It’s raining.

Not heavily, but almost the annoying spray type of rain that you would find in a broken shower. I’m looking out the window thinking about how I am a day late handing in my SCAB. (sorry)

The word SCAB brings the most obvious thing to mind, a dry formation of platelets that heal a wound, leaving a rough bogey like object on the surface. Scabs hurt a lot to pull off. I managed to get a graze last night, I wonder if it will scab.

I’m currently considering a variety of ideas for the GIF project. It feels good to create something for the first time. I would say I was lucky to have made just one GIF from scratch before this, but I doubt that will help though.

I think I’m starting to settle into SCA a bit more now. The ‘pre-game’ nerves I had before starting have dissipated, refer to my SCAB #00001. Although, now the fun begins. I don’t know if other people feel this way, but before I came to SCA I heard some of the students mentioned how it consumes your life, all you talk about is SCA, all you think about is SCA and all you dream about is, well…

I have actually started to find that this is becoming true for me. On the journey home I thought how I can get better, stepping on the rugby pitch for training in the evening I wondered who I’ll partner with and when I got home, I contemplated whether I should read David Ogilvy on advertising or perhaps Alchemy first. What I’ve taken from reading previous SCABs is that I should include some reflection.

So, what I’ve discovered from Wednesday was that I surprisingly enjoy improv, I found it useful to shake off nerves and break down scenarios. Also, it’s a different kind of thinking, putting yourself in the perspective of a mosquito for example, I see its usefulness in entering the mind of the consumer and creating a more open and also positive way of building from small, sometimes unexpected starts.

Poetry has never really been my thing. I’ve studied English and really enjoyed it. I’m not particularly an avid reader, however the lesson opened my horizon to stream of consciousness thinking and developing confidence to just get out whatever comes to mind, then refocus on the good later. A technique that’s going to be useful when starting on a brief… Get out all the excrement, then make that turd shine.

Speaking of shine, tell you what else does, diamonds. You can’t form a diamond without pressure. Channelling pressure and stress positively can be difficult. Sometimes you won’t even spot the signs you’re overstressed. I found the presentation from Matt Follows enlightening, to reality and also how to combat this stress so we run towards freedom that awaits behind fear. Matt’s methods to finding mindfulness in combination with Marc’s reiteration of positive mental attitude, I believe will almost certainly help. I’m not feeling a lot of pressure yet, but I’m sure everyone else and I will shortly.