If there was any downside to not being in school anymore, it might be that there is less external motivation to create anything anymore. As much disdain I may have had towards those reports and group projects, they were new things I produced by my own design; although I've never had issues pursuing personal side projects either. So, without push of higher education, I have come up with a guideline to keep up some creative consistency.
I have made a commitment to creativity in my post-collegiate life, and convinced my roommates to join me in this endeavor. There is only one rule:
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create something on your own time, once a week It's a simple task, which can lead a superb feeling of accomplishment after seeing how much you've done over a short amount of time. For example, I live with two English graduates—two people who spent 4 years producing more written work than I ever did in my entire educational experience, so this commitment should be a piece of cake. They can outline a story, craft of poem, or even write a book report, but they are not tied to their literary leanings. Just as long as they are producing something they can be proud of, I will be proud of them.
For myself, I have sought diversity in my creative endeavors. Since it has to be on my own time, none of the professional work I do can count towards my submission each week; so I've chosen to pursue different outlets such photographing my new neighborhood, contributing to open source projects, sketching potential side projects and perhaps hacking them together on occasion, and also keeping up with my roomies in the writing department through this blog.
Some weeks I may end up with a dozen creations to share. Other weeks I will have to force myself to keep up with my commitment because I know I will appreciate in the end. Sharing this pact with others will help when internal motivation is just not enough, as well as validate the work we do together. I look forward to witnessing what we can accomplish over the next year and beyond.
Thus, with the publishing of this post, I have submitted my contribution for the week.
Thank you for reading. Now go and make something.