One habit that I have resonated most with and one that I feel I have improved immensely on is “Creative Confidence”. Before taking this class I had always found myself distrusting my own ideas whether in brainstorming, planning an event, or even thinking of ways I can make money. I did not allow myself to give new concepts a chance to grow and become anything better to be improved upon. I had always thought that if your initial idea was not a fully functioning and perfect concept then it was not even worth mentioning. Creative Confidence has taught me to give these concepts a chance to develop or to spark a different idea. I have now seen myself use creative confidence in many different forms like considering choosing classes that are out of my comfort zone, trying new activities like baking, and not shutting down ideas in art that I like to create. I most of all want to be able to apply this to creative art and eventually open a small online store to be able to sell what I create. It would have to begin with me being more confident in my idea creating so that I am not hindering my productivity by constantly dwelling on the small things when it is only an idea.
One habit that I could improve on is embracing ambiguity. I had originally thought I was confident in this area when Mide 300 assigned extremely ambiguous projects. However, I was rudely awakened to realize this was not a skill I had mastered. The current pandemic has taught me, in real life situations, I do not handle ambiguity as well as I had thought. It took me a long adjusting period of confusion and feeling unmotivated to do anything to realize I was not embracing the current situation. I felt lost by not having a routine, not having clear end goals, and having my sense of normality disturbed. This last Mide project helped to bring back some sanity in giving myself a routine by going on daily walks first thing in the morning. It gave me something to keep myself productive and have more energy. I need to train myself to continue applying these brainstorming and prototype creating methods in my normal life when I am faced with ambiguous situations.
Overall, Mide 300 has genuinely opened my eyes to many new ways of creating, thinking, and innovating. I felt like I have grown both as a student and in other endeavors. I had not considered how so many aspects of one’s life requires skills like brainstorming, child eye, testing and iterating, and many more techniques and habits. Now knowing all the ways I can apply these skills I can see myself continuing to make progress in this growth.