My lovely tutor Elizabeth suggested some ways to try and help me hone down my ideas. I have too many and they’re all too connected and I just get carried away with (or maybe that’s overwhelmed by) them all at once. So mind mapping was the first step. Such a tried, true and trusted technique. Theoretically.
The act of actually making this mind map was in fact very helpful, true to my process based roots the getting lost in its ever growing web was a great way to put down in front of me many of the thoughts and correlations that wander around my mind and get tangled up. This web is, as of today, 1.20m by 80cm in size but really it could be even bigger. I forced myself to stop at this point because I felt I needed to at least vaguely reign it in into some specific areas of subject because honestly otherwise I think it would never stop. Or I suppose I mean I’ll never stop. I’m thinking of turning into a painting but haven’t quite got there yet but I love the idea of building a living thing that just grows and entangles itself for an ongoing length of time. I like the imagery of synapses that a mind map envokes and I like the idea of having some sort of inflated note pad for my thoughts and ideas that goes beyond the random thoughts I text to myself in the middle of the night and more often than not, good intentions aside, don’t get to come back to.
After I did it I felt annoyed, it didn’t feel as resolved as I had hoped, I’m not entirely sure why I thought this would suddenly solve all my problems but for a brief minute there I think I did believe it would! I have been staring at it occasionally and reflecting on its many branches, over time I am whittling them down and I think I can see where the main arteries should be.
Elizabeth told me to triangulate so that’s the next step I guess. I say that like I have any idea what that means and how I’m gonna achieve it!