Earlier this week, I finally expressed something I wasn't able to admit to myself: "I want to do a lot of different things but I can't. And I'm not happy with that." The last part is the important part. Obviously, I can't do everything, I can't dedicate my time to everything in life. I can't pick up and hack on an arduino and give my daughter a bath, cook amazing food, and then crochet a blanket while still keeping a full time job and some sanity time gaming. I'm a huge fan of diverse interests so much so that being limited by earthly limits is frustrating and ultimately debilitating.
I came to the conclusion while this isn't possible, I can't just keep all of my creative outlets bottled up either when I read an article about Isaac Asimov. Asimov has always been an inspiration to me and one of the most inspiring aspects of his career was the wealth of stories, articles, and books he's written. When I was younger, I thought it was a no-brainer: you gotta be dedicated. As an adult, I realize it's not that simple especially when you have a family and they're (honestly) a higher priority than the number of books you publish in a lifetime.
I knew I had to somehow get all of my creativity out there but I also knew that dedicated myself to "one thing" wasn't possible. While I love blogging, for instance, it's not the only thing I can do. I'm not just a blogger. I tried podcasting but I know I can't be just a podcaster. I can't be a jack of all trades either.
That's why I want to rebrand myself as a "Creator". I'm a creator, just in general. I love writing books, I love writing stories, poems, blog posts, comments, and everything in between that I might be forgetting. But I also love coding apps, building apps, and I love everything else too. I love painting, and music creation, and making videos as well as podcasts.
I can't just brand myself as one thing. I've been blogging for almost a decade and always thought of myself as a "blogger", doing everything related to blogging. And I'm just not that anymore. I can't give it up, of course, but I can't limit myself there either.
As part of my goal for 2017, I decided to become more selective with how I spend my time and where my energy goes. When discussing this topic, my wife brought up "Why don't you pick two things and switch between them?" And I thought to myself "That's perfect!". Two things isn't a lot but it's not too much either. I can handle a blog post a month and a podcast a month. That isn't too bad.
So there it is. I'm a creator. And I don't think I need to tie myself down to a specific "mode of creation" to do that. I don't have to have a super-active youtube channel or a blog or a Twitch stream. I just need to keep doing what I'm doing regularly and do as Asimov did: keep finding new ideas, keep exploring them, and keep doing what makes me happy.