Writing is powerful. It can clear your head. It can help you consider novel ideas. It's a powerful tool for self-reflection, and for sharing your ideas with others. The power of the writing also brings fear.
What if no one reads what I've written?
What if I don't communicate effectively?
What if I don't explore every single angle on this subject?
These fears cause me to write on an infrequent-at-best basis. I easily go 3-6 months without writing so much as a single sentence. Yet, this leaves all of the glorious benefits of writing on the table.
But no longer.
Reframing the problem has unleased me from my chains. I'm Adamjango, Writer Unchained.
The Discovery
This note on Rach Smith's Blog introduced me to the concept of a "digital garden". While a blog carries the conotation of research, polish, and fully-formed thoughts, the digital garden, like it's physical counter-part, connotates pictures of dirt, imperfection, and the beauty therein. Gardens are beautiful in spite of the imperfection, and dammit, why couldn't my writing be the same?
To take that idea a step further, there's plenty of urban areas that have immense beauty despite the rubbish all around them.
A garden is still a bit too pristine for my liking. No. This shall be My Rubbish Stack. I will write rubbish, hopefully with greater frequency than ever before. Some of it will end horribly, while still some of it might pass for something resembling English.
Pixar and Ugly Babies
While reading Greg McKeown's book effortless, I laughed at Pixar's intent behind "making space" for rubbish ideas:
Most of us are kept back from producing something wonderful because we misunderstand the creative process. We see something exceptional or beautiful in its finished state and we imagine it started out as a beauitful, Baby Yoda version of what we are looking at. But exactly the opposite is true.
Greg says Pixar's CEO, Ed Catmull, went out of his way to ensure his director's ugly ~babies~ ideas were given space to be rubbish——to just exist and be iterated upon.
And so my friends—go!
Be free to make rubbish!
Protect your rubbish!
Publish your own pile of digital rubbish!