My Father made me learn to drive stick first. It was horrible to start. Now I am so comfortable, the hard part over, I back in with ease. Reverse cameras and fancy indicators are nice but not essential.
Similarly, while my studio practice has me up to my elbows in 3D design in real life, last I return home into 3D design in pixels. The French engineering team who invented Solidworks have continued to improve this amazing CAD software. I only wish all school children could get such experiences early in life.
Even learning to ask what is your design intent, clarifies and changes how you think about a problem.
Once again, the Clarifying questions
To be comfortable in 3D vector graphics makes everything in 2D so much more manageable. Adobe’s suite of graphic tools is also getting a lot of play. The Adobe Substance collection is a bit baffling, with so many overlapping territories, yet we press on.
Expect some frustration. Save often. Asking “what is my goal” is the fastest way through the hours of meandering hall of mirrors tours. Try combining interests like improving music and learning animation to make it your own jam. May we all find the patience and pathways to our definition of success.
Available as a Free Download with Kindle Unlimited
Did you check this out yet? If you needed to look it up again why not go order some in paperback? It’s time to get your kitchen copy. Grab an extra copy or two as they make a great gifts.
Drop by and share what you are enjoying, what’s your current sedition of delicious?
Since that first book I have been continually inventing new recipes. Because of the new rice cooker and insta-pot winter menus have been extremely convenient around here. Now the orange tree is in fruit we are blessed once again with fresh citrus to glean, trade and share with neighbors. It still amazes me we can harvest such delicious food from an urban garden.
Do your dreams stay with you? I keep a dream book to help me reflect and record my nocturnal adventures.
You can too. Start a new practice in a book exclusively dedicated to exploring your subconscious’ amazing moving picture shows. I log and date each entry easily look back to find patterns and themes. I draw a lot of information from my dreams too. Read on to see what creating a record of dreams might do for you.
Plant a seed of something. Maybe a question you want an answer to. Perhaps it’s a place or person you long to visit. Maybe it’s a feeling you want to experience. You are the director, producer, set designer and all of the actors. Embrace the opportunity to make more of life during what was once just more time passing by.
Embrace haphazard. Don’t worry about what or how you can recall. Rare is the sequential story recalled. Record all sensory impressions in whatever order they may occur. Make side bar notes of what things might mean for you.
Try audio recording. Often mumbled pre dawn voice memos are my only clue to reconstruct a graphic image for my dream archive. Voice memos are helpful but sketch and written words are all I keep. The spoken word audio I find to be too messy as an archival tool. I will listen back to aid recall and transcribe what is present, then erase the voice memo. The exception is when I get a song. Those are precious and I will keep that audio clip or make a more finished musical clip from the idea.
Dream Sketch Journal is built to support the wildly unformatted structure of dreams. Primary schools teaching writing will have large stacks of paper with an equal division for word and image. I find this format supportive of the way I think. Wanting a Dream Journal formatted this way but not finding it I built this book.
And what if there are no dreams? Have your Dream Sketch Journal a pencil in easy reach. Start now and see where it leads. If you have poor sleep this tool might be helpful to bring attention to stillness, reflection and open you to future revelation.
Philosophers, sur realists, poets and kings have used dreams to unfold their future. English author Jonathan Swift, asked for dreams to furnish his livelihood as he wrote many popular books like Gulliver’s travels from his nightly adventures. What might tonight’s dreams have in store for the world? Take time to unpack free flowing radically raw and uncensored always amusing sometimes good council.
Here’s something to try
Make notes, start asking for dreams, your writing notes or symbols before sleep is a great place to invite lucid dreaming. Take stock of your day. Take five breaths, state three things you are grateful for as you settle in for the night.
Figure study with springtime sun, feels great when wrapped in a quilt for mom to keep cozy.
Ask a question or request a dream theme to activate tonight in sleep. Though mind and body are resting there is still conscious awareness and presence. Uncover this ancient revelatory practice to reflect and enrich waking life.
Order an extra one too. They make a terrific gift. If interested in connecting further on this topic join me to get invitations to future programming on this topic.
