Pre-poetry micro-challenge: Day 1 of 21

Baby steps, right? So I like words, I like poetry, I like pretty stuff, I like art, and I know that somewhere deep down, I like creating. But I find it hard to get started, and hard to feel "into it" once I do. When everything's like pulling teeth, it's hard to find making stuff enjoyable. Today I decided to try an experiment in step-by-step goal-setting. A finite, habit- and mindset-building micro-goal if you will.

Each day for the next 21 days, I will do something that I already know I can do and that is uncomplicated enough that I can already do it and feel successful at it: I will find an image, and write out the words and ideas I think of as I look at it.



These could be words I associate with the picture, or with the things I think of as I look at the picture. They could be literal, figurative, or have multiple meanings. They could be words I like, whole sentences that come to mind, etc. No pressure, just typing.

The pictures can be of any sort. In the interest of fun, it'd be nice if they're images I'm attracted to, but that's not part of the challenge itself. They can be sourced from anywhere, but for the most part I won't even have to search hard for them. This Pinterest Board (from which I got the idea, through a tweet via @tspoetry by @EDayPoems) ought to be enough to keep me going for a week if I like, and after that, the rest of Pinterest can, I'm sure, supply more than enough, even with just the selection of "me-tailored" pins that populate my home page.

The possibility exists, of course, that any given package of words and images could build into something bigger and more complex things. But the point of the experiment is that if I simply persist in this small, 2-3 minute task each day, at the end of the 21 days (that is, by Sept. 12), I know I will have amassed 21 boxes of words and imagery.

Objective 1: exercising imagination
Objective 2: setting something of my own creation on the page
Objective 3: consistent success and satisfaction.

Couldn't be simpler.

swirls, klimt, van gogh sunflowers and starry nights, bright colours, splashy and clashy, chunky, contrast and compare, spectrum, monochrome, analogue, opposites attract, crayons repel, primary, secondary, complementary, colour wheels, fun and bright, children's arts and crafts, cut and paste, electric blue on hot pink, splashes of colour, art with abandon