Wednesday 5 October 2016

Select it. Project it. Expect it. Collect it.

Mostly, I don’t hold out for specific wins. Sure, hope springs eternal, but that’s not quite the same as hardcore expectation. That’s not to say I never follow the mantra - I expected pretty hard for a summer holiday, to the extent that I even renewed the first-born’s passport. But nothing did I collect. Maybe I didn’t project hard enough…

Projecting and expecting is possibly easier with the creative comps. You put more into them - and sometimes you even get to see the competition, so you have an idea of how good you are doing versus the pack. That said, it’s easy to lose objectivity here - the two weeks my wife entered the Chicago Town dance-off I was convinced she was going to be the winner. She didn’t even place on the first week, and I was mad as a cat in a hot tin bath. Not least as it was her first attempt at comping, and she dances a million times better than I do.

But back to the moment: I am, as we speak, once more on max expectation.

Joules recently ran a competition to write a wee children’s book. The prize is not just a £1000 Joules giftcard, but also a Micro scooter (something from my wishlist!) and a heap of Puffin books. By my own broad measure, that makes the prize niiiiiiiiiiiice, at the very least.

Per the Joules logo, the lead character of my story is a hare (not a rabbit - I checked!); he rides a scooter and his best mate is a puffin. Heck, I even named him after the company’s CEO and the puffin after one of their tweed blazers! Too much, perhaps? After all, nobody likes a try-hard … Oh well - the deadline is now well past, so it’s out of my hands … All that’s left to do now is to expect - harder than I’ve ever expected before - till the end of October.

Tom Hare - from a Joules competition

In the meantime, if you’ve got any spare capacity for projecting or expecting on my behalf, I’d be very grateful!


Do you project, expect and collect? Are you waiting to collect anything particular right now? Perhaps you entered this one too? If so, do you fancy sharing your story? You can see mine here if you want to compare!

2 comments:

  1. My kids entered that one too (i didn't realise adults could otherwise i would defo have been up for trying!) - Wish you all the best with it. Microscooters have been on my wish list forever and seem to elude me all the time. One of the problems with this hobby of ours is learning to live with disappointment when you do put masses of effort into it. I've had times when i've spent weeks on a video entry and when it doesn't win that makes me feel low. I'm getting better at not getting so 'emotionally attached' to my entries though. And i remind myself of the jammy wins where i didn't spend much time on it or recycled an old entry and won so i guess it works both ways. Keep hoping for that holiday. There was a time that I wondered why others won holidays but not me and we've won a holiday or short break every year for the past 5 or 6 years i reckon (i've actually lost count!). It will happen - keep going!

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    1. Oh my, you've got me wanting to re-double-check the T&C on that one! My understanding was that it was open to all, but that under-16s needed parental consent. Hope so, or I'll be knocking that expecting & collecting on the head without further ado!

      I know what you mean about getting emotionally attached to some entries - I put hours into my Dubai blog post a few months back, but as the last few entries were published I knew I wasn't a contender! There was a similar comp for a break in Spain shortly after and I just couldn't face it! Still, it was a learning experience :D

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