Im coming late to the party: in February Errki Lindpere posed an worthwhile question on his blog that want to talk about:

“Anyway, please comment, if you are also a programmer, or a geek with a different specialization, who has a lot of hobby projects, how do you manage not to get swamped with them or get the feeling that you are always working on cool stuff but never releasing?”

Myself, I have been developing a fantasy mobile game Heroes of Arcadia since early 2005. While so far Ive got some funding, formed a company and released 2 beta versions, a finished game remains /at least/ 12 months off. [full story:  http://bit.ly/e3UKE]

I would never have dreamed in early 2005 that I’d still be unfinished in 2009. I would never have imagined the marathon effort it  would require of me to create a polished, fun, playable and stable game.

This experience has taught me an important life lesson: Pick your creative battles!

Our lives are finite. There are actually a limited number of things one person can attempt and complete in one lifetime.

Therefore, I feel it’s important to try to understand what you truly aspire to, what you are really good at, what you’re going to be happy doing. Find the sweet spot and really try to focus on it.

My strategy increasingly is to ensure that everything I am involved with fits with my overall aspirations, reinforces each other, and reuses what Ive learned and done already in life. In a word, Synergy.

By trying to create something large, Ive gained a sense of how much creative ‘mana’ Ive got in me. The blunt truth is that it feels somewhat finite, and less than I had idealistically imagined in my youthful daydreams.

So I want to ensure that I spend this mana in the most fruitful way I can.

Anything I attempt to do, I want to

• yield some outcome
• create something beautiful
• be proud of what Im doing
• enjoy the journey as the well as the destination
• learn and grow from

Aussie indie electro-pop band Empire of the Sun are making some beautiful music…

I just saw Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki’s early anime film My Neighbour Totoro for the 3rd time and I love it. My 3 years old son loves it too, hence the 3 times.

Set in mid-20th century rural Japan, it tells a story of two young sisters move to a simple country house with their father. Their mother is hospitalised some way off recovering from a long illness. Their new country environment brings them into contact with the potent energies of nature. Over a series of encounters they build a friendship with a mysterious nature spirit called a Totoro, who eventually renders them crucial aid in a time of need.

The film stands out in so many ways. It has no bad guy. Its central characters are girls aged 8 and 4. It deals with the supernatural with wonder and without horror. It can be enjoyed both by adults and the youngest and most sensitive children. It has a beautiful soundtrack. And it brims with vivid sensory experiences and astute observations from our world: the clinginess of children in times of uncertainty, the feel of the breeze on a warm summer night, the sound of first raindrops in a pond.

I especially recommend this film to parents looking for delightful and inspiring material to enjoy with their children.