An update on the lack of updates

“We owe it to ourselves and the world to spend our time with purpose and drive.”

That quote jumped out at me when I read it yesterday in a blog post by Robbin Phillips of Brains on Fire. I really love design, and I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life, but lately I have been a bit stressed and occasionally challenged to maintain focus. Mental clutter is the enemy of creativity, so I have been doing what I can to purge my “psychic RAM” (a term borrowed from David Allen) when my life/work/project load seems overwhelming. Looking ahead though, I am working toward simplifying my life and making more time for family, personal goals, and projects that I am truly passionate about.

In my final post at BicycleDesign.net last November, I said that I planned to occasionally blog about bikes and active transportation here at JCT.design. As you can tell from the lack of recent posts on this site, that hasn’t been the case so far. Don’t give up on me though! Right now, I am busier than I have ever been before, but much of that “busyness” is in pursuit of the simplification goal that I just mentioned. I know that sounds a little crazy, but I am taking on more than I should right now, so that I will have freedom to focus on my priorities and pursue my passions later. As you might imagine, bike related projects are a big part of those future goals, so I WILL get around to sharing my thoughts about bikes and bicycle design again (I really do miss the old blog and the community that motivated me to keep it going for a decade).

I won’t go into everything I am doing now, but I will mention one big change. My wife and I bought a smaller house (half the size of the one we live in now) and we are in the process of a full renovation. The house has been unoccupied for a couple years and needs a LOT of work, but it is closer to downtown, and is located right on a new extension of our local Greenway trail. Though I have been a “fair-weather bike commuter” for more than 25 years, I haven’t been riding as much for transportation lately. That is one of the things that will change with this move though… in fact, I am working toward the goal of eventually being able to ditch my car entirely. With the shift back to riding for transportation, I want to refocus my local bicycle advocacy efforts too.  In the past, I was quite active in working for safer roads for cyclists. I served as Advocacy Chairperson on the Greenville Spinners board for a few years, and I maintained a blog called Bike Greenville from 2007 to 2012. A lot has changed in the past few years, and Greenville, SC has become a much better place to live and ride, but there is still work to be done. I look forward to ramping up my involvement again, and making a difference in this community that I am happy to call home.

I could go on about current projects and future plans, but I’ll save that for future posts. For now, I just wanted to provide a quick update on the general lack of updates here. You can expect to see regular posts from me again at some point… hopefully soon. Stay tuned!