......Your Way Out

I’ve been a neglectful blogger for the last few weeks. You know when you get wrapped up in the lethargic atmosphere of apathy? That’s where I’ve been vacationing for the last few of weeks. Mushing out on online games, mindless tv and movies; overall doing a whole lot of nothing. I have emails that need to be answered, projects to be worked on, plans that need organizing, a long list of to-dos all shoved under the bed so to speak.

It’s something that creeps up on you and eats away your time without you realizing it. You can get so deep into it that it’s hard to see your way out. So how do you get out of it? Sometimes all it takes is a tiny little spark that catches your attention and starts nourishing your motivation back to life. Mine came in the form of an online article that talked about free classes online. You won’t earn a degree, but if you want to enhance your current skills, learn new ones, or feed a new interest you can do it at no charge. Some of the sites the article listed were MIT Open Coursewear, Livemocha.com, and Free-Ed.net.

I checked out Livemocha last night, it’s an online language site where you can take courses to learn a language; there are twelve languages to choose from. There is actual coursework you do, flashcards, and assignments. You can interact with other members who are learning the same language or are native speakers. You can earn “Mocha Points” to unlock more content by reviewing submissions from members for grammar, spelling and context. If you want to pay a few dollars, you can even get feedback from instructors. I’m working on the French and Arabic courses. So far everyone has been really friendly, and I’ve already received suggestions of other sites to check out for language.

Then, a co-worker who is helping me polish up a logo I designed for a friend called to meet about it. It’s amazing how just a few minutes spent discussion design, flow, and impact can get the juices flowing. After we finished going over the logo, we started talking about photography, cameras, the hardship of finding people to pose for you, film vs. digital, etc. and an hour later I had yet another perspective to chew on in the photography world. Tonight I did a mini photo shoot of self-portraits in B&W (did I mention lack of posing victims?)

I’m usually pretty good about jump starting myself when I’ve reached that slug mode, but there are times you need the energy from others to replenish. Never forget the value of the people in your lives, how even the smallest element can create a change in your day.

Today’s found moment is: As important as your “inside” strength and self sufficiency are, the “outside” elements are equally influential and effective.......use them!