Recently I was asked to speak with a small group of people about starting their memory books. Glenys wants to put together a pictorial story of her husband’s life. Colin wants to update his memory book to include a brother and sister who he has just discovered. Therese wants to trace her memories back to Ireland and add them to the Australian branch. Libby has just finished compiling a memory book of her parent’s farm and would like to extend it to include her family. Mary wants to write her personal story.We talked about the purpose and pleasure of actually bringing their memories alive onto the page. Each person has a different vision for their memory book; some saw photos with stories, some letters with clippings of events past and present, brought together with bright coloured drawings.
I saw their faces light up with the excitement of playing with their memories, of having fun with them and the creativity their stories will ignite. But each shares the challenge of finding the time to do this in their busy lives.
They asked me how I manage my many projects.
For me, having several projects on the go at once sparks my creative juices. I call it Multichannel Linkage, integrating and synergizing one idea to many, resulting in one project or interest bouncing off others. Having several projects on the go at one time enhances a higher creativity between those different projects.
I look at my project board in the morning and decide what excites or draws me towards it today. If I have a deadline for a project it will be a priority but I also choose other projects to play with, even if I only have a half-hour to spare.
I asked the group what other interests they enjoy. Many it turns out: gardening, writing, reading, volunteer work, caring for their family, paid work, stamp collecting, studying, cooking and drawing.
So doing small amounts of all of these projects every day can enable the creative mind to actively engage Multichannel Linkage; day-by-day little chunks progressing. The exciting thing is that all projects grow quickly if we add a little to each, every day.