the idea: write about the problem of the pencil
This is one of the sections in my master’s thesis, Don’t Make Art, Just Make Something, at a very early draft. Originally it was the opening of the book but now, in an attempt to reach more people, it’s just the opening of a section.
The biggest obstacle everyone faces when they try to make something is…
a pencil.
A pencil is essentially a funnel.
Ideas, dreams, and goals form and swirl around your mind until, at some point, you decide to force them down the funnel onto some paper.
The majority of the time, that wonderful big idea gets stuck.
Trapped somewhere before that impossibly small point at the end of the pencil.
But without a pencil, how can you record your ideas?
1.) Tell someone. Your mouth is the opposite of a pencil. It’s a megaphone. Use it to share your ideas, even if it’s just with a voice recorder.
2.) Stop planning. Just do it.
3.) Use any other kind of writing instrument. Markers, crayons, highlighters, sharpies, ink and brush, collaged letters, watercolor, typing, oil pastels, white board markers. Leave the pencil behind and embrace it’s more friendly and colorful family members.