writing

My 2017

It was …

A year of sadness as I bore estrangement from a group of people I love and miss. Learning to respect their choices has been a good discipline, through the sorrow.

A year of joy as I found a wonderful “tribe” of professionals to chat with and learn from (more on this later).

A year of difficulty as, for the second time in my life, I had dealings with someone who was offended by cheerfulness and enthusiasm. Sad to say that I was slow to recognise it, and it cost me professionally. I tend to assume that others are more “with it” than I am, and I need to learn that that is not always the case.

A year of reconnecting with friends from long ago. I’m so grateful for them and all the others through the years who somehow were able to see the tiny sparkle in me before it was very visible.

A year when I discovered that I can, in fact, write with a fountain pen, left-handed klutz that I am. How fortunate that I saved my parents’ old Parker 51 when we cleaned out their house after Mom got sick! I look forward eagerly to getting it back from the restorer a few months from now.

A year of festivity and reading-reading-reading with the release of Oathbringer (more on this later too). “Unite Them!”

Yet another year when I didn’t get as much done as I’d hoped—not by a long shot—but even still it was a good year.

Significant memories:

Writing for TFL’s Basics Conference in May. What a treat to hear each session, especially those taught by Sinclair Ferguson. I now “hear” his voice in my head when reading things he’s written, such as the fantastic book Devoted to God: it too has been a 2017 blessing.

Being part of the pilot team at TFL to edit and develop full transcripts. The work is enjoyable, especially because I learn something new on each pass through the audio.

Participating in a new and refreshing online professional group, the Training, Learning and Development Community. Such a wonderful discovery! Brent Schlenker, Luis Malbas, Cara North, Craig Sybert, and the many participants and guests have all challenged me to grow in my profession and to keep thinking beyond the next deliverable.

Finishing several pieces of beadwork, which I need to add to the gallery here asap. (Sad to report, though, that I failed at last year’s resolution to not start any new pieces till all the unfinished ones were through the pipeline…)

Surviving three days without power in (cold!) early November. If it ever happens to you, here’s the secret: boiled potatoes. Srsly, trust me on this one!

Attending the book release event for Oathbringer, the latest volume in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archives. First and foremost, it is Dalinar’s book, and Dalinar is my favorite. Brandon has said that he feels OBR is the best book he’s ever written and I agree. On top of the book (all 1,235 pages!) being so awesome, my trip to the Salt Lake City/Provo area went as smooth as silk. I especially enjoyed Sunday morning worship at the EV Free Church where I met some lovely sisters in Christ, heard a solid sermon, and added my voice to the great congregational music. Another pleasure was the (just opened!) El Pollo Loco right up the road from my hotel—I do love me some El Pollo Loco! (Please please come to Ohio!) At the book release party (1st photo below; green circle is me … well, the top of my head anyway!), my cosplay went over well: lots of knowing nods for my “awespren” hat (2nd photo below), and Brandon himself re-tweeted the photo I shared online! I’d thought the OBR release a once-in-a-lifetime thing for me, but I had such a blast among those 1,600 rabid Sander-fans that I might just go again; if so, I’ll for sure stay at the same hotel which was convenient and provided excellent customer service.

Continued blessings this year have been my awesome friends, my Parkside Church family, my great job at Cinécraft, my good health (thanks Mom!), JoJo and Maria (meow!), Cleveland Orchestra concerts at Severance Hall (my “team” always wins!), lots of fun genre movies that came out (Wonder Woman! Thor Ragnarok!), my humble home where my neighbors are so amazing … too many things to name. Most of all I’m thankful for the gift of knowing God through His Son the Lord Jesus—how He knows me to my core and loves me anyway. Praise His glorious grace!

I can’t know what 2018 has in store, but a possible theme has formed in my mind:

Love reaches. Love covers. Love hopes.

May God help me to learn it well.

