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WoofBC. Creative Commons license.
I kept quitting in the face of adversity until I found something I loved doing, after which point all obstacles became surmountable.
—Jim Buckmeister, CEO of CraigslistIt’s a magical world, Hobbes, ol’ buddy…let’s go exploring!
–Calvin to HobbesIf it ain’t easy, it’s impossible.
—Anonymous
In The Courage to Be Confused. The Courage to Be Patient, yesterday’s post at Transforming Stress, I mentioned that I’m in the process of going into the guts of my themes so I can convert them from three columns to two. No doubt about it..it’s a messy and time-consuming business.
Why am I doing it? Because I want to. I do think three columns is a bit crowded, but the real reason is to become more adept at writing web pages and building blogs. That’s been on my Possibility List for a long time, and I even accumulated a stack of reference books to help. But I work best when I have a project of my own to do, and redesigning my layout is just the incentive I needed.
So suddenly it’s a fun thing to do. I’m not foolish enough to try to do it on my regular sites, so I set up WordPress at another of my domains, creativityandjoy.com, where I can play to my heart’s content. And it is play because I’m having fun trying things as I unravel the mystery of all those funny lines of CSS and PHP, e.g.,
?* A CSS example */
#content{line-height:1.4em;
margin:0 155px 5px;padding:0;}
#contentwide{line-height:1.6em;
margin:0 0 5px 150px;padding:0;}
#content h2,#contentwide h2{font-size:1.3em;
margin:0 0 10px;color:#185dac;line-height:1.2em}
#content h3, #contentwide h3{font-size:1.4em;margin:0 0 8px;}
#content img,#contentwide img{border:1px solid #d0d0d0;
float:left;margin:3px 10px 3px 0;}
It reminds me of a summer many years ago when I taught myself some beginning Greek. I still remember the thrill when all of those little squiggles actually made some sense. Talk about living in a magical world.
I’m still a little kid at heart…I learn best by playing. What about you? Please share your experience in the comments section.
Thanks to bikehikebabe, Shilpan, and Darren for comments on last week’s post.
When our big truck came with our natural food, we sorted it into groups that each person ordered. Most people thought doing that was a “pain”. (American slang)
I pretended I was organizing a store or market. Loved doing it!
Jean,
Another insightful post. I like the statement of Craiglist’s CEO as well.
I came to this great nation 17 years ago on a mission to accomplish something on my own. My father had a big business and I’m the only son but I wanted to chart my own course and I’m glad that I did. I know that my father is proud of me as well. I’ve shared my story in the post at the detail but it comes down to what you’re discussing here. Once you find what you love to do, challenges go away.
http://www.successsoul.com/2008/05/31/how-i-transformed-my-life-with-these-5-simple-thoughts/
Please read my post if time permits. I’m stumbling your post as it always inspires me.
Shilpan
wow you are a brave soul messing with that code hehe!! You will have a great sense of accomplishment though and hopefully fun as you do it!
Jean,
You probably know from my blog that I think playing is the best way to learn. Great post!
If it’s okay with you, I’d like to include this post in my nexts ‘Playing in the Blogosphere’ links round-up.
David
Hi! Thanks for letting me know that you used Gromit’s nose-licking picture. It’s fun to see my photos in use!
bikehikebabe,
Thanks for the great example. Sometimes I pretend I’m a kid pretending I’m a grownup. It makes mundane chores a lot more fun.
Shilpan,
Thanks again for the kind words. I’ve just glanced at your post but plan to read it more thoroughly tomorrow… and to leave a comment.
I wanted to get my new theme up while I was still immersed in it. It actually seems to be working. 🙂 I ended up modifying the Copyblogger theme…that was enough of a stretch at the moment.
Thank you for sharing your story with us.
Darren,
You’re right, it does take a bit of courage to jump in and start messing about. And it is fun.
David,
I plan to read your latest post too. I would love to be included in your next round-up.
Rachel,
🙂 Thank you for that great picture. It warms my heart and makes me smile. It reminds me of how I feel sometimes after I’ve been messing about.
Jean,
Thanks for the inspiration from this article. I have always been a PLAYER from the word go.
I work at home and get a lot of things done, but everything seems like play to me and a lot of people. A lot of people even wonder what on earth I am doing because they see me playing ALL THE TIME!
By being playful, I am a coach to a lot of people, a public speaker and even a consultant. With all these happening to me, I am happy to be a PLAYER and will continue being playful! 🙂
I love those pictures Jean and the new theme is cool. You are inspiring me to start looking to building my own blog.
Great week 🙂
Adebola,
🙂 Thanks for coming by again..it’s good hearing from you. I’m not surprised that you’re a PLAYER.
Pingback: The Colours of Everyday Life: beplayful.org
Thank you – I’ll be sure to check back later for more of your posts.
hahahaha! i can’t get past the dogs in the pictures. pure JOY!
they are a perfect example of what you’re talking about in this post. at least to me they are. i’m glad you chose them.
gromit is like… what’s next? bring it on!
yes i can and actually have to have a sense of play in my work. even when i worked for someone else. this in no way meant “goofing off.” i looked at it as a chance for creativity.
the only person i wouldn’t want playing while he worked on me would be a surgeon. although on “mash” they seemed to have a good time always, while cutting up somebody!