Patchwork and Creativity

So Patchwork now seems to be getting some online coverage which is cool. We have a new interview up on Save Richmond , and an article written by our friend and web-guru Ross on Haduken . With all this talk about how Richmond is getting better, and about how it's always getting better, one thing becomes apparent: Doing stuff makes it that way. Not only stuff, but positive stuff. That's not as easy as it sounds, because in a city as small as Richmond, it's easy to step on other people's toes, and it's also very easy to either piss off, or get pissed at others trying to help the city.

One thing we try to do in Patchwork is to stay positive, and not burn bridges or make people mad. It's always been easy, because we truly love what we're doing, and who we work with. But sometimes we have had to deal with situations by taking the high road, and that's something we will stick to. We really want to do good things in Richmond, and help make everyone stronger in the process.

For me, it's not about improving culture or loving the city to death, it's just about doing sweet things that will help inspire others to do sweet things--it's that simple. I've been in the city for awhile, and ever since I first got here (1997), people have been saying that this city is slowly improving, and that it's gonna get awesome...And it hasn't. My favorite part was when Punchline stopped (sarcasm). That publication ending was clear evidence that the city was not getting better, but people continued to say that it was. But one thing that did happen, is that others (RVA, WADI, etc) were inspired to create their own answer to Punchline's absence.

I just think that our focus should not be on trying to improve the city in an idealistic sense, but rather we should focus on what to do that is different that will affect people in a positive way...And then do it. That's what Patchwork is doing and will continue to do. That's what I will do as well.

It's almost like consciously trying to make the city better is doing it a disservice, because it implies that the city needs to be made better, and that you have the solution...Which is probably too egocentric to do anything other than make you feel better about yourself. (Trust me, all you have to do to feel better about yourself is play Nintendo DS and use Google Calendar---both are an endless source of joy).

My solution is to work with what you have, and the better you are at it, the better it will get, and the better you will get. It's like a wave on the beach, or the wave in a football crowd, or a tsunami or avalanche.