It is a lovely and mysterious moment when an idea strikes. Whether it be a video I might make, or a novel that I will never write, or a drawing I could finish.
Last weekend, I perused a multi-story vintage warehouse with my sister, and came across this small Band-Aid tin in the search. For only $4, it was obviously too perfect to pass up – I’ve got this odd attraction to trinkets and old things to place on shelves. It probably stems from the same part of my brain that likes vests.
I set it up on a shelf in my kitchen, next to a small glass tea-candle lamp and an old yellow Gurkin mustard tin. It fit right in. Each day since, I’ve glanced up and felt a sense of satisfaction seeing my new Band-Aid tin sitting up in its place, like it had been there for years.
This afternoon, I happened to glance up at it again, and I had one of those lovely moments. An idea struck – an idea for a poster. What would the Band-Aid of a creative life be? I jotted down some quick ideas in my notebook. “Sleep”? “Silence”? “Take a walk”?
Before deciding on a direction, I took my own advice and stepped away from my computer. Me and my roommate went on a walk down the lake a few blocks from our apartment, and as we walked across the footbridge overlooking Lincoln Memorial Drive, I told him about the idea. “Oh, yeah yeah yeah,” he said excitedly. We chatted back and forth for a while, throwing ideas out.
“I’m trying to think of puns that go with Band-Aid,” he said. “Hand maid!” We didn’t go with hand maid. We kept walking, enjoying the cool weather, then finally, walking through the front door, landed back at my original concepts.
Here is my poster for the day. It’s been a while since I made one, and it felt good to be back in it. For a while at the beginning of the year, I was making a poster like this every day. It’s nice to look back at past self and be stoked at all the work he did… But it’s also nice for present self to have the freedom to take a break without feeling too bad about it. That’s a balance I’m still trying to find.
