For some it’s been graduation season, or it’s final exams but for me this has been a time of lessons. Some are more welcome than others, but as they arrive regardless of welcome, I suppose it’s more important that one come away from them with something be learned or adapted to. Take as an example this blog post, which I’ll go into detail about momentarily.
Here’s a new term I learned –
Executive Dysfunction: Executive dysfunction is a symptom that happens with conditions that disrupt your brain’s ability to control thoughts, emotions and behavior.
Now it’s more frequently associated with conditions like ADHD, and can also happen due to brain damage or degenerative brain diseases, but when I discovered this term I immediately found it to be a useful addition to my lexicon of disruptions of my creative process. With-out delving too deeply into musings on the shamanic role artists* have in society or common associations between “crazy” & “creative,” let me give you a relevant example in this post.
The other day I blew up my website. Because i’d been steadily building and experimenting with it for a great many years, a recent automated PHP update was failing. It was something that has long been on my todo list, but time was running out before my ISP would require specialized fees to deal with the legacy code. So a plan was developed to invest in the site, something to do with a temporary subscription to managed hosting and the like; all very reasonable. However, in a flurry of activity, out of a misplaced determination to get things crossed off my to-do listed PLUS my new application of the term executive dysfunction, I instead opted for a manual “let’s see what happens” upgrade.
So the reasonable investment has been diverted to repairs; hiring some pros to clean up the mess. And the timing is most definitely not ideal, particularly in terms of keeping those who have been a part of my artistic journey informed. Perhaps it’s the price of trying to do to much, or maybe it has something to do with destruction’s relationship to creation (anyone else a fan of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman?) or it’s all of that plus me trying put a more poetic spin on a self-made-S.N.A.F.U. In light of all that Executive Dysfunction frames it a bit more objectively, sidelining the devil on one shoulder and the philosopher on the other.
After a little reading on the term, let me share some examples–
- Distractible, having trouble focusing on just one thing.
- Focusing too much on just one thing.
- Daydreaming or “spacing out” when you should be paying attention (such as during a conversation, meeting, class, etc.).
- Trouble planning or carrying out a task because you can’t visualize the finished product or goal.
- Difficulty motivating yourself to start a task that seems difficult or uninteresting.
- Struggling to move from one task to another.
- Getting distracted or interrupted partway through a task, causing you to misplace items or lose your train of thought (like leaving your keys in the refrigerator because you wanted a snack, but your hands were full, so you put your keys down inside the refrigerator and forgot about them).
- Problems with impulse control, like snacking when you’re trying to manage your diet.
- Struggling with thinking before you talk, causing you to blurt out the first thing that pops in your head without considering that it might hurt someone’s feelings.
- Having trouble explaining your thought process clearly because you understand it in your head, but putting it into words for others feels overwhelming.
- Find it difficult to manage time, make plans, multitask, or stick to your schedule
- Often forget appointments and tasks
- Find it challenging to get started on tasks, even for things you want to do
- Have a hard time keeping your office, workspace, and home organized
- Frequently lose or misplace personal items
- Find it challenging to navigate frustration or setbacks
- Have difficulty remembering information or following directions that involve multiple steps
- Find it challenging to control impulses, emotions and changes in mood, or behavior
- Have trouble putting complex thoughts or abstract concepts into words
Yikes! That list is disturbingly huge, repetitive and, to my mind, mostly mundane. It seems I identify with so many of these that I can imagine not ever getting anything done. Yet, here I am making the time to write about it and weave together the outer strands of my platform(s) to bridge the crater left behind by clicking buttons which I shouldn’t have.
*If you haven’t encountered some of my other writings on the topic, my definition of “Artist” is fairly expansive, stopping just short of A.I. image prompt engineering (A.I.I.P.E?).
Crisitunity
I debated between quoting Einstein or JFK both of whom have famously equated crisis with opportunity.
“The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger–but recognize the opportunity.”
― J. F. Kennedy
“In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity”
― A. Einstein
So while the pros assure me I’ll be able to preview repairs by June 16th the updates and obligations are backing up to far to wait for that date. So, while I’ve been working to make the most of my time I’ve pealed away some of it to work on that metaphorical weaving I mentioned earlier. As a result I made use of the quirky way in which I’ve built my online presence to maintain some measure of momentum on the various spinning plates that represent my artistic career.
If you’d like to see what things look like at the moment: PLUGOarts.com
Book Give-Away!
The coloring process for A Tiger’s Tale volume 2 has been picking up speed recently. Progress is not as fast as I would like, which is frustrating. Just a day or so ago, acasual inquiry by one of my trusted Wuxia Warriors, tipped the balance on my musings about fulfillment for volume 1 of A Tiger’s Tale. There are a some backers of my most recent campaign who’s books could be shipped before production on volume 2 is complete, I’d considered holding off and waiting on production for stretch goals. Instead, I’ve decided June must include fulfilling obligations to backers who want volume 1 of A Tiger’s Tale. I’ll then welcome the chance to make a gift of those stretch-goal items in a follow-up package. Because I’ll be shipping some copies out when the Month ends, I’ve decided to host a giveaway and ship a free copy of A Tiger’s Tale volume 1 to subscriber of the Tiger Talk newsletter.
No purchase is necessary, just click on this link and confirm your subscription to Talk@aTigersTale.com
Deadline to subscribe will be on #TigerTuesday June 27th 12:00pm noon PST. Then on #WuxiaWednesday June 28th I will randomly select one subscriber to reach out to for an address where they’d like a copy shipped. If that subscriber already has a copy, this could be their chance to make a gift of it. It’s at this point I’ll also ask if they would like their name announced in a follow-up newsletter update and/or a subsequent #tigertuesday blog post.
Appearances
Did I mention my work with KidsComicsUnite.com? I’m the instructor of their Crowdfunding Crucible. I’m not sure if that makes me their refractory, but It does make me busier than I’d expected. But isn’t there another saying about opportunity? In any case, a side effect has been a handful of appearances on some online round-tables. I recently participated in one recorded by Crowdfundr.com and I will be part of a live zoom roundtable tomorrow with many of my friends and subjects-of-admiration at the Kids Comics Studio. Then later this month I will be a part of another roundtable focused on a subject very close to my heart. I’m very excited to let you know I’ll be a guest panelist on the Graymalkin Lane Podcast! This X-Men podcast offers fun, inclusive and insightful conversations and debates across a ridiculous era of beloved X-Men comics. If you don’t already know how I relate to The X-Men, perhaps this X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019) review which I wrote for KungFuMagazine.com will convince you of my mutant bona fides; that, some comics and the recommendation of some friends was enough for host Chad Anderson. And for that I’m thrilled!
Fresh Fanart
The topic of self care and Karoshi (過労死) has been floating around the comics & creative circles, I’m a part of. It’s a whole other topic to cover so I’ll only mention it for the sake of setting time aside for fun amidst challenges. Before I began pursuing *art as a career objective, idle drawing was part of how I had fun. Looking back the more modern term for that particular type of fun drawing would be called fanart. When I was younger they would mostly be X-Men, but lately I’ve been focusing my fanart activities on my favorite epic fantasy book series The Malazan Book of the Fallen – YES, it’s even beaten out A Song of Ice & Fire – the topic of my first ever podcast appearance. I’ve written and spoken about that book series before, so I’ll simply let this picture do the work of 1000 words on the topic.
This drawing was so much fun!
If you’ve read this far, thank you for your fortitude. If you are a MUSEletter subscriber or a Benevolent Backer I thank you for your continued patience. And if this the first time you’ve read one of my Musings, Bravo!
Thank You ThankYou thankyou!
more soon
–PLUGO!