UFO's

Wow, so much for committing to more frequent posts--don't know quite how I've made it to the 29th day of the new year with no posts to show for it! OK, today is the first day of recommitting ... so here goes.

What, you may ask, do unidentified flying objects have to do with my journey? Nothing really--except maybe for those items thrown in exasperation over an error just committed or perhaps at a pet that's getting too up-close-&-personal with a special project.

No--in my world UFO's are otherwise known as unfinished objects. Any of you artists--real or wanna-be's--know exactly what I'm talking about. These are projects that are past the dream state and have entered into being. They can be just started, stuck at a critical juncture, left as-is for something more urgent, or nearly finished but not quite (with no good explanation).

By my calculations, the brain is capable of creating an exponential number of 'new/better ideas' while busily working away on the current project-de-jour. I'm sure if I asked Devin, he could come up with a relativity-like formula that could tell me just how many said good ideas are developed for each hour of work-in-progress! Fortunately, as a fifty-something human, I can easily forget a good idea before I have time to write it down in my journal of good ideas (more about that at a different time...) or I would simply overwhelm myself!

One of the pitfalls of the 'new/better idea' development is finding yourself actually stopping what you're working on (which is actually the 'new/better idea' from several months ago) as you've become so mentally engrossed in the prospects of this great new concept. You not only have to get it written down--but also start through the stash of raw materials, pulling the items you've remembered that would be just perfect. Then why not take just a few more minutes to wade into the books & magazines on the shelf to find 'that one article' you remember that would be helpful, etc. But then, oops, here are a few more articles you come across that you've totally forgotten about. And aren't those cool ideas...let's see, where are the stickies so I can mark that page & come back to it later...now what was it I was looking for? Oh yeah....

You get the idea. I don't know alot about the speed of light, and kilecalories expended with activity, but I've got a pretty good experiential understanding of the development of the 'new/better idea' as a ratio to current works underway. But I digress...UFO's.

My quilting guild came up with a great new-year's idea: members that are interested could make a list of their current UFO's and bring them to the January 2008 meeting (along with your contributions for the 'big, big prize'). Throughout the year, for every item on the list that you complete, bring to a meeting for show-and-tell, and get checked off your list--your name gets entered into the pot for the end-of-year drawing for the 'big, big prize'.

Great idea! Good incentive!

In a spare 1/2 hour on a January weekend I made my list of UFO's. I had mentally tallied them & thought about fifteen--give or take. Then I actually got after it: went through all of the drawers, project boxes, etc. and kept adding items.

Gotta guess?! Forty-one. Even I was surprised. But--OK, now I know the extent of the challenge and I have my list posted on my bulletin board--it will help me stay focused and allocate my spare hours accordingly. I felt invigorated! Organized!

Then I went to the January meeting list in hand. Felt a little like the first day of a new term. Many of us were turning in our lists at the break & signing up for the UFO extravaganza--mutual support & appreciation abounding. However, I forgot to factor in that basic human element that is--shall we say--competitive? When asked, I admitted my 'forty-one' to one or two friends over the punch bowl. Big mistake! Good thing there's a month between meetings as I'm banking on the short-term-memory problems of my fifty-something cohort kicking in before we all come together again--I had become something of the evening's party joke!

I'm certainly more humble now that when I went in with my list in hand--but I still think it's helpful incentive. I'm fairly realistic that some items will remain unfinished by year-end--that's OK by me. I still feel more focused & more motivated than I did before the list appeared--and that's a good thing. I'll try not to get hung up on the 3.5 items per month that need to be completed to 'pass'--'cause that's not what it's all about, right?!

Meanwhile, I'll share the UFO's as they become FO's throughout the year--big & small, simple & complicated! It's all a journey that's more fun in the process, rather than the arrival. Wish me luck.

(Oh by the way, did I say what the 'big, big prize' is? Tons of 1/2 yds of fabric! If ever there was a hotbed of 'new/better ideas' it's virgin fabric waiting to be used...)