As we entered the last year of this decade, my social networks lit up with people posting their best of 2019 and decade reviews. Instead of reviewing the past year I reviewed the manifesto I wrote in 2015 (see above).
Amazingly I found each item continues to resonate with the person I am and where I want to continue developing my life. That’s not to say I always fulfilled the spirit of the manifesto in recent years. In particular I struggle to not accumulate things, and definitely own more not fewer things than I did when I wrote it five years ago.
Colleen and I continue to buck convention. In 2019 we attended our first Steampunk events in Australia and New Zealand, making new friends with like-minded makers and dreamers. I follow a lot of cosplayers on social media but never really understood the excitement until we got involved with Steampunk.
Buoyed by our success we made Star Lord and Captain Marvel costumes for OzComicon in Sydney. We had a lot of fun, and I see cosplay being a big part of our future adventures.
We travel extensively every year but in 2019 we took shorter trips within Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. This allowed us to be more reactive and visit family or attend events at short notice rather than planning one big travel adventure. It also brought into sharp focus our preference for cooler climates, and longer stays in each place (minimum 1-4 weeks).
Longer stays allow us to take a breath and just enjoy the view from a quiet cafe or park bench instead of rushing from sight to sight. It also allows us to discover local events and learn more about local culture and lives. Often these adventures result in small adjustments to the way we live our lives and the way we view the world around us.
My creative outlets have been sporadic, long fallow periods followed by intensely creative weeks. My mind tends to create new projects constantly, and seems to create a roadblock in my head that stalls all progress on current projects. This year I am using The Art Assignments as a creative muse to keep me moving forward and provide the momentum to complete my fallow projects.
Ok, that’s enough self reflection, time I started making things.