When I was a kid, I drew a lot.
Mostly clowns, lots of 3D boxes and I even made my own coloring books. I would draw (not trace) pictures from McDonald’s glasses and other fun characters I’d find around the house, my Dad would make copies at work, collate them and my masterpiece would be done. Then, I would sign copies for my family from the world-famous Robin. Natch.
I loved it. I loved the focus, the creativity, the fun and the ability to get lost in the project. (I wish I could say the same about my recent vision board debacle.)
As you can imagine, I still love making things and when it comes to poster boards for marches, marathons and large group events, I’m in.
However, I don’t want to write what everyone else writes. I’m a punster, I’m a comedian and I’ve worked in advertising for 20 years as a Creative Director/Copywriter, so I want to be creative, get people’s attention and, in many cases, make them laugh.
Yes, you are!
Some of the marathon and triathlon signs I’ve made have featured lines like “Damn, you are sexy” and “Will you marry me?”
As someone who’s done endurance events, I understand the mental strength you need to complete one and my hope is that my sign takes their mind off of the race for just a moment and either makes them laugh, smile or engage with me… as many athletes have before telling me I’m sexy, too. Awww, shucks.
DM me, if interested. ;)
One year a woman who was about to leave the NYC marathon thought I was proposing to someone who was running it. She wanted to stick around to see his reaction and while I was tempted to tell her yes, I was about to pop the question to my sweaty, exhausted, smelly boyfriend, I was honest.
I loved that my sign was that believable though.
The same holds true for the poster I created the first year for the Women’s March. It read, “I support NASTY women, not a DYNASTY” and “4 Years of Reproductive Rights. SAD!”
So last night I got out the magic markers, the poster board, got lost in my sign for today’s women’s march and I’m thrilled with what I came up with.
One that stresses the importance of the march’s mission and one that’s more fun and playful.
I’ve been wanting to do something with The Notorious RAG, since those are my initials, ever since the RBG movie came out. (If you haven’t seen it, you must. It’s an inspiring and beautiful story of an incredibly strong and determined woman.)
Now seemed like the perfect time to do it and I can’t wait to see people’s reactions. My hope in this case is to also get people’s attention, make them laugh, smile and most importantly, engage. Isn’t that one of the reasons we’re all bonding together in the freezing cold in the first place?
Every morning I’m energized by writing in this blog and letting my creativity unfold in a different way with these posters that harkens back to my childhood feeds so many of my needs. The need to be creative, to focus, to slow down and to have fun. No rules, no stress, no competition. Just play.
That’s my kind of self-care or as you know, Gelf-care. :)
How do you express your creativity? What do you like to do to slow down and/or have fun? Have you seen the RBG documentary? Tell me below!