Ok OK - I know you don't need electricity to think or write down your ideas on index cards etc. And sure I even got to read an inspirational post or 2 on PIBOIDMO when I was at a lucky friend 's home with a generator. So why couldn't I even gather my index cards and a pen and just begin? I mean I wasn't one of the unfortunates that was totally displaced. I was just inconvenienced and uncomfortable for 13 days.
Apparently my muse decided to go on vacation to a more convenient and warmer locale. It seems I needed to not be worried to be creative. Whether it be about my cat's meds going bad along with the food Or if I could gas up so I could get to my friend's. We won't even get into my fear of not meeting deadlines. There was also the shortage of available daylight hours. Showed me how much my strategy for getting things done depended on electricity. This is not to say I got nothing done. I was able to do the traditional watercoloring part of an illustration job and a new piece from sketch to finished art for an upcoming group show. However the difference is that both these concepts had been thought out before and PIBOIDMO was challenging me to come up with concepts. Apparently until I got my power back, I couldn't relax enough to let my mind wander off and come back with good or bad ideas. I was stuck in the here and now with no time leftover for daydreaming.
Glad to report that on the last and 30th day of PIBOIDMO I finally caught up and completed the challenge. YAY - I have 31 ideas and who knows how many more I'll have before the day is up. True most of them are plain silly but they all still count. By the way, I'm already looking forward to next year.
