I'm a graphic designer, and I work in a programme called Illustrator. It's a great programme, and you can loads of fun and create some really cool stuff. But then the programme has a nasty habit. When you get so caught up and just going with the flow, the programme just shuts down without warning. Suddenly and harshly, it just stops running. You stop in your tracks and realise that you've lost everything that you were working on, that the time you spent working in the programme and whatever you've been creating - is no more.
Well what does this mean? Does it mean you should sob your eyes out and grab a Kleenex and wallow in your self pity? Does it mean you should never use Illustrator again? Or does it mean that you have to open up Illustrator again, learn from your mistakes and handle things more responsibly next time (like always saving). Knowing where you went wrong. Learn from your experience and remember what you were trying to create, and this time do it better than before?
Well, right now, in my life, Illustrator has crashed. I have realised that I have to start again. That everything over the last couple of years is no longer. The initial reaction to starting again is undeniably daunting. But with these technical failures that we cannot simply avoid or foresee, we have a choice in the matter in how we handle things and how we proceed from then on.
I'm sure I will use Illustrator again when the time is right, though in the mean time I think I'll just power down and give the computer some time to rest.
