There is always a feeling I get during the season changes: the transition from hot to cool, from cool to cold and back again. That’s how the seasons are here in central California – the weather is the same for eight weeks, then transitions for about one or two weeks to a new season. This year the heat has been slow in coming, and I’m not complaining.
The feeling is something akin to nostalgia, but different – more like a memory of things that never were. My imagination always goes wild. Dreams get more intense.
The sun shows at different angles. Things look different. The wind blows from a new direction – not cold, but refreshing. Clouds look different.
I realize that most of my ideas come from these sort of transitions. I came up with the idea of Voices of the Void about this time last year, I came up with the idea of The Water of Awakening about this time in 2017.
Eyes in the Walls was a Halloween idea – again, a transition from the hot of summer to the cold of fall/winter here in California. Needle Ash was written about the same time in 2017.
Growth tends to happent through trama, but not just that – it happens through change. When things change, your thoughts and habits have to re-align themselves to establish a new normal. This opens up new possibilities and also represents an opportunity for improvement.
Now, the work part of creation happens in the steady sections of life – the grind, if you will, though I don’t like to put realized habits into such negative terms. During the season, I work with relentless consistency.
During the transitions, not just from one temperature to another, but from one project to another, I allow choas to reign. I don’t worry as much about work habits – the point is to think about the next step in the meta-process of creation.
I play video games. I explore empty fields with my son. I read books, and abandon them if I feel like it. I listen to new music, but watch old movies.
Each season and year it is a different itch. When I have failed to scratch the right itch, things get off for the next season – the process is directed to the wrong ends. Then it reall does feel like a grind.
What is it this season?
Right now, what’s on my mind is RPG design, the table-top variety, and instrumental music. We’ll see what sticks for the hot months.
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