My Creative History

So, take some time to do this exercise from Doses of Creativity. It’s kind of fun to see how many things you can remember. I’m sure I’ve done a lot of other creative stuff, but these are the highlights:

1. I made a Mother’s Day card for my mom which was also a little pouch for a tea bag. Age: Very young?

2. I wrote a short mystery story about a wealthy guy that was murdered for his money by one of his dis-inherited sons. Age: 10 or 11 I think.

3. I wrote a couple of speeches and won a couple of orator awards. Age: 11 and 12.

3a. I made a wooden, paper weight for my mom in wood shop. Age: 12.

4. I wrote a three column article about budget cuts in the Florida school system for my school newspaper. Age: 12.

5. I wrote a screenplay; a very bad screenplay. I still have it and pull it out ever so often for a good chuckle. Age: 16 and 17.

6. I wrote my first, long-ass, academic paper. Total length 22 pages and for the life of me I can’t remember what it was about. Age: 18.

7. I co-choreographed a karoke performance to “Two Gun Pete” from the movie, The Mask. Age: 18.

8. I wrote more academic papers, a couple op-ed pieces for the school newspaper and a petition requesting that an Anti-Discrimination Clause be added to the student handbook. Age 19, 20 and 21.

9. Choreographed a five-minute dance piece for my senior project to finish my dance minor. Age: 22

10. Wrote my first press release and ad copy. Age: 21

11. Wrote copy and designed flyers for social events for a youth LGBTQ organization. Age: 23 and 24

12. Wrote a couple of speeches and executive briefs for my collection job. Age 25, 26, 27.

13. Wrote and still trying to write witty headlines, compelling body copy, snappy brand stories, endearing children’s books, interesting feature articles, deep poetry and oh, when I get a chance, design a few things on the side. Age: 27 to present.

The Word of the Day is: “Powerful.”

Has there been a time in my life where I’ve truly felt powerful? Yeah, sure. The most recent example has to be when I made the decision to move away and attend school for the second time. It’s funny to be blogging about this so close to the one-year anniversary of the date I officially moved to the “A” to pursue this adventure.

So, it’s not like I had just graduated from undergrad and was still bright-eyed and bushy-tailed with no obligations (or obligations I didn’t care about). No, I was 27 and a Wake Forest University alum of five years. I had a full-time, dead-end job, credit card bills, a car note, rent; student loans were being paid back. I pretty much had the whole enchilada of young adult life. I had become one of those people who always talks about doing something else, but never could get up the nerve to do it. I was stuck and going nowhere fast.

I attribute the strength to get off my ass and make a change to my grandmother. She saw how miserable I was and would always encourage me to do something different everytime I would complain about my job. I’d always reply, “Yeah, yeah Grandma, I’ll do it some day.” And, she’d always say the same thing, “You better do it while you can, because some day may never come.” I never took those words seriously until she passed away in the summer of 2006 at the young age of 62. At the time, I felt that it was unfair and that she was taken too early, but then I looked at her life and was blown away. She’d pulled herself up from living in a one room shack in the back woods of Georgia to owning multiple properties. She’d raised not only her five kids, but her grandchildren and her great, grandchildren. She’d traveled to Europe and across the United States. She was an elder at her church and currently serving on as Head Usher on the Usher board. On top of all that, she was still working part-time. I realized that while 62 years was not a lot of time, there were numerous things a person could accomplish. This, in turn, made me realize that I had just wasted five years of my life bitching and complaining about my situation and not doing a thing about it.

The day after her funeral, I started making plans, saving money, applying to schools, and low and behold, a year and half later I was packing my stuff, telling my job to kiss my ass, and heading off to a city I had never lived in. I had no job and had barely solved the problem of a place to live, but guess what? I felt like I was finally in control. I was free and not confined by a my surroundings and my situation and it felt great. Has it worked out? Well, I love Atlanta. I’m not a collector. I am more in love with writing than I ever have been in the past. The creative side of adverting and design rocks. I’ve made new friends. Yeah, I’d say have to say so far so good.

So, that’s my empowerment story. What’s yours?

The Topic of the Day is “Hi, My Name is…”

Hi. My name is Ty and I’m a struggling student. Wait, go back. Let me stress the struggling part. Currently, I have about four dollars to my name and I’ve maxed out one of my credit cards. I am about to start my fifth quarter at PC and I am still working on how I’m supposed to pay for that. I’m pre-approved for a $10,000 student loan which will put me in even more debt that I’m not sure I will ever be able to pay back.

I work part-time at Super Target and just found out I’m off all next week, because “business is slow and we don’t really need as many workers right now.” Really, assholes? And, just what am I supposed to do for money, hmm? And, how are we not busy when we are just about to enter the holiday season? Needless to say, I am also looking for another job.

It’s times like these, that I almost think that it would of have been better to still be a collector. Almost. Then I remember how much I fucking hated it and wanted to kill myself everyday, but… damn, I sure do miss the money! If any of you readers have a lead on a part-time gig, flexible enough to deal with my schizophrenic school schedule, please let me know… or feel free to bitch about how broke you are as well. I’d like to feel like I’m not the only one.

The Topic of the Day is “Collector Personality”

Okay, so I am trying to follow the rule to always post something within three days of the your last post. I was told by a wise blogger, that if you don’t, people stop reading. Can I tell you how extremely hard that is, especially when technology is extremely displeased with you at the moment?

That’s right folks! I must of angered the techno Gods during Critique week, because I swear they have smote (smitted?) my laptop. It’s now at a repair shop and I am sitting at a terminal in FedEx Kinkos, who I am not very happy with, but that’s another story.

Anyhoo, the topic today is pretty interesting. I kinda have a collector’s personality, but i’m not very commited to it. It just kinda happens. For those of you who know me, I have one collection that I prize over them all and that’s my collection of visors. I don’t really know when this one started, because I’ve never been a hat wearer. I just remember one day putting on a visor, looking in a mirror and saying, ”Damn, I look pretty good!”

Since that day, I have gathered a collection of 20 (maybe a little bit more) visors. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors and are from all over the world literally. Each one has a specific story, too. Some are really ratty from continous wear and tear; others are as pristine as the day I bought them. There’s no rhyme or reason to why I wear some and others I don’t. It mostly has to do with whether I have something that matches the visor or not.

I’d almost forgotten how much a part of my personality these “half hats” had become, when my friend Jamen remarked that he didn’t realize I had hair. He’s always seen me with a visor on pretty much and when I didn’t rock one, he was very surprised. Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I actually donned one. Maybe I’m outgrowing the “wearing” phase, even though the next vaca I take, I’m definitely purchasing another one to add to my collection.

So, I’m interested to know of other collections out there. If you got you’ve got a pretty good one  going let me know about it.