June 28, 2012
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Letting Go
Another attempt at a serious post.
One of of my little struggles over the past few months has been letting go. And not so much the letting go physical objects, like old cloths Hell, I gave away my comicbook collection to my cousin without a second thought when we moved to Bangladesh.
The problem, MY problem, is letting go of ideas. Some ideas, snuck into shadowy nooks and crannies of the unconscious mind and took root over the years that followed. At the time, they were something to look forward to. Dreams of a magical “Someday” when all would be right with the world, and various associations.
A mild example of the first would be analog art. There are, literally, a ton of paper in my room with “art” containing ideas that are barely 1⁄2 formed. (2⁄5 formed? 3⁄8 Formed? √146689⁄768 formed?) And as long as I have that ton of paper in my room, there are a buttload of “somedays” to look forward to, where those incomplete bits are turned into some of the greatest works of art known to mankind. The problem with this is, primarily it clogs up the to-do list.
The second problem with this is, tropical weather and paper don’t mix very well. Sitting on a ton of potential fungus outbreak is not the most intelligent of decisions.
The second problem, I think has to do to some extent, with my collector mentality. There’s just something about collecting, getting and keeping things in order that appeals to me. The problem is, it works pretty well for the first few years. As an ex-ad-man I have something of an interest in package design, and find a certain amount of enjoyment in looking at the development and progress of … say… packaging over the years. And the occasional oddities, like Mecca Cola , or a locally produced orange flavored drink called “Tank”.
It’s not that I get up every day to inspect my ton of unfinished analog artwork, or ogle through my Mecca Cola merchandise.
It’s just that, whenever I start planning about cleaning things up, these old ideas come up and start nagging -”Oh, I can’t throw away this piece of paper containing 7⁄42 of three stick figures on what appears to be a space-faring canoe. This is suppose to be the beginnings of my concept art for ‘Invasion of the Cake People From Beyond Venus’.” Or “I can’t throw away that partially dented can of Mecca-Cola. That’s part of marketing history.”
Anyways, at this point, I’ve come to see my attempts at solving some problems as problems themselves. And dealing with that seems to be helping progress.
…
Though I really should start working on “Invasion of the Cake People From Beyond Venus” again.
Comments (33)
I can understand. My boxes and stacks of materials I’ve collected for future projects has taken over a room of our house. Like an archeologist, I can look through things and identify the era from which it comes. I have sewing patterns for blazers which call for huge shoulder pads–oh, yeah, the ’80s. I have books with instructions for crocheted afghans using orange, avacado green, and white yarn—the ’70s. “Novels” from the past 40 years moulder in boxes and notebooks. Maybe someday…someday…
In the last few years, I’ve decided that I will not buy new until I use some of the old. It has worked to a small degree. I recently got rid of my old electric typewriter which much have weighed 50 pounds. I think I should be able to buy 50 pounds of new stuff, right?
@whyzat - Depends on what you buy, I think. Volume might be a factor. 50 pounds of coffee might be a bit unusual but understandable. 50 pounds of artificial cobwebs, not so much.
@Lakakalo - It would have to be something I might possibly use and artificial cobwebs are really only good for Halloween. I was thinking 25 pounds of yarn and 25 pounds of beads. Though the cobwebs would be as useful as the typewriter was for the past 25 years.
There are times when it is difficult to get rid of the stuff you collect for what you do, and then when it all gets build up, you know you have to throw them away.
@whyzat - Er… how about two 25 pound dumbbells? Not only will they help you get into shape, but if you don’t use them, they won’t take up much space.
@angys_coco - That it is. But realizing it kinda’ helps.
@Lakakalo - Hmm. Already have ‘em. Oh, maybe I’ll resist the temptation to replace the weight. In a few years, we want to move into a smaller house and that will require a painful amount of stuff-shedding. Want a pool table?
@whyzat - I doubt I can afford the shipping costs. -_-
Letting go is hard
The hardest thing in our lives
Hey look a haiku
@godfatherofgreenbay -
Oh Yeah. The key is
the “why”, not the “what’. Hey look
another haiku.
I totally get the fetish about collecting and keeping things in the room. I have to get rid of a million tons of stuff here.
i know what you mean. not only humidity is an enemy to papers, dust is just like magnet to anything that’s been lying around for more than a couple of days. i have books stashed inside my cabinet with closed doors, yet they STILL collecting dust. but the cabinet is in air conditioned room so my books are safe from mold. well, at least for now. as for your papers of analog arts, keep them. organized them by year or month or category and put them together is a folder. you’ll be glad to still have them years down the road.
