Time and Space

...to think, that is.

I was reading one of my regular blogs this morning and the latest post struck a very big chord with me. It's a post on Gone To The Dogs called Take time to think.
I went on to read the article mentioned in "Take time to think", and it made me smile as well as grimace. Smile because I recognised the truth of it and grimace because I recognised myself ignoring the reality of it in my life.

If you too are suffering from overwork, burnout or a creative block, I completely sympathise. In this our busiest time of the working year, it is hard (actually impossible) not to overwork as our deadlines are very tight. Naturally this isn't a great state from which to make good business, or life decisions. For instance, buying a new blender should not require three days of discussion and multiple shopping/browsing trips and still have no final purchase decision - or blender !

As the world's worst know-it-all-and-do-it-not, there is a great degree of irony in reading these articles reminding me of things already learned from my library of books on the creative process. The bugger of it, please excuse the Middle English, is that taking time is actually possible even in the busiest of work or life times. Just this past week I made a pact with myself that I would wrest back control of my life from my "wants/desires/greedies" and reinstate a mental governing committee comprised of "needs/best for/sensibles".

For me this means different things in different areas of my life, including following my trainer Cris's dietary advice and his personal diet plan: SELAP ™, or it's serious and spiritual big brother SELAPFGS ™.
Want to know a bit more about the diet thing? Personally I think I've graduated to the upspec'ed version.
Stop
Eating
Like
A
Pig

and

Stop
Eating
Like
A
Pig
For
God's
Sake.

Anyway, this is pretty much about creating a margin in life. It's hard to do that sort of stuff when you submissively allow your wants/desires/greedies to decide what to eat, how to spend your time and how to react to life's little bumps and bruises.

Also part of my pact was to slow down mentally and allow my brain to take a breather, I cannot possibly cram all those things into a single day and writing a big list will not change that reality. Take things and break them into smaller pieces, allowing some space between jobs or (gasp) housework. The amazing thing about trying on this new mental attitude is that I feel calmer and more in control. I don't feel overwhelmed by my "must do" lists.

This is the beginning of the process that will give me time and space to actually be creative - both in my life and in my work. It also means that I might actually catch up on things that have slipped by the wayside through the "possum in the headlights" state that overwork generates. So, if I haven't emailed you in a while, expect to see something personal soon !

After the beginning there comes the maintenance. That is usually the downfall. Do really well for a week, then cave in to those old habits. I'll let you know how it goes. Keep your fingers crossed for me.