Tabula Rasa

Ah, the blank page! Like the blank canvases that I start each new work with, or the empty .txt document that begins each new web design project. It’s a process of varying degrees of discomfort in order to ‘get going.’ I always loved the Nike “Just Do it!” campaign because it had a way of minimizing the anxiety that comes from starting something new each and every time and yet making you want to believe it was somehow easy. So, here’s my first Medium post, a post about tabula rasa. There is a wonderful piece of music by Arvo Part with that title to which I listen often in order to find the impetus to start anew. (I wonder whether you can use up your fresh starts. Does one finally end up with none left, like tickets to the roller coaster at Great Adventure?)

I do often think that though it’s unlikely to be true, the idea of if one has the energy for a fresh start, is a mental state that is easily succumb to over time. The lacking becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. “You can’t teach old dogs new trick.” Well, maybe. Sometimes, yes, it’s just a matter of pondering the old to find the kernel of the seed that starts the new. And sometimes you do just run out of fresh starts. I’m happy to say I’m no there yet. And so, here’s to the next ‘fresh start”, whatever that may spark!