@ZSA_MD - I’ve come to believe that it’s not the objects themselves, but the ideas attached to those objects.
@rudyhou - There’s just too many of them. And they’re mostly incomplete. I mean, it’s not like I’m throwing away everything, but one of the things I have had to come to terms with is this: I can’t hold on to everything. So the “important” ones are getting sorted & stored. It’s the vast majority that’s getting thrown out.
In a weird way, it’s had a very positive impact on my current drawings. Instead of starting ten different things at once, I’m more inclined to complete one. Because if I create ten different incomplete projects, time will come when I have to throw all ten of them out. (Like I am doing now.) Where as if I complete a single piece, I’m more likely to have a reason to hold on to it. And it’ll take up less physical space
I collect and keep things like crazy. I recently threw out and gave away a whole bunch of stuff and honestly it felt good. You just need to be a little cold hearted. ;D
@TheSecretLifeOfPandas - I believe the key is to come to terms with the ideas associated with the things in question. Then again, to each their own.
@Lakakalo - you do have a point there. i think you’re doing the right thing by sorting out those you want to keep.
It hard to let go. I’m fond of keeping things especially those which have sentimental values.
@RestlessButterfly - I’m beginning to see the ideas attached to things, and coming to an understanding about those ideas seem to help me let go of the unnecessary.
Things that have true sentimental values, are worth holding on to.
funny. i was just thinking about this whole idea AGAIN myself. i even artfully named it: The Tyranny of the Deck Chairs on the Titanic”. or, for you:
The chairs call to me,
from the Titanic’s deck:
“Rearrange us now!”
kme 7/04/12
@Bels_Kaylar -
“With the lights out, it’s
less dangerous, here we are
now, rearrange us”?
@Lakakalo - i should have written one for you, re the tyranny of your artsy ideas, calling from their paper beds
(for a female, there is a tyranny of house objects that need cleaning or whatever…) plus, are you familiar with this reference, of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic? meaning pretty f…. useless if you’re about to die. as we are all doing.
@Bels_Kaylar - Oh I am aware of the term “rearranging chairs on the deck of the Titanic”. Err are you familiar with the song “Smells like Teen Spirit”?
@Lakakalo - argh. sorry. i am the one that missed the reference. (just looked up lyrics. i’m familiar with the song, but could not quote the lyrics to save my life
me no speak good english 
apologies if i insulted in any way. (you and starman are way ahead of me, re music references.)
@Bels_Kaylar - No we’re not. Atleast, I’m not. I just google stuff. (Plus weirdness, like http://youtu.be/-30F0aS9l-c has a way of finding me.)
@Lakakalo - too funny; thank you for that link. i suspect i won’t forget some of those scenes for a long while
@Bels_Kaylar -
Tyranny does not,
-cannot- exist in my art,
a link to my soul.
Tyranny is a
material beast. Born of
a physical world.
Art is a concept.
An undying “soul” in a
cellulose vessel.
Unmask the tyrant.
Reclaim the the soul. Nature of
the struggle is such.
@Lakakalo - well done! i second that emotion
You’ve got to have enough conscious insanity to stay sane.
Insane solution: believe your subconscious will hold everything and release it back to you whenever you are ready. Let your mind be that stack of papers. Hopefully it won’t get moldy.
Insane = there is no particular reason to believe this is true. Makes life easier, though.
@distractedbyzombies - Stay sane? Why on Earth would I want to become sane? I enjoy my state of non-sanity thankyouverymuch.
Can you get containers that keep out the humidity? That is your creativity i don’t consider a material thing but something one day you very well may wish you had that is a part of you. I do the same thing with projects, and have got rid of some things i regret. If organizing them were not so confusing i would not think twice about keeping these things. A bad case of adhd i found was the culprit of also not finishing projects. Now i do much better.
@a_thousandmiles - There’s a thin line between sentimental treasures and needless material possession. And I intend to walk it until it’s a thick well defined boundary.
As things stand, my targets are to finish unfinished arts, and use finished art as stationary to write letters to my friends.
Also, any and every piece I part with gets scanned, so it’s not like throwing out something never to be seen again.
Mocha cola sounds delightful and just think I have the ingredients to make one right this very moment! I would simply never have thought to do so, so thank you! I’m going to have one right now.
@SoHoPurple - Errr… that would be “Mecca Cola”. They’re trying to appeal to Muslim (or as Wikipedia puts it “Pro-Muslim”) consumers. Although now that you mention it, Mocha Coladoes sound rather delightful. ^_^