Ideation Island vs. Progress Boulevard
I can’t believe we’re already in February! January felt like a flash of light.
Pop!
Then gone.
Now, in a new month in 2026, I’m wrangling with big ideas, big projects, and my big mouth.
This spring, I have my first solo exhibition with the Nicholson Project. This is the culmination of my six-month stay in the organization’s studio in the middle of Ward 7. It was so much fun to explore new ideas during that time. Now it’s time to transition from Ideation Island and move to Progress Boulevard.
But the storm and the freezing temperatures have slowed all progress. I’m just now getting the energy to push forward.
And that desire, that need to push forward, reminds me of a recent trip to Great Falls. It was right before winter announced itself. The ground and the grass were still visible. I remember being very excited by the idea of taking a longer hike. Usually, we tapped out around three miles. This one was double that, if I remember correctly.
My excitement continued until we began walking. My body started arguing with me the moment we embarked on our first hill.
“Why are you doing this?”
“You’re too old for this!”
“You should have bought that treadmill, and you could be watching Stranger Things as you walk.”
Even though I prided myself on walking around my neighborhood and easily snatching 15,000 steps on a normal day, this journey was harder than I imagined. But we kept walking. We kept talking. We kept laughing. And sure enough, we reached the end of our journey. And, it felt amazing.
As with all big hurdles, the feeling after you’ve done it is magical. That’s when all of this became simple.
You’ve heard it a million times, but sometimes it takes hearing it differently, from a different person, for it to sink in—so here I go.
The BIG IDEA is fun because it lives in your potential. It’s cradled in the loving embrace of the imaginary. It’s perfect. Once you move toward the thing (the art exhibit, the book, the article, the fill-in-the-blank), it becomes real.
And reality is boring.
It’s laborious.
It’s a constant battle to stay on that path.
But if you stay on that path, you will finish. And you usually end up better for it. The things you discover along the way are truly worth more than whatever it is you set out to do.
So am I scared about this exhibit?
Yep.
Am I going to trudge along to get it done?
Absolutely.
Because I can’t wait to meet the new me at the end of this journey.
If you have a big project you are working on, I would love to hear about it.