Collections

I love grouping things. I sometimes will buy, read, make, listen or watch something, and want to do deep dives and collect all the information about the thing. Like for me, baking bread is not enough. I have to read book after book on the subject, collect the paraphernalia, and learn all the technical terminology. I love Ghibli films, so for the past few years, I have gradually collected the majority of the movies that they have made. Same with Pushkin Vertigo mysteries from Japan, some book series, teapots, etc. Not every interest ends up in collecting physical items. I will sometimes spend a month just drawing one type of clothing to explore the theme under that constraint. I get a massive amount of satisfaction too grouping songs in a fresh playlist. A month ago or so I made a playlist called "Cosmic" where I collected 7+ hours of music in a space/dreamcore theme peppered with cosmic sound clips and even snippets of old-time radio sci-fi programs. On Mother's Day, I got it into my head that I wanted to make an 80s playlist but limit myself to one song per country. I was so happy with my title too! "Around the World in 80s Songs" and so far I have 23 countries represented ^_^

1. USA

2. United Kingdom

3. Germany

4. Italy

5. Puerto Rico

6. Dominican Republic

7. Czechoslovakia

8. Austria

9. Brazil

10. Mexico

11. Australia

12. Norway

13. Scotland

14. Ireland

15. Finland

16. Netherlands

17. Canada

18. Belgium

19. France

20. Portugal

21. Korea

22. Japan

23. Sweden

Sorry, those aren't in alphabetical order. I kinda just went by the order I remembered them ^_^ I want to make the list have 80 songs because it feels like a good synchronicity but we'll see if I can get 80 countries! I feel I should be able to. It's been a fun exploration and I learned a lot already (A-Ha is from Norway!!!)

There's something deeply comforting about a deep dive. I think because I know the thing and it's a reliable source of entertainment to learn more. Maybe it tickles my need for consistency and repetition. Perhaps it appeals to my creative side. I've learned that having infinite resources kills my creativity, so introducing artificial boundaries in my endeavors seems a reliable way to make good ideas. It's helped me in my work, because I must be mindful of time limits and technical limitations. Plus, I'm extremely prone to suffering from decision fatigue. So simple tools that do the job well, or a limited palette of materials (be they markers or songs) make for more satisfying output.