A week later I felt better than I had in five years. Those sorts of benefits are hard to ignore. I even felt tiny bursts of that coveted mental silence, the source of this supposed bright light. It could have been that, or perhaps it was getting pounded senseless at the base of a waterfall I completely missed the boof on, but something started to shift. The voice of inspiration echoed from within:
"Go forth and make videos."
"Dammit", I thought, in the voice that Indian Jones used when he looked down and saw all those snakes in the well-of-souls, "why did it have to be video?"
Video is another thing I've avoided like the plauge, a perfect hole to pour time into. Nonetheless, I love creating entertaining narratives, I love organizing information and teaching, and video is a much more dynamic medium for furthering these goals. There is also my savant like ability begin teaching on the word "go" and spit out something reasonably concise and professional. I had to accept that I should be doing video, and from that realization everything began to flow. I bought a camera and began to force feed myself an editing program.
Beginning late this spring we'll be launching Cape Falcon Video, A video specific website where I can post entertaining paddling videos, informational videos about the kayak building, and a pay-per-download series of building and paddling tutorials. There are a lot of things I teach that I think are worth money to learn, and I'm sure you'll agree that paying a buck to download a particular lesson is a lot less frustrating than two days of cursing at your skinboat in the basement. I also just love to teach, mingling a unique mix of politics, spirituality, irreverence, and humor with some top quality instruction.
It's a big project, but it's one I'm excited to tackle.
The days are getting longer, seeds are starting to arrive in the mail, and soon it will be time to fire up the table saw and prep for my first class of the year. With the buzz of new projects tingling in my brain I'm finally excited to do it all over again, to share the special magic that comes from building your own wooden boat, in beautiful a setting where you can nibble on things growing nearby. Until then, I've got a lot to do, ready, set, go!