tensie (plural tensies)
A call in any children's game, such as jacks, where ten actions must be performed.
a process or container for weird little side projects.
What is Tensies?
This is a project in which I do a new thing for 10 days (or 10 times, let’s not be rigid). And then I do it again. So, actually, it’s a project about projects. Deep down, it’s a container (cage) for my relentless ambition to do a lot of things. And it’s an exploration of the impact of creative constraints. But it all stems from my belief that we can manipulate our reality just enough to seek, find, or make our own meaning.
This project’s guiding principles are:
Projects. Play. Practice. Process. People.
(If I were less of a rule follower this project would be called this: How to Be Rebellious.)
Who am I?
I’m an elder-millennial, professional creative coming to terms with the fact that work won’t save me.
So I want to build my own sandcastles. Put my energy towards little projects. But I don’t have all day. And doing anything big feels impossible. Instead, I crave a simple, focused, intentional experiences that help me indulge in the things that I love or am curious about.
What will happen?
I will document the tensies here. I suspect I will talk about the impacts of doing weird side projects. Also, the novelty of experiences, my perceptions, and the ebbs and flows of excitement. I will be thinking about personal projects, ambition, constraints, creativity, and playfulness.
Like, what happens when we foreground these things? What if we followed our silly whims? What will I learn from small, seemingly mundane things? What do small, attainable projects bring out of us? What changes when we do absolutely anything instead of overthinking? What part of this is just for me? What is for others? Why do anything at all with our free time when we could be making dinner for our friends or being outside or eating popcorn?
I will also invite cool people to do a tensie and offer their experience. What will happen when we do weird side projects together?
I hope you stick around and find out.
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