Author: Ross Andrews

Creativity through simplification 

Some recent steps I have taken to improve my focus and save time for what matters:

  • No more Facebook. Account deleted completely 
  • No more gaming – selling console
  • Re-finding my Kindle – purpose built for reading, this is the gadget that keeps giving. You can’t be a good writer without being a good reader
  • Whittling down my internet accounts. As well as Facebook, I had Twitter, Instagram, three different email addresses, other blogs, and the list goes on. I realized that the reason I wasn’t creating as much as I wanted was not a lack of accounts, connections with friends or lack of tools…rather it is a lack of focus. Fewer accounts and gadgets – focus on those you actually need.
  • Fixing up my house and my office – I’m not good at this but when I try to fix stuff, it helps my sense of satisfaction and consequent focus no end.

The next step is to partake more in communities of like minded people in the flesh. I’m thinking writers groups, and arty types who I don’t seem to have in my life at the moment. 

Life is a journey not a destination, right?

Family and the self

If you do something over and over not only do you get good at it, you start to expect it to happen and so do those around you.

Family is a beautiful thing, but starting one inevitably sucks your time and energy away from individual pursuits. I have to be careful here because I love my child and my wife and I love spending time with them…. but if I am not mindful of my time, I devote every second of the day to them and that is not healthy for things like creativity, relaxation, pursuing dreams.

So I have to start new habits and feed them into my family dominated routine drip by drip. I am now reading a book of my choice, just a little each night. I take time each night for myself and holy moly what a difference. I read better and then I sleep better. Not only that, but I can feel myself getting better at reading. The words fly off the pages and I reach that “zone” where I don’t notice the outside world much quicker than I used to.

All of this is probably for nothing as we are expecting another child soon – but til then I am enjoying regaining some of my lost time and reading some more good stuff.

Dune final thoughts

So I finally finished Dune – the sci-fi classic which has clearly influenced the likes of Game Of Thrones and most other popular sci-fi stories since. I had two final thoughts on why it is so impressive and resilient to this day as a gripping sci-fi story.

First – The characters are super, but the world in which they inhabit is the real star of the show. A character on its own merit, Arrakis dominates any event in the book. Just as ‘winter is coming’ in GOT, the extreme weather and awesome beauty of the desert planet is what the main characters have to come to terms with to fulfill their destiny. Though it is a completely different sort of novel, I am seeing a similar strong focus on setting and location in the book i am currently reading: “The Knowledge” By Steven Pressfield.

The impressive depth of the cultures, languages and religions created by the author in Dune are second to only Lord of The Rings in my experience. I marvel at the time this and dedication this must have taken from Frank Herbert. It gives the story authenticity and reflects back to the reader our own clan like behaviour and superstitions here on earth.

Dune is magnificent. Well worth the read and the reputation it has gathered.

Tools at your disposal

Shakespeare wrote around 37 plays with a quill and ink as his tools. Can you imagine what he might do with a laptop and the internet?

In the search for creativity and productivity, it is tempting to focus on another shiny new tool to give you an edge. The Sunday golfer will spend thousands on the latest driver promising 20 more yards. But will they hit the gym and the practice green at all?

All sorts of conspiracy theories abound on Shakespeare’s extraordinary productivity. Theories that he couldn’t possibly have written all those plays himself. My bet is that Shakespeare was a hustler, and a perfectionist. I bet he wrote and wrote and wrote, even in his spare time. I bet he was good with people and good at getting what he needed to keep writing (including copious amounts of ink and paper!). I bet he was stubborn as hell about his need to write something every day.

The tools are secondary to the attitude. Jordan Spieth would still shoot well under par using clubs that are older than he is.

 

Streaming music

I like to think about the music industry.
For my streaming needs I oscillate between Google Play and Tidal depending on how pretentious I feel about streaming quality, and how much cash I have. In reality there is not much difference though – all of the major streaming services have an impossibly huge library, the convenience is amazing too. What is most interesting to me is the angst it brings me – Whenever I stream something I think to myself “am i doing this right?” – with LPs and CDs it was far more clearcut how best to listen to music. Now nobody knows.
Which is the best streaming service? It’s not an obvious answer or even an obvious question – Best for the listener? Best for the artist?
I live in South Africa and don’t have access to Spotify or Youtube Red (or whatever Youtube’s subscription options are) it seems to me that Soundcloud was trying to be the Youtube of music, but failed to make money – why? The music industry seems capable of flicking a switch and making an artist centered service like Soundcloud disappear almost overnight.
The whole streaming genre has taken a grip on my brain – it’s such a vast universe and there are so many ways to listen to music now – Which hardware is the best to use?
I follow it with interest and compulsion.

Be more Scandinavian

I recently went on a three week holiday to Scandinavia – Norway and Sweden to be precise. It was pretty incredible. Coming from South Africa – a place struggling with its economy, identity and environment – Norway and Sweden felt like a glimpse into the future.

The nature was pristine. I saw mountains, fjords, forests and moose. I went salmon and trout fishing in rivers that were so clean I could bend down and drink, straight from the flow of water at my feet if I got thirsty in between a cast of the line. The cities were incredibly well organised with museums, public transport and cycling lanes. There was also construction all around and there were Teslas everywhere with charging stations lining the streets. Recycling of rubbish is a given.

Patriotism and a sense of community was evident all around. People fly flags and live with no fences or security worries. The state is clearly rich and so are its people. Everybody (and I mean EVERYbody) spoke perfect English.

It was an inspiring trip. Now that I have recovered from the flight back with my pregnant wife and my 2 year old, I am on a mission to be more Scandinavian – to me this means more focus and simplicity, more organisation, more environmentally aware, more disciplined and secure in everything I am doing. That’s the idea anyways. So far it has translated into one blog post at 630am with a cup of tea for company.

But it’s a start, and anyways neither Stockholm, nor Oslo were built in a day.

Be more Scandinavian.

Ethereum…yumyum

How to get your head around the blockchain and Ethereum? Tokens? Ether? Cryptocurrencies? Sheesh….

Here’s my take on how Ethereum tokens might work:

The tokens allow application builders (coders) to set up rules for an exchange of value within an app’s network. Hypothetically, if a Facebook competitor was created on the Ethereum blockchain (rather than the internet), a token (or a fraction of a token) might be exchanged each time you liked something, or shared something. More likes = more tokens. Maybe there is a shop on the same token system to exchange for goods.

For another real life example – an application such as civic (www.civic.com) which seeks to secure online identity will trade a token as a marker of a user’s true identity details. Anyone or any company that is part of the Civic network can exchange tokens and be assured that these tokens represent true, non-fraudulent proof of identity (I think…not quite sure on all of this).

Trying to write your own understanding of something helps you to learn about the subject. I am not sure I understand this subject completely, but I am getting there.

Happy weekend 🙂

Creative peace

The desire to make something new and impressive is agonizing at times. I think it is this urge which leads to some of the best creations and art, however I think it might also distract us from something which is going well, right under our noses.

I have a project up and running, earning money and with room for growth – but it isn’t a rockstar existence. I am constantly tempted to find something completely new, more in tune with my passions (which includes a broad range of interests) and more interesting.

So far this urge has lead me to a waste of time. Dreaming rather than doing. Watching the horizon rather than fixing what I have in front of me.

Time to deliver on what I started and plug away at what I believe in. No time for far fetched dreams.