Another New Year's Resolution

A few weeks ago, I wrote about reading The Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda and two big ideas that I took from it, and I'm focusing on in 2011:

Keep it Simple

Connect the Dots

There's one more big idea that I've been thinking about, and I'm adopting as another guiding statement in 2011:

Be a Light Bulb, Not a Laser Beam

Maeda writes that he was once given this advice by a professor who told him, "you can either brighten a single point with laser precision, or else use the same light to illuminate everything around you."

It's almost been a year since I dropped down to working part-time in order to make more room for creative projects in my life. I've been working hard at growing and creating as an artist, educator, program director, and professional. It's been a whole lot about me, me, me. By the end of last year I felt a lot like a laser beam - focusing so completely and intently on continuing to grow in these roles and checking things off my lists that I wasn't able to meaningfully focus on others in the way that I wanted to.

This year, I'm going to be more like a light bulb than a laser beam. To me, this means more thoughtfully focusing on others, being more present, attentive, warm, and generous.

This blog has become more and more about being a light bulb over time, and you'll see more of that this year. My hope is that by sharing my creativity and how my creative friends create, (create, create, create!) some of that warmth will reach you and encourage you to be creative in the ways that you're interested in. My goal moving forward - less tunnel vision and charging forward, more seeing big picture and listening.

So, given that, I want your feedback:

Are you feeling the glow? Has Connect the Dots helped you be creative?

What do you like (or not like) about the Connect the Dots blog and what would you like to see more of (tutorials, questions answered, features, etc.)?