I often wonder if I’m biting off more than I can chew. This happens at work, at home and generally in my life. These questions usually come up whenever I feel particularly overwhelmed, tired or stressed out.

Some people say that it’s not so much what you work on that matters – but rather it’s the things that you decide not work on that determines the success of your work. I’ve always had a big problem with this. I just can’t tell myself to stop dabbling, to stop exploring, to stop starting new projects before the old ones are finished.

Is it because I get bored? The old projects become more complicated and difficult and rather than sticking it out through “the dip”, I abandon and start a new?

I’d like to think that there is more method than madness to what might appear to be lack of discipline and commitment. Because how else can you find the work that’s worth toughing it out for? How else am going to find the projects that really matter to me than by truly exploring the field until I find one – and then, only then take it to its logical conclusion.

Some examples:

The tutoring company last 9 months or so – abandoned – and good riddance!

Volunteering at the African Community Center in Denver, or volunteering in general usually only lasts a few months at most – abandoned – it’s not fun and I haven’t been able to feel productive in anyway with any of those projects.

The honey project is now going for 2+ years – and I can’t imagine abandoning it anytime soon. I’m constantly learning new things – and am having a ton of fun. I’m feeling productive and successful. I’m feeling useful and challenged. It’s very time-consuming and it’s hard work but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

And I wouldn’t have stumbled across the honey project had I not abandoned the others.

So why would I stop looking now?

Life kind of takes over, and before you know it, it’s been months since your last post.

But I keep coming back to it. Why not abandon this blog entirely – say “I’m too busy” and move on?

A few reasons come to mind.

For one, I really want to have a forum for writing. Being able to write, even when it’s in this more informal setting, is very important to me. I believe that it’s through writing that come to discover our beliefs. And if I want to avoid living an unexamined life, I better come to terms with what it is exactly that I seem to believe – and why. I want to discover the questions I should be asking myself – the answers to which (or at least the consideration of which) will leave to a more informed life.

Another reason is that this is a great forum for me to explore topics that I don’t get a chance to research otherwise. Topics in visual art, politics, science and engineering come to mind.

Lastly, this blog is what someone discovers whenever I get googled. I feel like I don’t want to disappoint them either… whomever they are.

• a full-time job that I love
• being a dad to 6 month old son, that I love even more
• unending series of business challenges with Grampa’s Honey

And now two new projects:

• Organizing a festival in Colorado centered around honey and beekeeping
• Web/Branding for Denver Built Garages (draft)

I think the answer about time is not so much about how to “find” the time – it’s more about “making” the time. In my case, it’s about being obsessive about my projects. I can’t stop thinking about them all day long. I obsess over the problems that arise out of each one and I think through the possibilities. Even more often I’m dreaming about the potential, trying to imagine what the world looks like in the best case scenario. Thinking this way creates a very real sense of urgency for me and I can’t help but make apply pressure on the world to make it change. To make it more like what I imagine it could be.

It’s by being completely obsessive that I find the time – that I make time – to do all of the things that I believe are worth doing. I literally can’t help myself anymore, as if I’ve passed a certain point of no return.

Re-discovered this today:

About this presentation

Bestselling author and entrepreneur Seth Godin outlines a common creative affliction: sabotaging our projects just before we show them to the world. Godin targets our “lizard brain” as the source of these primal doubts, and implores us to “thrash at the beginning” of projects so that we can ship on time and on budget.

Here are a couple of dreams:

A California Avocado Story from Evolution Multimedia on Vimeo.

A California Avocado Story from Evolution Multimedia on Vimeo (via WhiteonRice)

(via Manuka Health Honey from New Zealand)

There are many reasons why someone would want to be a vegetarian, and I don’t necessarily want to have that discussion here, but I’ve been thinking about it long enough that it’s time to actually try it.

This is kind of a big deal to me, as I never thought that I would even ever try it. I grew up eating meat everyday (like most people, I think). But my wife is vegetarian, and so are some close friends. And living in Boulder (voted #7, on America’s Best Vegetarian-Friendly Small Cities) for 6 years certainly helped erase some of the stigma.

So, all and all I am pretty excited about it.

My interest with SCPNA was driven by a desire to get involved with local issues, and to contribute more directly to the challenges facing this city – to be involved more directly than a being just an observer (or worse, ignore the issues entirely). I started by attending a few the local political meetups (see here, and here), but couldn’t see myself working for those causes (I found the views to be too extreme for my comfort). So I decided to take less partisan approach and get involved with SCPNA.

What I found was a neighborhood that’s changing rapidly, both in terms of commerce (The Bluebird district is booming with new businesses) and demographics (new high rise condos doubling the neighborhood density, new low income housing complex being built). On the neighborhood’s agenda were things like how to accommodate parking for all of the new businesses/residents. How to manage the noise from the concert goers singing into the night, and the constant crime/disturbances from being next to Colfax Ave. It seemed like a great place to get involved in the community.

But after a year of going to the meetings and talking to the association members, I found that the association itself was represented by a very small number of residents who’ve lived here for a long time, and seemed more concerned with old feuds amongst themselves, than the actual business of the neighborhood association. It doesn’t help that the association has essentially no power to do anything – other than take votes on resolutions with no consequences, and write letters to the city officials.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the entire experience was that the vast majority of the people who live in the neighborhood don’t care less about what we were doing – and wanted nothing to do with it. The organization and its work simply didn’t seem to matter to anyone, except to the organization itself.

The best part of volunteering at SCPNA was meeting all of the neighbors, and learning more about the neighborhood -it’s history, it’s struggles, etc. The worst part was the pervasive feeling that all of the hard work of deliberating, writing and communicating was for nothing.

Simply Honey’s owner and sole employee is Brent Edelen, a third generation bee keeper. He has between 500 and 600 colonies that he moves to New Mexico in the cold months, and brings back to the San Luis Valley in the summer.

Brent let me taste four different types of honey: Clover, Tamarisk, Starthisle and Wildflower. By far the most interesting honey was the Tamarisk. The color of the Tamarisk honey jars is almost black, and it has a very distinct flavor.

I also experienced eating a raw honey comb for the first time in my life. It’s gooey, and the sweetness explodes in your mouth unexpectedly as the hexagonal wax cells all burst when you chew them.

Below are some pictures I took from the excursion.

As it looks like I will be getting more and more involved with helping Brent bring the honey to a new market, I will be writing more about Simply Honey, bee keeping and all matters of honey in general.

Brent of Simply Honey shows how he cuts out the honeycomb.

A frame still full of honey.

The finished product comes in a beautiful case.

Abandoned bee keeping supplies and barrels, once full of honey.

Amazing views of the Sange de Cristo Mountains.

Porche Lovely, the owner of Lovely Confections stepped up to the challenge and was able to spontaneously re-decorate a cake from another bakery in about a hour.

Porche Lovely, baking master.

Thanks Porche!