Getting organized?

   "You know that creating a detailed chronogram is part of any project methodology, right?" - this was Kito, the good soul and professor who was coordinating my college's graduation project.

   "Yup. But I'm not gonna make it." - I trust him a lot, so I gave him my most honest answer.

   "If you don't have a good reason why, you'll be discounted points from your development part." -  Nowadays, basically 6 months after this page of my life was turned, I quite feel sorry for the professors who helped me up back there. 

   "The semester is really short, so I don't want to loose time in something that, REALLY, I'm not gonna use AT ALL... This chronogram will be like my schedule books from high school days... first days very complete and used, but after less than a month of classes I always forgot they'd ever existed..." - that's how I started explaining.   

   "Then, how do you plan to organize yourself?" - oh, poor, Kito.

   "I'm gona make the very detailed tasks' lists, yes, for research, development, conception, etc, but I won't detail how many hours I need or when I'm going to make it, because really, I will not follow time guides, so there's no reason to lie about it."

   Yes, I did many lists and had a good couple of pages glued in all the walls of my studio, so I had all those truths really shoved in my face. This way I could not slack off.

   Now, why chronograms don't work for me?

   Because every day is a new one pretty much different from the day which came before: new events, new challenges and new energies.

   Yes, energies and moods. The same way there are days when it feels like everyone decided to be hanging out and having a good time, or when it feels like the whole city decided to go to the same restaurant's food you were craving some food from, there are days when the streets are empty and it feels like all the souls want some reclusion and moments of piece.

   There are days when you want to draw something new and incredible, but the most impressive thing you get is an argument with a blank page and using half of a new eraser (nevermind, the eraser will disappear before you have the chance to completely use it). 

   There are days when you want to sleep, but just can't! So instead of staying in the bed, turning around and getting angry or worried because you can't sleep (which won't help you to sleep at all), it's better to accept it and do something with the energy and the mood you have at the moment.

   Not all the moments are suitable for everything. So it's useless to try to schedule when you'll feel good to do researchs, when it will be nice to draw, etc.

   For me, the best thing is just wake up and see how I'm feeling, and how the day woke up. It's much more fun to go with the energy flow and not fight it. (And you'll check all the tasks that need to be done the same way!)

   But yes, for many people, it's still a messy way of life.

   Ok. I'm a messy (crazy, artsy, strange, left handed) person. No news here, right?

   Even this blog started from my reason to get some rhythm and order for my creative process.
(While I don't finally build a decent website as well. Anyways)

   So, today I'm going through an important part of my creative process: r e g i s t e r i n g!


   Since I'm the quiet type of person, that one who almost never talks loudly or explode, even when is cursing badly inside, notebooks always had an important rule in my life.

   Obviously I used them to take school notes, to write diary stuff, to draw, to write stories... Basically let's just say that compared with people see outside, when look at me, the inner world is much more dark and deeper than it looks like, (hardly there are people who are not like this though.), so a day without registering, without putting thousand of emotions out was a hell of a day.

   "You have what, in Astrology, we call a double x-square." - that was Virgnia said to me. She's a friend who every year reads my annual charts. I know how to do it, but prefer having a professional also doing it, just to have a more impartial view of stuff - "And in your case it means that in your life the image you have of yourself is strongly connected with family, love and career." 

   Yes. Houses One (the self), Four (the family), Seven (the marriages and societies) and Ten (the career). I've always had plenty of knowledge about it: hobby needs to be work, which needs to be hobby. A love(r) must be a friend, or it just doesn't happen. Usually this friend/love(r) also is a very passionate person about work, career and arts, and becomes family. (And just to make it clear, I don't use the word family for links of blood. A person who has the same blood of you may not be as close as a dear friend and may not stand for you during difficult times. So, yes, in my point of view family is also a matter of choice. Fast and Furious' movies do apply here. Thank you.)

   But why the F*** I'm talking about Astrology if the point is registering?

   Because in 2016 I found the perfect way of registering my daily life! ♥

   It's an "infinite" A5 sized notebook. I take it everywhere and there are my daily tasks, arts, notes about dreams I had at night, plans, expenses controls, or anything I feel like registering.

   Some people would try to call it bullet journal, but I don't agree. Bullets have many rules, while my intention with this notebook is having a very organic material. They're thin notebooks sewed up together as they're needed. NO INDEX, NO CHRONOGRAM, NO GRID, NO RULES. Things are registered as they happen and as I feel like doing.

   Sharing a bit of content. Sometimes sketches. This illustration was inspired by New Orleans, USA. It was for Moxy's open call at Talenthouse. 

Maybe some manga quotes as well. ♥

Or thoughts related to the final project and HiGH&LOW...

   This is how the 2016 notebook finished. It's not thin and I thought it was all because of my college's final semester. Poor and inocent me, I thought I knew things.

   Here we have this year's notebook (from January to June) over the last year's. I've registered in six months so much or even more than I did during the whole year before. 

...

   2017: Magazine cuts, washi tape, sewing stiches, watercolor, all together at the same spread, because that was the mood of the moment. And it's totally fine.

   An illustration for Mike! ♥ ~ together with a couple of personal notes... (aka: Michael Christian Martinez, figure skater from Philippines)

   And that's how it works! Letting feelings out in a creative way, without killing people, without using regular schedule notebooks, without being boring and without throwing good paper in the bin, since the notebook only gets thicker if you need it to be. Still: everything is together, so there are no lost notes, and they have a chronological order! Handmade, organic, personal, artsy, expressive and ORGANIZED. 

 ... BUT MESSY! 

BECAUSE MESSY IS GOOD. ♥

See'ya soon, raccoon!