Tonight I will write a usefully bad blog. I love the phrase “usefully bad.” I use it as a guiding light at work on occasion. Tonight I will use it for this blog.
Essentially it means making a move. Even if it’s a bad move. Writing something. Even if it’s a bad something. Anything. But getting the creative wheels turning. Forward motion.
When stuck at work, I will seek to write a usefully bad blog. Or press release. Or set of messaging. Or speech material. Sometimes you have to start in a usefully bad place to end up somewhere wonderful.
So words hit paper. I try hard to not overly edit. Or judge. Or get annoyed if the content is so bad it may not be close to useful.
The point of usefully bad is just to start. Create a foundation to build upon. Forward motion.
I hate that I’ve neglected this little blog. I’ve missed it.
The past few weeks have directed my creative energy in other directions – a big presentation at work, researching some interesting new ideas, an aggressive design stage of our house remodel, and spending time with my mom in the evening hours while she visited. There really isn’t time to write when you can be sharing laughs over a glass of wine.
But tonight, I’m ready to get back to it. Even from a usefully bad place. Because sometimes the longer you take a break, the harder it is to get started. So this is my usefully bad blog. I’m officially back at it.
I recently read a book by Elizabeth Gilbert called “Big Magic, Creative Living Beyond Fear.” Gilbert also wrote “Eat, Pray, Love” and while I don’t have grand plans to move to India on a spiritual quest, I’m all in on seeking big magic in my life.
There is a lot I love about this book, but one of the things I love most is the encouragement to “Say what you want to say and say it with all your heart. Share whatever you are driven to share.” Embracing the authenticity of who you are. She stresses your art doesn’t have to be overly original – in fact, it doesn’t even need to be important. She encourages creating, simply because “I do what I do because I like doing it.”
That pretty much sums up my approach to this blog. Whether anyone reads it or not, I really am loving the process. And it’s so good to be back here – on my laptop, with my favorite candle burning, good tunes playing and a great glass of wine. Someday I’ll write something more meaningful. But tonight, it’s just a usefully bad start.
And as Gilbert coaches “Your own reasons to create are reason enough. Do whatever brings you to life, then. Follow your own fascinations, obsessions and compulsions. Trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart.”
So here’s to finding the revolution. And enjoying the usefully bad process along the way.
The Redefining 