The joy of inventorying

The first step isn’t the hardest. It’s the fourth one that almost kills you.

Just ask anyone who’s gone through recovery before.

Step one, admit you’re powerless.
Step two, trust that a healthier lifestyle is attainable.
Step three, commit to focusing only on what you can control.

But the next one is the kicker.

Step four, make a search for a fearless inventory of yourself.

Yikes. You mean I have to list out all my resentments, fears, poor conduct and harm done to others? Ugh, that sounds awful.

You’re not wrong. People in recovery programs say it’s one of the more difficult steps to complete. Although I happen to like inventorying. I find it surprisingly empowering. Especially when I do it for more than just resentments.

Inventorying can have utility beyond simply confronting your own bad behavior. Recently I did a redesign of my splash page, which is basically a one page website with a link to all my various projects from the last twenty five years.

At first the task seemed daunting and tedious. But once I started seeing everything listed out like that, it was quite satisfying. I felt proud of my body of work that spans so many different mediums and ideas. Because the exercise was more than simply organizing my work, it was seeing the full arc of my creative journey laid out in front of me.

I sometimes forget how much I’ve accomplished, since I’m the kind of person who’s always moving forward. But seeing it all in one place reaffirmed my identity as a creator. I noticed patterns and connections between projects that weren’t obvious before. More importantly, I gained this perspective on how my work has evolved over the decades. Which sparked some new ideas about what I might try next

When was the last time you did a creative inventory? Are you honoring your past to remind yourself how far you’ve come?