12.20.2006

early retirement

i've been telling people that i'm going into freelance retirement at the start of the new year, but maybe "sabbatical" is a better term for it. i'm taking some time off, planning on 6 months beginning february 1... i have a couple of projects to finish off in january before i can make a totally clean break.

this will be a shock for a few people who know that design consumes me in a way that few things do, but there are a couple of reasons this is the right thing for 2007:

- i have a job that pays well enough that i no longer have to supplement my income AND can start putting money away each month. cash i don't EVEN NEED TO TOUCH. unreal.

- i've gone and gotten myself hooked into the Glue Network, which may or may not lead to me spearheading a mural project in our very own windy city. i will keep everyone updated, there might be news in january...

- there's a health complication that isn't dire, but does require attention and now that i've got some new friends at Northwestern Memorial's Wellness Institute, the attention is on its way. Hence the Feb. start date to my sabbatical.

- lastly. i'm looking forward to reading more. getting more done. often, as with the recent Braddigan CD project, things can go quickly and be totally satisfying, but that's the exception and not the rule. it can be really hard to work 10 hours, come home and put in 2-4 more, then "maybe" hit the gym but more likely hit up some dinner, some TV, some bed. i have such a massive body of work that i love to show off, but it was all to prepare me for what i do now. i don't need to work that way any more.

anyway. last night - perfect example. i should have been working on an identity system for a landscape architect, but there was a documentary about photographers in Cuba and their memories of the revolution, and how they think it impacted how they work today. it was stunning and made me ache for those days in 2002 when i was wandering Havana.

then this morning i got an email from AIGA that had to do with a US/Cuba designers collaboration and it's a great program. so being me,
i emailed and said tell me more.

maybe God's putting ideas in my head that will take me back to Cuba?
i hope so.

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