four-Hour Workweek (after just working a 90 hour week, I like the sound of it). I’ll have my ebooks of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind (free PDF), Mindfulness in Plain English (free ePub/PDF), and Julien Smith‘s The Flinch (it’s just free, so go read it). I will be resting and recharging, but I will also be deep in thought, planning and plotting for the year to come.
Oh, and of course I’ll also be enjoying all the excellent food. Because at the end of the day, it is Italy. That’s really what this trip is going to be all about.
Ciao!
So the “semester of directing” I alluded to in my last post has come to fruition! I’ll be directing Gary Sunshine’s short play AL TAKES A BRIDE this coming spring at the University at Buffalo. The production goes up April 2nd. Exciting stuff!
I’m also participating in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival’s Region 2 Student Directing Institute. I choose a short scene (I chose the end of Act Two in UNCLE VANYA) and get four days to cast, rehearse, and stage the scene for presentation on the fourth day. There are various workshops and classes interspersed throughout, and it’s a thrilling chance to discover my strengths and weaknesses as a director in a compact period of time.
So that’s the semester o’ directing that lies ahead. Now to line up a summer o’ directing…
I’m preparing for what (hopefully) turns into a semester of directing. Very excited about the prospect.
I’m currently scoping out short plays, and have checked out 11 editions of the crucial “Best American Short Plays” series from our library at school. While I scope out the plays in here, I thought I’d also put the question to the web… anyone have ideas on short (sub-45 minute) plays that are good for a collegiate environment?