Daily Dolls' House December 2020: round up and musings...

After completing the final scene for this year's Daily Dolls' House December challenge, I had the urge to collate all the images, and then decided to make a bookmark (something I've not done since 2011: which has to be a good sign, I think...)

I started my Daily Dolls' House December challenges back in 2013, and have managed to complete them for 5 of the years since. (2014's challenge fell over because I was also editing The tiny Times and working in a toxic role, both of which sucked my time and brain space away halfway through the month, and I didn't attempt 2015 (as I was exhibiting and, again, editing) or 2018 (shifting!)

When I started the challenge this year I was wondering if it was worth doing it at all. But it ended up being surprisingly easy (even if I moaned a bit at times about the added challenge of incorporating the date).

Of course, working from home made it easier during the first third of the month, as I had more time to commit to the challenge (and the luxury of being able to prep at lunchtime if necessary).

And the rest of the consequences of the whole COVID times helped a lot too, as once I was off work for the year (a week earlier than usual because I wasn't able to make my usual second trip to New Zealand this year so had that week's leave up my sleeve), there was very little enticing me from my studio.

I now get my groceries delivered (for $2!) rather than visiting the supermarket and dealing with the crazy too-close people. Although I can go op shopping if I want to, it's more stressful than it's worth dealing with the other shoppers and the staff who seem to have completely forgotten that physical distancing is still a thing. (Besides, with much less room than I used to have and way more stash than I need there's very little reason to go op shopping anyway...)

Gallery hopping or movie going are currently also on my More trouble than they're worth list.

Which left me in the perfect position to happily lock myself away in the studio.

And my initial moaning about incorporating dates changed it's tune once I realised that having that parameter gave me some boundaries: on days where I needed to create a fresh scene, I knew in advance so could do some prep work beforehand. And once the scene was made (photographed, blogged, Instagrammed, Facebooked and FLICKRed), that was it for the day.

Similarly, if I already had something lined up for the day's post that left me free to do other things.

I found it liberating in an odd sort of way: there were times when I'd finish a scene, prepare the already-lined-up post for the next day and have a sense that I was 'free' for 48 hours: and then end up spending that time doing a deep sort and cull of stuff I haven't touched in years.

So although at first I thought this year's challenge tougher, it ended up being easier as once I'd hit my mark I could focus elsewhere for a predetermined time.

And speaking of predetermined time: at some stages of the challenge I felt like I was back in the newspaper world, where once the issue went to bed there was nothing more you could do with it. In previous years I could carry something over to the next day, but this year I 'had' to have a scene blogged before midnight (or, more accurately, 9 pm bedtime). This meant there were a few times where I was tempted to redo something but had to pull myself up and remind myself that done was better than perfect, and I would probably be the only person who noticed the mistake.

And the weather's helped a lot: it's been a cool summer which means my brain (and Blutack) haven't dissolved into a sticky mess.

Now it's over for another year: how do I feel?

The word I've been using a lot when people have asked how my break was over the first few days back at work is 'recalibrated'. I also feel chuffed that I finished another challenge, and rather pleased with some of the outcomes.

So yeah. Defeat is not an option. At least not this year.

I'm also hopeful that I can find time in my weeks to include some mini making and blogging: but I seem to recall I say pretty much the same thing in those first glorious days of each year, and then as various obligations and distractions start building back up, things fall to pieces again.

Perhaps with the variety of external distractions much reduced this year (for the foreseeable part of it at least), and another year of settling in to smaller quarters behind me, it'll be different.

We'll see.