Remembering and Memorizing Are the Same Thing

Training industry thought leader Cathy Moore is a strong proponent – indeed a pioneer – of an instructional format that places the content to be learned into reference materials so that people do not need to memorize (remember) information – they just refer to their job aids.

In a recent webinar, cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Carmen Simon stated that “People can’t act on what they can’t remember” (what they haven’t memorized). Her research and consultancy focus on the goal of making information more memorable.

These two positions, taken in their purest forms, cannot both be right.

Each training project needs to balance appropriate memory stimulation for knowledge transfer against flexible just-in-time performance support tools that prevent cognitive overload (with the realization that “overload” varies among individuals).

But stepping back for a larger perspective, why is it OK for us to want people to remember (memorize) a marketing message, but not OK to want them to memorize (remember) processes and requirements for performing their duties as an employee?

Usability guru Steve Krug’s groundbreaking book Don’t Make Me Think was about designing products and websites that are intuitively easy to use. It was not, I suspect, intended to be a philosophy of life.

Fountains of Geekdom

This month I levelled up in geekdom: I have joined the fountain pen community.

Admittedly, it’s the shallow end; unsure it would work with my left-handedness, I wasn’t going to plunk down too much green at the get-go.

But happily these Pilot Metropolitans are working out fantastic for me! All the bloggers who say it’s a “great starter pen” are totally right.

You know I couldn’t resist the aqua color, and the pearly white (with tiger stripes!) is so pretty. I bought 2 because I wasn’t sure if I’d like a medium or a fine nib – turns out (at least for this brand and model) I’m happiest with the fine. So I plan to use that primarily, and use the medium when I’m writing with fancy ink colors.

And oh, the colors! My first order from the Goulet Pen Company is on its way with several ink samples that will allow me to affordably find my perfect shade. (Seems redundant to call it a “signature shade,” eh?)

I never used a fountain pen as a kid in school (we always had ballpoints), so I have no memories good or bad. This is entirely new to me.

The experience of writing with ink that is actually liquid and flowing through the nib onto the paper is more different than I’d expected. It seems instinctive to think more about what I’m writing, and to care more about how I’m forming the letters … it’s been quite surprising. It’s slower but strangely more fulfilling.

There are lots of times when I’ll still use my rollerballs and gel pens – not to mention my Palomino Blackwing pencils! – but for brainstorming and correspondence and lots of other tasks, I’m practicing with my fountain pen. (Srsly, why does my brain insist on calling it “practicing with my spheres”? No spheres involved! No The Lopen either! November cannot come soon enough!!)

Bullet Journal

Have you heard about Bullet Journal?

bulletjournal

Its creator, Ryder Carroll, calls it “an analog system for the digital age.”

I’ve been trying it for the past few weeks, and I like it pretty well. I had been trying to use a calendar on my phone, since that’s always with me but, like many other people, I got frustrated at not being able to see the calendar while I was talking on the phone. So now I’m back to paper.

I’m using a medium-sized Moleskine with grid ruling, like he shows in his video, but it feels a little too big – too tall and wide. I looked for one a little smaller but couldn’t find anything that still had the 31+ lines you need for the monthly list of days.

Comparing this to the way I used to use paper planners, the biggest difference I see is in my own attitude: if something doesn’t get done, as long as it was a “nice to have” or a “possible option,” I just leave it behind. I have waaaaay too many ideas to actually do them all. Perhaps this means I’m making peace with that in a new way. 🙂

I added Post-it tabs for two sections: Collections, and (unique to me) Scathingly Brilliant Ideas – I have five of the latter so far, some of which will appear on this blog in due course.

Another thing I did was to glue a traditional calendar into the back of the notebook. It just helps me to see the 7-day grid, especially when planning activities with friends … sets things in a context. I use that calendar to record events in future months, then add those to the Bullet Journal monthly list of days.

So far, so good. June will be my first full month with a Bullet Journal, so it will be a better test. I’ll let you know toward the end of the year how it’s going.

If you’re looking for a system, why not check it out?