Musing: When ‘maybe someday’ turns into now
On finally doing the thing
Probably you know this by now: I’m an over-thinker. A preparer. A person who has a Plan B and a Plan C, and who talked themself down from making a Plan D. I marinate things, I let them simmer on my mental back burner. The last few months though, two long-time ‘maybe someday’ ideas have come out of my brain and into concrete actions, and it feels so good.
First up: the tattoo. Yup, finally joined the Portland norm and got some ink. I’ve been joking for years that I should get an “Ask for help” tattoo because I need a reminder at all times. After:
a frankly embarrassing amount of medical research (pro tip: do not click on the image results when searching ‘tattoo bad reaction”)
a series of longer-lasting temporary tattoos to check the placement,
And waiting for a favorite local sign painter turned tattooist to build up his tattoo experience
I now have “ASK” on my left forearm.
The healing process has been uneventful, and sure enough: last week I was unsuccessfully trying to slice a splinter out of my dominant hand when I spotted the tattoo. I put the sharps down and I called my mom to ask for help. The portable signage works! You can see a time lapse of the process as part of this Instagram reel. I’m thrilled with how it turned out, and would definitely recommend checking out Witching Hour Tattoo here in Portland - the vibes were very good, and it’s the least visually overwhelming tattoo space I’ve ever run across.
Second up: you may now officially ask me how my book is going. Earlier this month I finished a 100 day project as part of a cohort with the brilliant facilitation of Hanne Blank Boyd. My mission: pretending the book idea I’ve been marinating for a decade is a real book and making half an hour of progress on it daily. Some 46,000 words and 41 coffee shop visits later, and I’m all in: it’s a real book to me, and I’m going to keep working on it.
While starting the project in community was tremendously helpful, it was also made easier by an impulse purchase. Last summer I pre-ordered a Daylight Computer Co DC-1 tablet with pretty much no information other than that it was novel form of e-paper with no blue light. (If you’re curious about e-paper vs e-ink, I posted a ton of comparison photos on r/eink.)
I haven’t had a portable digital writing setup since my vision got bad in 2019 and I had to switch to e-ink (like a Kindle screen) displays. I can technically take my smaller display places and I do to teach, but it requires a carry on luggage sized bag. Not a “I need a change of scene, I’m outta here” grab and go kind of thing. I’ve been tremendously envious of everyone who can readily take their work with them to the couch.
The DC-1 showed up just at the beginning of the 100 days project in November. It is unspeakably satisfying to leave the house to write. I’ve been so excited to make progress that I’ve started arriving at the coffee shop before 7:30 am routinely, which is pretty funny for someone who spent years setting up a life where I don’t need to do anything before 10. My camera roll is full of morning light photos, my office is littered with a variety of keyboards to keep typing injuries at bay, and everything is an essay idea now. The tablet is far from a perfect device, but it’s exactly the right tool for me for generating words.
What tool would make progress on a daydream project easier for you? What would you temporarily give up in order to have room for the progress? My accidental turn into morning person has meant letting go of my 10pm - midnight crafting time, and at some point I’ll need to make things other than essays. But for now book progress > crafting is a tradeoff I’m planning to keep making.
I’m thinking about a second tattoo on my other forearm: “TRY”, short for one of the best questions I’ve ever been asked*: “What’s the worst that could happen if you just try it?”
*Alex Hillman is full of useful questions.