why you need a mini creative project

This is one of my favorite recent purchases. It is a tiny little notebook.

purchases. It is a tiny little notebook.

It was €3 and I try and bring it everywhere I go. But I didn't realize how much I needed this tiny creative project until it found me. And here's

why. It all started with AI. More

specifically, that AI is now kind of everywhere without us even asking for it. We have AI TVs, AI washing machines,

it. We have AI TVs, AI washing machines, AI to help with your taxes, even though it's completely useless. So, I still need to call the people to help me with my taxes. And Dualingo now is AI first,

my taxes. And Dualingo now is AI first, which means from my understanding that they fired most of their freelance contractors and replacing them with AI.

Yay. And the one that scares me and confuses me the most is AI art. I think

in general AI could be a useful tool and also it could be useful for creatives.

You could maybe make a storyboard with it. I sometimes use it for

it. I sometimes use it for brainstorming. But lately, I've been

brainstorming. But lately, I've been seeing a lot of people talk about how AI is making them more creative and they're sharing their AI generated art and saying how they can finally express

their creativity, which is a little bit confusing because, well, AI made the art. It's like hiring a painter to make

art. It's like hiring a painter to make your painting. You tell them, "Hey,

your painting. You tell them, "Hey, could you make it red? Could it be a lady holding a martini glass?" And they make it for you. And you wouldn't say that you made the art. The painter did.

Sure, you had the idea, but the execution matters as much. And that

brings me back to this tiny notebook.

Initially, this notebook was meant to be used to write down my ideas. That's why

the first page has the word ideas on it.

But I took it to a 4-hour flight and I got kind of bored there and I was like, "Hey, maybe I could sketch something in it." And I did. This was my first sketch

it." And I did. This was my first sketch and I thought to myself, that was fun.

Maybe I should do it again and maybe I should try and do it every day. So

that's where my little creative project was born. Sure, my proportions and

was born. Sure, my proportions and perspective might be off, and my camera can do a 10,000 times better job than me, but I made this and I kind of like

it. Making art and being creative is not

it. Making art and being creative is not about being perfect. You don't even have to be good at it. It's about showing up, playing around, observing things, and capturing your perspective. And so,

because of this, I think we should all have more mini creative projects in our lives. They don't have to be big. You

lives. They don't have to be big. You

don't have to share with the world. And

it could have a deadline or it could not. And it doesn't have to be a

not. And it doesn't have to be a sketchbook. It can be anything. And

sketchbook. It can be anything. And

there are many reasons why this is beneficial for our lives and well for my life at least. First of all, it builds focus and presence. I like how this little notebook makes me slow down and

appreciate the small details of the things that I'm drawing. Often times

what I do is I take some pictures throughout the day and then later on just sketch from my phone to this little sketchbook. and especially when it comes

sketchbook. and especially when it comes to buildings. Ria has a lot of beautiful

to buildings. Ria has a lot of beautiful buildings, but I don't really have time there to just stand and look at it. So,

I really enjoy the process of looking at it from my photo and transfer it to my sketchbook because then I can actually see how much detail was put into this building and makes me appreciate it more. Plus, I have tried meditation a

more. Plus, I have tried meditation a couple of times already and it doesn't really click with me. And if I have a quiet place and I can just sketch my sketches, it kind of feels like a form

of meditation. you are like in a in a in

of meditation. you are like in a in a in a calm focused state. It also gives me a nice chance to reflect on my day. I take

pictures of something that catches my eye or interests me or a funny thing that happens and I try and replicate it in this notebook and you know just makes me think about what I did today. Plus

for me I'm a visual person so it's nice to look back at it and then I see and immediately remember where and what it was. The next reason for why you should

was. The next reason for why you should have a mini project, it is something that you can look forward to. When I

started filling out this notebook, I was really excited to see what I'm going to sketch today. What is it going to be?

sketch today. What is it going to be?

Sometimes it's really easy and sometimes it's not that easy to come up with things, but still it's kind of fun. It

also teaches you to be okay with imperfection because I have some sketches that I do not like. There are

some sketches that I'm like, hell yeah.

But some of them are like regrets.

But it's a sketchbook. Who cares? And

it's my sketchbook. So, I mean, it's not the best. And I'm not sure if I like the

the best. And I'm not sure if I like the way that I colored it, but I think it's cute. I mainly made this this section.

cute. I mainly made this this section.

And in general, that's kind of the whole point. You try, you mess up, you try

point. You try, you mess up, you try again, you try again and again and again until you finally actually have something cool. And then you decide to

something cool. And then you decide to start something new. And then the cycle continues. I think we're getting used to

continues. I think we're getting used to this instant gratification of you're immediately good at something or you immediately have something that you want, which I think is not a good thing.

And I'm not saying I'm perfect. Probably

I'm also like that in some ways. But I

think this is a good reminder that you have to fail many times until you have something actually nice to show. And

last but not least, you're making something for yourself. You're playing,

you're experimenting, you're exploring what you like and what you don't like.

And you don't need to show it to anybody. I mean, I'm showing this

anybody. I mean, I'm showing this notebook to you now because I want to, but there's still half of it that I need to fill out, so I don't know if I'm going to share that. You don't have to put it on social media, even though I

did a couple of times in my stories, but I don't share every sketch that I make because some of them look kind of rough. So, let me give you a couple of options of what you could do because for me, I really like

my little sketchbook. I like drawing in it, but maybe it's not your thing. So,

here are a couple of things that you could do instead. First, but not the most, uh, scrapbooking or junk journaling. Collecting rocks and

journaling. Collecting rocks and painting them. Start reviewing places on

painting them. Start reviewing places on Google, the places that have one or two reviews or some random stuff like bridges or trash cans. Start crafting

ransom notes for your friends. Trying

all different kinds of teas or apples and writing down what's good and bad about them. Making a comic strip. Start

about them. Making a comic strip. Start

a photo project. Maybe photograph every neighborhood cat you see or usually when I solo travel my mini goal is to get a good picture of myself which sometimes

is easier said than done. Writing a poem or a haiku. Start documenting things your life or the sky or textures of buildings and just start collecting

things like brochures. As you can see, my walls are filled with different brochures that I found, and I really like how it looks. Or in

general, pick something that you did as a child and stopped doing for some reason, or something that you always wanted to try. It can become some sort of hobby, but it could also just be like

a short-term goal. For me, it's filling up this little guy and then seeing if I want to get a new one or not. In

general, what I'm trying to say is I think that everybody should have some kind of mini project in their lives. It

doesn't matter if you're an artist or if you are an accountant. Creativity and

creating art was never gapped by a certain group of people. It is always available for everybody because anybody can create something. It's just some people are better at it because they kept showing up. They kept failing and

at a certain point their work just improved and was better. I'm really

happy to see the pages filling up. The

end result is uniquely mine and I love the process. It helps me relax. It

the process. It helps me relax. It

clears my mind and it brings me joy. So,

if you ever needed a sign to start your mini creative project, then I guess it's this video. So, other than that, I'll

this video. So, other than that, I'll see you next time.

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