How to tell if something is "done"...... Well, in the past when it came to papers and assignments the "doneness" of something typically correlated with deadlines. Once the clock hit the time to turn in whatever was assigned, it was done. The rest was up to them to decide my fate in the form of a grade. Now when it comes to this class and creating projects that will transcend the classroom and take flight into the electronic and public spheres being done may become a little more complex.
I kept a blog while I was away down in Chiapas, Mexico and since there was no deadline and no pressing issues surrounding it I constantly knit-picked at my wording, grammar, phrasing, and layout. To this day there are still words that I am like "when I get a minute I'm going to take that out" even though digital cobwebs have crusted the blog over since my last post in March of 2011. I would say that my blog would be a great example of deciding how to understand when something is "done." My wife and I decided we were going to turn our blog into a book and distribute it ourselves on the web. This required us to format the blog appropriately, thoroughly go through the text and figure out the flow of the narratives. This took many thorough edits, but once we felt the final product was finished as best as it could be (there were some things we wish we could have altered like the center alignment of the final poem, etc) we were happy and willing to make compromises. We both believed in the final product enough to feel it was worthy of being placed in the marketplace.
Using the website lulu.com we set a price, created a profile page and attempted to market our creation. After about 3 days we sold about 10 copies (mostly to family members), but we took it offline. Our original plan was to take all the proceeds and donate it to the organization that is working with the Q'eqchi' I will be doing my research with, but then we felt uncomfortable knowing we included photos of individuals and used real names without asking for consent. I know this is just a blog, but since I was "profiting" off others who were not necessarily benefiting I was conflicted with the ethics of it all. We eventually took the small proceeds from the initial sales, added to it, and donated $100 to the organization.
I would consider this project a success and it being "done." We were able to produce a finalized product that carried monetary value, we were proud of it, and it contributed to the benefit of others. Of course we could have done more to make it more successful- i.e. remove real names (add pseudonyms), remove photos to ensure privacy, etc., but this would have taken away from the realness of the story. I have considered doing this, but instead I feel leaving the blog as it is with all the true intricacies of the trip intact for everyone to search for and discover on the Internet for free is of higher value to me than the occasional sale of a book.
I guess what I'm saying correlates with a quote I heard from our volunteer leader, "what you build with your hands you also build within yourself." So, as long as you are proud of what you created it is done and the confidence that surrounds it will prove its worth, if the product is a farce and you know it, it will be obvious. So, in a way what you create is a reflection of yourself, you'll know when its ready, its a feeling you get of understanding your own worth.
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