Is the 100 Day Project a Chance at a New Year's Resolution Do Over?
I'm pretending it is.
Much like trying to nail down resolutions at New Years I am having a hard time picking the perfect 100 Day Project. So many choices and only so much time in the day. I’m not at great at keeping resolutions so I’m not sure why The 100 Day Project should be any different? Things officially kick off Sunday February 23rd and I do enjoy a solid kick off date for things.
What is the 100 Day Project
A free global art project that takes place online. Every year thousands of people around the world participate and share their work and progress online. As a matter of fact the 100 Day Project has their own Substack and Instagram account. The general idea is usually choose a creative project and do it every day. This does not mean knit a sweater or sculpt a bust daily. I have interpreted it to mean more like do a few stitches and knead some clay and on occasion if the mood hits you do a bit more. Low pressure but gets you in that creative mindset daily for a bit.
Two reasons why I think I might actually be able to keep up with The 100 Day Project.
Substack - If I post here occasionally about my progress you guys can hold me accountable. The beauty of the 100 Day Project is that it is kind of a group effort. Everyone has a different thing they want to do but everyone is doing it together.
Duolingo - The second way I am rationalizing this and assuring myself is Duolingo. Here me out. I’ve had a 357 day streak before and am currently in the middle of a 145 day streak. If I can practice French every day I can do this.
So what shall I do for the 100 Day Project?
This is where I try to overload my plate. I need to pick just one thing but I really want to try for 2 or 3. Perhaps you could help me pick a topic or just follow along through the next 100 days and see if I stick with 1 and kick the others to the curb. Here are the top 3 choices.
Drawing Faces - I adore the faces I currently paint. I’ve sprinkled this post with what I lovingly call my weirdos to give you an idea. However, I would like to know how to draw different faces in order to add some variety to my artistic endeavors and also up my skill level a bit. I don’t need to be able to oil paint a hyper realistic portrait at the end of 100 days but the basics of proportions when drawing a face might be cool to know. I’ve got a stack of books, tools and online classes all lined up to help me. This is the project I envision sharing here in Substack from time to time.
Morning Pages - Are you familiar with the book The Artist Way by Julia Cameron? She also has a new book out called The Artist Way Toolkit. In the book she talks about a technique called Morning Pages. It’s basically writing 3ish pages in a journal every morning. You don’t have to say anything deep or profound for me it is often a way to calm my monkey mind. I love lists and writing things down so sometimes just writing about a bunch of random crap in my head and it helps me get centered. Plus if I wasn’t doing that I’d be sitting reading the news every morning and we know what good that does for your mental health. Don’t worry I can do morning pages and still stay informed. Honestly I should probably re-read the entire book and work my way through in the next 100 days.
Substack - I’m thinking of using this site not only as an accountability strategy as mentioned above but also as one of my things to do for 100 days. It’s a two-fer! I want to build up my content here and I work so much better with deadlines (100 days) and external pressure (you dear reader). If I didn’t have signed contracts and publishers I would have never written 5 books.
Did I mention I’m a slightly flakey Libra with ADHD? Ya so here is where you come in. I’d love to hear about your experiences with the 100 Day Project. Have you ever tried? Any hot tips? Any motivational pearls of wisdom or pictures of kittens dangling from trees with the words “hang in there” you could share? Sunday is nigh.
Wanna see if I follow through? I’ll post on Instagram but I’ll give more in depth posts here on Substack.
