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Insight into the creative process
The product of play is not what you make
It’s what you learn
Every month in my work bullet journal, I create a spread that includes, on one side, the month at a glance, and space to record Things I Learned, People I Helped, and Efforts I Initiated; and on the other side, a quote that inspires me or reminds me to cut myself a break.
One of my favorite quotes (I apologize in advance for not having an attribution for it):
The product of play is not what you make, but what you learn.
In 2015, I discovered the 100 Day Project, an annual Instagram-based challenge. You participate by choosing something creative you plan to do for 100 days. That first year, I did 100 fabric collages. I never “made” anything with the collages I created. But I sure did learn: How to combine colors and patterns. How to use my sewing machine, which I’d purchased a few months before the challenge. The most important thing I learned was to just keep going. Enjoy the process. Share your work, even on the days where you’re not happy with the result. Over the 3-plus months of doing collages, I could see that my sense of composition improved. I gained confidence in my design eye and ability to articulate what was and wasn’t working in a piece and why.
