I remind myself every day that I want to follow my mantra - Create, Connect, Change. If I can do those 3 things each day, I'm happy and I've achieved a level of satisfaction. It's not really a 'goal' but a state of being. I also learned long ago to do what's important to me first - like send a birthday card, create a granddaughter's scrapbook page, call Congress to register my daily complaint, etc. Seems that when I do those things first, everything else also gets done. BUT, if I put the personally important things off, they don't seem to get done.
This is so beautiful and such a good reminder. Our work deserves our full attention. Those book boulders are heavy and important enough without also being pulled away by the mediocre scroll boulders. I totally relate to this two-horse idea, and I like your approach to it.
Reading your article, I was stuck by how much awareness and wisdom that was in it and how well you described the dilemma of living a creative life in a world bustling with prompts from media etc., vying for our attention. We may have high speed internet, but we ARE NOT A HIGH-SPEED SPECIES. Refraining from giving you unasked for advice, let me ask you some questions? What would happen if you saw those two work horses not as TWO but as ONE? Is there a possibility that even the scrolling around at the Internet served a purpose in the overall creative picture of your work? What if the problem with that scrolling was mostly in your critical judgment of it as a doing nothing? (I have found some real gems that even fitted into my writing process doing such scrolling.) Is there truly a “right action” and a “wrong action” that we MUST choose between? Could we maybe trust our creative impulses more and see what we can learn in following them, trusting that EVERYTHING can serve our growth? Is what the internet wants even relevant? Who said that being productive is everything and what definition of “productive” is being used? And, last question, what prevents you from relaxing and trusting that your Inner Self knows your path and has you back?
Hi! I love "we are not a high-speed species." I have also heard people refer to "human-paced" activities, and I like that too.
You're right, I HAVE gotten creative input and insights from the internet. The problem for me often is how it shifts my inner knowing from a place of "I am a writer who writes" to "I don't know what I'm doing, and I should seek input outside myself" (and yes, sure, there is a time for outside input, but not at the stage of first planting the seed and nurturing it so it sprouts). So that, that habit of questioning myself, is something I have gotten so much better about, but I do find that any long portions of unstructured and unintentional time on the internet start to undermine that.
Sometimes I wonder how I spent my time when I didn't have a little smart phone to send me constant dopamine hits. Lately when I'm waiting I see how long I can go without checking my email or pulling up a game of Solitaire. It's surprisingly challenging.
Julie, Okay, first, I laughed at the pang of guilt about your "non-productive" cough. 😂 But also: doh! The email! (And apologies there!)
I feel you on the quest for work/inspiration balance; the only thing that has ever kept me on task is the dopamine rush of checking off a checklist item, so I've had to be very specific with crafting my checklists so that I set them to be what I want to have actually done at the end of the day. Which is ALSO not always easy. <sticks out bottom lip so that when I make a huff, it makes my hair flap comically>
I remind myself every day that I want to follow my mantra - Create, Connect, Change. If I can do those 3 things each day, I'm happy and I've achieved a level of satisfaction. It's not really a 'goal' but a state of being. I also learned long ago to do what's important to me first - like send a birthday card, create a granddaughter's scrapbook page, call Congress to register my daily complaint, etc. Seems that when I do those things first, everything else also gets done. BUT, if I put the personally important things off, they don't seem to get done.
I like that; I like your mantra!
This is so beautiful and such a good reminder. Our work deserves our full attention. Those book boulders are heavy and important enough without also being pulled away by the mediocre scroll boulders. I totally relate to this two-horse idea, and I like your approach to it.
I do really like the idea of these two ridiculous horses standing behind me at all times.
Reading your article, I was stuck by how much awareness and wisdom that was in it and how well you described the dilemma of living a creative life in a world bustling with prompts from media etc., vying for our attention. We may have high speed internet, but we ARE NOT A HIGH-SPEED SPECIES. Refraining from giving you unasked for advice, let me ask you some questions? What would happen if you saw those two work horses not as TWO but as ONE? Is there a possibility that even the scrolling around at the Internet served a purpose in the overall creative picture of your work? What if the problem with that scrolling was mostly in your critical judgment of it as a doing nothing? (I have found some real gems that even fitted into my writing process doing such scrolling.) Is there truly a “right action” and a “wrong action” that we MUST choose between? Could we maybe trust our creative impulses more and see what we can learn in following them, trusting that EVERYTHING can serve our growth? Is what the internet wants even relevant? Who said that being productive is everything and what definition of “productive” is being used? And, last question, what prevents you from relaxing and trusting that your Inner Self knows your path and has you back?
Hi! I love "we are not a high-speed species." I have also heard people refer to "human-paced" activities, and I like that too.
You're right, I HAVE gotten creative input and insights from the internet. The problem for me often is how it shifts my inner knowing from a place of "I am a writer who writes" to "I don't know what I'm doing, and I should seek input outside myself" (and yes, sure, there is a time for outside input, but not at the stage of first planting the seed and nurturing it so it sprouts). So that, that habit of questioning myself, is something I have gotten so much better about, but I do find that any long portions of unstructured and unintentional time on the internet start to undermine that.
Sometimes I wonder how I spent my time when I didn't have a little smart phone to send me constant dopamine hits. Lately when I'm waiting I see how long I can go without checking my email or pulling up a game of Solitaire. It's surprisingly challenging.
Those tech bros have done their jobs too well.
I know, it's so sticky. I have really challenged myself to leave my phone at home, or at least in my bag, as much as possible.
Julie, Okay, first, I laughed at the pang of guilt about your "non-productive" cough. 😂 But also: doh! The email! (And apologies there!)
I feel you on the quest for work/inspiration balance; the only thing that has ever kept me on task is the dopamine rush of checking off a checklist item, so I've had to be very specific with crafting my checklists so that I set them to be what I want to have actually done at the end of the day. Which is ALSO not always easy. <sticks out bottom lip so that when I make a huff, it makes my hair flap comically>
I don't mind emails from YOU! :)
🤗