With the formal part of CLMOOC 2014 drawing to a close, I’m reflecting on all we’ve done together during the 7 weeks.
As with last year, overall I am amazed by everything everyone has done — all the things we made, the amazing conversations we’ve had, the writing and making we’ve done together, the new friendships we’ve made, the old ones we’ve deepened, the learning that we’ve started and will continue into the year. It is a testament to the goodness all around us that so many people have shared so freely and invested so much for the purpose of learning and playing together.
In terms of my personal participation, I wasn’t able to participate in as many makes as I wanted to [insert personal excuses here], but I know I will continue making, writing, and connecting with the CLMOOC community far into the future. Here are a few things I did during this round of CLMOOC that I feel good about:
- CLMOOC Make Bank (new version) – In my “facilitator” role for CLMOOC, I helped set up and foster a new make bank. Over 7 weeks, the community has added over 60 new makes and 80 new examples and tutorials to this bank. I know that many will continue to use and add to this in the future, and I think this is a huge success.
- Book art (that I made)
- Light painting – I’d been wanting to play with light painting and long exposure photography for a while and finally did that in week 5.
- A 10-shoe memoir (I struggle with these extremely short form memoirs. This was one I felt good about though.)
- “What is a story?” – A group of us got into an intriguing conversation about what makes a story. We pondered questions such as can a recipe be a story — not just inspire or remind of us of a story, but actually tell one? Our conversation culminated in a hangout about this, which was one of the highlights of this year’s CLMOOC for me.
I am always a bit sad when events like CLMOOC reach their formal “end,” but I know that the friendships and the learning will continue on.
Thank you everyone for being a part of my summer of making, playing, and connecting.