SOFA is the name of a hacker/art collective, and also the name of the principle upon which the club was founded.
The point of SOFA club is to start as many things as possible as you have the ability, interest, and capacity to, with no regard or goal whatsoever for finishing those projects.
The goal is acquiring many experiences. The side effects include entertainment and increased skill.
Here are some ways to get starting with SOFA:
- Start reading lots of books. If you don't like a book you're reading, stop reading it and put it down. Maybe give it away.
- Start a new code or art project. Get at least as far as writing a detailed README[1]. Maybe you complete the project, or maybe you never get further than that. It's fine.
- Start learning a new language. Spoken or computer. Just start, you don't have to commit to mastering it. Open up duolingo[2] or exercism[3] and just do a few practice exercises.
Here's the secret sauce that makes the whole thing work:
You can be finished with your project whenever you decide to be done with it. And "done" can mean anything you want it to be. Whose standards of completion or perfection are you holding yourself to anyway? Forget about those! Something is done when you say it is. When it's no longer interesting. When you've gotten a sufficient amount of entertainment and experience from it. When you've learned enough from it. Whatever, whenever. Done is what you say it is.
And here's why it works:
Nothing is fixed, nothing is permanent, and nothing lasts. This is true of all things, including your ideas of self and identity. Want to be somebody who knows how to cook, or code in Lisp? Or somebody who knows how to rollerblade, or only eats plants, or worships the moon? Just start doing those things and then, poof! Now you are that person.
If you find out your new self doesn't suit you, just stop being that person and be someone else.
Be as many different people and do as many different things as you want. Start often. You don't have to commit your entire life to any one thing. Finish rarely.
Here's the final bit about how to finish things:
It can be hard to end things because of societal pressure to stick to things until the bitter end. Traditional marriage is the ultimate form of this ideal. You're supposed to stick to it until you die, no matter what, come hell or high water, even if it makes you and everybody around you miserable. That is neither sane nor healthy! That is not the SOFA way. Done means what you say it means. And ending something does not lesson its value. Just KonMari[4] that shit: have a moment of gratitude and appreciation for the experience and the things you learned and the ways in which you benefited from it. Thank it with conviction for having served its purpose, and then let it go and dismiss it. There. Done.
Now get out there and start doing stuff! And then stop doing stuff, so you can do more stuff! Do as much stuff as possible! Never stop doing stuff! Always stop doing stuff!