Friday, March 12, 2010

Broadening Horizons

For the past few years my routine has consisted of going to work, coming home, play some games and sleep. Although this is a decent routine, really it's not very fulfilling, satisfying nor even very creative.

After putting some thought into it I started wondering what I could do to change up
my thinking style a bit, maybe improve some fine motor skills or even just have something to do if the TV is being used by someone else.

It seems that the universe has a way of prodding you in certain directions. After having pondered this for a few weeks, on the same day two distinct things happened which prompted me to take on two new hobbies.

First, at work, a comment was made about handwriting. Mine sucks, however, I remembered I used to do Calligraphy and it was an enjoyable past time. Plus it had the added bonus of being incredibly fulfilling as it was a way to improve on a major communication / work flow fault AND allows for creativity and structure at the same time.

Later that day I picked up Heavy Rain for the PS3. Inside the box came a square of paper with no instructions. During the install screen, the game showed you how to make an Origami crane. I enjoyed ths immensely because in some ways it's like a logic puzzle, but is more of a creative art which requires deft handling of the paper to not rip it and to get it into the shape you want through folding only.

I now have an Origami Kabuto Helmet and Whale at my desk at work and a practice calligraphy kit from chapters. I'll let you know how the Calligraphy goes.