{advice}

today is a good day for some advice, and it just so happens that i even have a bit of that for you.
aren't you glad we're friends?

preface:

i'm a possibilities-sorter. if given an opportunity, my brain does this thing where it goes all computer on me and sorts through dozens of possible outcomes and things that could go wrong and things that could go right and how hard it could be and if it'll be embarrassing or time consuming and so on and then it weighs it all on some invisible mental scale and before i can even factor in if i want to do said thing, it spits out a quick, maybe inaccurate computation. and i end up saying no to a lot of opportunities.

that's lame.

so last month, i came across some opportunities that i'd normally compute myself out of even considering. and then i smoked myself upside my silly head and decided to skip the evaluations and the considerations and just say yes.

not that i'm telling you to recklessly run around doing everything; that is neither healthy nor smart.

i'm saying that you should not do nothing.

enter a contest. an art contest, a photography contest, a writing contest. take on a challenge. try something else. buy some watercolours. put it out there. don't be offended if it's not recognized or if it doesn't win or if no one likes it.

it's okay, because the sweetness of it isn't in that part anyway.

i entered imogen heap's cd cover art contest a bit ago. she'd given a word, and wanted a picture that captured the word. and i don't have a high-class camera or very much picture-taking knowledge at all, but i entered anyway, and i spent a really sweet hour or two wandering around my neighbourhood trying to find the word in back alleys and parks and city streets.

i didn't win, but i don't even care at all.

before that, i got a couple emails offering money for artwork. my brain computed, "no, because then you'd have to do a really good job and you're not good enough to charge money for this stuff and--" and other stuff that brains say when they're being debbie downers.

so the next time i got one of those emails, this time asking for a blog design, i made myself say yes.
and it was fun!
and i made a new friend out of it.

{click on the screen shot to go say hi to merritt, who is completely fantastic.}

so, i don't know. yeah. this is part shameless promotion {i'll doodle all over your blog if you want, or wherever else you'd want doodling}, part advice {you should not do nothing}, and part excitement {endless opportunities!} for future fun things.