Let's Do This

A new project about projects

“There is only one way to learn, it’s through action.” -Paul Cohello, The Alchemist

The tangible act of mark making unlocks inspirations the same way somatic movement unravels anxiety. you must DO to change how you FEEL.- Meera Lee Patel, Uppercase Mag

“If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” -Einstein?

Hello! A fool’s errand

I have a million project ideas. (This newsletter being one, how meta.) I often need to draw a mind map just to see all of them. And I’m usually interested and excited to explore about 5 at any given moment. But I do know that I can’t do all of them. So I won’t start any of them.

I usually find myself looking through the ideas for “the one.” The soul mate of an idea that will entertain me for years and be useful to others to boot. Or I’ll try to soften my gaze and see the throughline across all at ideas at once. An umbrella that will house them all. A home for all of my interests. It’s a fool’s errand.

But this project might be as close as I can get.

Tensies is a short-term container for action.
10x, 10 days, 10 attempts, 10 finished products…
DOING. TRYING. SEEKING. LEARNING.

Each tensie will explore a new thing (maybe walking, podcasting, live music, playing an instrument, reading books, hot chocolate, writing letters, taking a class, volunteering, friend dating, pickleball, drawing, digital detoxing, flash non-fiction...who knows!?). The format will adapt to the tensie at hand.

On the whole, I will stretch my muscles in new things, creative projects, play, practice, and process. And I will report back for your benefit.

Why, oh why?

Why? Tensies is a way to harness a lot of interests, a need for exploration, and a need for novelty into something useful. It’s a container for my overwhelming ambition to do interesting things.

I hope this project about projects will be a home base that allows for intentional learning and rugged exploration (which, if I’m honest, is my quest in life.)

This is for and with you too.

I often work as an editor, and I know the value of another person’s ability to see through the clutter and find the bit that resonates with reality. Recently, I paid a stranger (

Vicki Saunders

) to listen to me talk about my Tensies ideas and reflect back what they heard. A tiny spark of insight from a conversation with another person can make the idea better and fuel my own belief in it for a good while.

This person talked about how they love when they start a new project and they can see the bones of it. But it only becomes flesh and blood when other people see it too, and they start to add their own insights and enthusiasm. Even for solo projects, we need other people to make them real.

I hope that others will be excited to partake in their own little creative, fanciful, playful, purposeful, research projects too. We can learn together.

Finally, I want to thank these people for their enthusiasm: Karl, Sarah Mc, Sparks, Sarah J, Vicki. Know that I will carry it with me for fuel.

I invite you to stick around. And if you’re feeling generous, do let me know what you think.

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