I’ve been following the Struthless youTube channel for a few years now. He’s a creative whose struggles with the ‘creative life’ and his means to overcome them really resonate with me. I’ve watched probably hundreds of his videos (starting with this clickbait here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6NsEDwHHiE ) He’s funny, he’s TOTALLY relatable and what he says makes sense to my brain. So when he launched the idea of a mass participation creative challenge, I was intrigued for sure.
The idea is based on what he has called the Stallion Theory, which is basically like having a wild horse inside your head. You can either tame it and use its creative power for good, or let it go wild and cause chaos. According to him, to harness creativity, you need structure and restraints. Say goodbye to the agony of making choices. It’s like the daunting battle between a blank page and one that tells you to draw a dog on a ball (yeah, he used that example).
The Alphabet superset is like a 26-week adventure of creating one masterpiece each week. I’ve got specific guidelines for the medium, style, and output. There are achievable targets I have to meet every week, but without the same pressure of deciding WHAT to do with that blank page.
And so, ‘A’ is for an acorn I stumbled upon during an autumn walk… and apparently, it’s also for squirrel… or acorn-eater?? Who knew? 🐿️
Megan Abel 