Consuming the Alphabet: Alphabet Superset Mega Post

Hi! You caught me, I'm undertaking a project in a new duel medium: collage poetry with photography! While the medium of poetry and photos themselves aren't new to me, collaging is.

All of these likely will be new to those of you who have experienced my published work before predominantly being occasional short stories and blog posts with main output for a long time here being music performance based content. This is as a part of the Alphabet Superset Challenge, a creative challenge designed to allow creatives to work through the fear of posting online and improve their content by making a fully focused body of work over six months.

During this process we get sent Better Quest digital care packages for 30 weeks with all kinds of resources to fill the creative cups and reset the mind over the process. Pushing yourself creatively can be a lot and as Campbell Walker - also known as Struthless - the creator of this challenge said 'the aim of regular mental nutrition is to allow you to unlock your potential in a way that feels energising - not draining!'.

Recovery weeks are used to catch up if life has caused complications and a falling behind the self-imposed deadlines set as the ultimate goal of the challenge is to be creative WITHOUT BURNING YOURSELF OUT! That for me is the biggest challenge as I find myself getting excited about projects then running myself into the ground trying to juggle 1,000 things at once around general life commitments. If you add in chronic health concerns at present you get a storm in a rapidly smashing teacup. It's been wearing me down for nearly a decade, nobody knows what is wrong yet. So instead I'll bounce around the rim of daylight pushing through the pain, the world doesn't have remotes for me to press pause nor space to breathe it seemed. I had to keep moving and I want to reach the benchmark and above to biscuits of dreamy lands filled with less pain, not none... Less because anything more doesn't seem attainable right now, baby steps. I'd collapse on the floor at home for several hours (not an exaggeration) after that, it's all I've known how to do. I was taught that was right even though it makes the conditions worse and the last six years especially were hardest for that as hospital trips increased while I felt trapped with my own body my capture, though I know it has been doing that to protect me from further harm. While it's not as bad as it was, it does mean I don't have the energy, mental focus or time to connect as often as I would love to respond or catch up with others sometimes around work and medical appointments that take up every other day of the week. Part of this challenge for me is to reclaim connection to others and myself. Nowadays, I don't know my main medical issue's names yet though we are making steady progress solving individual symptoms over time and I'm getting acquainted with the restrictions like earlier bedtimes enforced by medications. It's hard, seeing your life from a window knowing I'll likely be in my 30s before a normal 20s can be had. I know all I can do is to have hope.

Dangerous thing hope, moves mountains and cities to ash.

I don't know if I'll get better... I can't stay in the waiting-room of life any longer. Let me go first to surgery for my perspective and give me room to heal, let me find a place to land within the wounds I choose for myself. I'll explore the world through the eyes of all, speak to strangers, I'll feel it to heal it even the parts of my journey I have hated wearing most.

Have at me Alphabet, I challenge you to a duel. I intend to learn you well, know this...

Your greatest lesson shall be never to underestimate strength and courage of vulnerability.

Do not underestimate the power of me.

Join me as I gain perspective on life through each and every letter, let's get ready, set, GROW!

The Gauntlet: Alphabet Superset Program Outline

PROGRAM OUTLINE

PHASE 1: SET YOUR SCOPE

2 Weeks of Preparation

PHASE 2: WEEKLY QUESTS

26 Weeks of Projects + 4 Rest Weeks

30 Weeks of Intentional Growth

1 - Set Your Scope

Deciding on creative constraints upfront to eliminate the need for tiny decisions over the next six months. In this phase I chose what to make, how I would make it and what my reason for making this project all was. I also wrote a letter I am sending to myself in six months time for when I complete this because I will.

I have five personal creative rules for the project in addition to some regarding medium.

To summarise most of it: I'm creating poems that will fit on paint cards, this is to restrict length as I'm used to writing on longer scale and I want to focus on making every word count. I will mix handwriting and cut out printed words to create the main poem adding in elements from photographs I take that are either inspired by the poem or have elements that remind me of the poem in some way. I need to include at least two senses where possible and adhere to the overall theme of 'Perspectives' since I wish to gain some on life through this project letter by letter.

2 - Letter Quest

This is the part I'm currently in! Doing each of the letters one by one which you can explore from here! Each weekly project will be based on a different letter of the alphabet: the A to Z of topics relevant to 'Perspectives'

Perspectives: The Alphabet I Conquered Timeline (in Progress)

Click the topic for the week to go to the Instagram post or poem title to go to behind the scenes blog. (Updated as I progress in the challenge & make blogs public)

A: 08/09/23 Atmospheric Perspective in Art, Love & Loss.

Title: 'Blue Distance' Blog Post

B: 15/09/23 Best Life Advice from Strangers.

Title: 'Enlighten My Load, Strangers!' Blog Post

C: 22/09/23 Constructive Criticism/Communication.

Titles: 'Constructive Critique' (paint card) & 'Chameleonic Communications' (extra poem) Blog Post

D: 29/09/23

Title:

Recovery Week

E: 13/10/23

Title:

F: 20/10/23

Title:

G: 27/10/23

Title:

H: 03/11/23

Title:

Recovery Week

I: 17/11/23

Title:

J: 24/11/23

Title:

K: 01/12/23

Title:

L: 08/12/23

Title:

M:15/12/23

Title:

N: 22/12/23

Title:

Recovery Week 1

Recovery Week 2

O: 12/01/24

Title:

P: 19/01/24

Title:

Q: 26/01/24

Title:

R: 2/02/24

Title:

S: 9/02/24

Title:

T: 16/02/24

Title:

Recovery Week

U: 01/03/24

Title:

V: 08/03/24

Title:

W: 15/03/24

Title:

X: 22/03/24

Title:

Y: 29/03/24

Title:

Z: 05/04/24

Title:

Alphabet Superset Completed by April 8th 2024