is it just me or is there a faulty planetary alignment going on this week? something's just off. i'm not sleeping well. and i just feel, well...blah. i'm reading a book that i hate and yet i persevere. what's strange is that i have surrounded myself with inspiration all week and actually feel very inspired on an intellectual level. my inspiration notebook is filled with notes and scribblings, and i'm constantly running to scribble another sketch or thought in it, but when it comes to sitting down and actually DOING any of them, it falls down for me. i can't really get up off the couch or out from in front of the computer. i'm all input and no output. what is it about this week? i can't put my finger on it.
in a way i'm in a holding pattern. i signed a contract for a new job last week and it starts next week. so this week has been the in between week. i should have been eager to get all kinds of things done (like all those half-finished sewing projects i've got going) , but strangely, i just feel i'm waiting. and it's not that good liminal space kind of waiting that i love and have waxed philosophical about on numerous occasions. it's just a really non-productive kind of waiting wherein i have retreated into giant sloth mode:
and i was feeling rather badly about it until i read this. it seems that leonardo davinci was a great procrastinator. he filled tons of notebooks with ideas, but executed very few of them in actuality. it's really only an ingrained weberian protestant capitalist thing that makes us think that procrastination is bad. in fact, procrastination gives you time to work things out in your mind. perhaps all this thinking about the artworks that i've sketched out will make them better in the long run. i mean, who wants to be mediocre? and there are times when productivity breeds mediocrity. as the article says, davinci understood the fleeting nature of the imagination...it's important to get your ideas down while they're there. working them out comes later. to quote the article, "if there is one conclusion to be drawn from the life of leonardo, it is that procrastination reveals the things at which we are most gifted--the things we truly want to do."
therefore, i procrastinate in order to get in touch with my innermost creative self. so there.
18 comments:
All hail DaVinci!
Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time for me to procrastinate a little more (read: at least until Tuesday).
xox
I feel the opposite this week: I'm getting all sorts of stuff done, but am left very uninspired by things. I think I need the month to change, so I can start looking forward to spring without sounding like a delusional idiot.
Good luck with the new job, Julie!
Wow! This was a really awesome post! My first thought as I read your first paragraph was "tell her about biorhythms". Have you heard of them? You can google it and some websites will chart you for free. Very interesting. Another explanation could indeed be screwy planetary alignments. Or maybe...ah, nevermind. I could go on and on.
The other thing I wanted to do was thank you for the little commentary about procrastination. Something I excel at. : ) I wholeheartedly agree with the concept of letting things mull around for awhile before bringing them to fruition. This is a very, very important stage in the development of ideas but our world culture has come to be one of rushing around and hurrying and so this vital step has gone the way of the dinosaurs. I say we bring it back in style and make the world a better place. : )
I definitely feel out of alignment personally -- and I'm seeing universal signs, too.
BTW, I like your tag of "what are you gonna remember?" Isn't that just so true! I read along (inner dialoguing with what you describe) and then when I come to the end there are only snippets: Procrastination, Da Vinci, Starting new job next week.
I love your personal yet philosophical style, J.
Girl I feel at home here in your blog. Get yourself some headphones and listen to sounds of nature while you scribble. Guaranteed to give you loads of inspiration. Remember not music sounds of nature.
yes! now I can label the inability to move forward sometimes. I too get stuck in a holding pattern. a great write and something that I think most of us struggle with.
I'm incredibly blah this week, too. Sometimes that holding pattern makes us rest up, so the old juices can start flowing again. Good luck on the new job!
Love the chair and that cool, cool textile!
My comment vanished into cyberspace. You're right, something weird is going on with the planets! It's been one bad thing after another this week, for so many people.
As for procrastination, it's the first time I've heard anything positive about it - and I'll take it!
Better days ahead!
Must definately be something in the planetary alignment ~ I'm blah this week too, although my schedule doesn't allow for much lazing around. Oh well, I'll plan on being lazy next week LOL. Barb
Thank you, thank you for making me see how procrastination is actually a productive activity! :) Brilliant!
procrastinate away...I think it's a healthy thing to do !!...isn't it??
hey everyone, starlene's right---it's a biorhythm thing. check yours out here: http://www.perbang.dk/orcapia.cms?aid=29
totally spot on. i'm high on intellect and even higher on aesthetic, but low, low, low on physical and emotional. but on sunday, watch out! it's all gonna come together!
until then, i've got a license to procrastinate!
Thank you for making me do my biorhythm. Even though I don't believe in it, I do believe in YOU.
And I love that giant sloth photo. I'm glad you posted it again. It could be a mascot for you once in a while.
I know why I'm out of sorts. It's winter in Minnesota, I own MANY horses and life has been a bowl full of, well nothing good.
I like your reason much better. I wish it were mine, but mine is what it is.
I enjoyed reading yours though. And also I enjoyed finding out today that you have experience with horses. How about that!
Sounds to me as if Leonardo chose those things that he could become engrossed in. Perhaps his success should not be measured in the quantity of his output.
that's the good lesson here:
To choose those things that we find absorbing because therein lies our bliss.
It also sounds to me as if you simply needed a rest this week.
Could it be that Spring is right around the corner? Also, I agree with the biorhythm idea! Could be both!
I love this post. My mind works great when I am busy. If I have 20 minutes to get 20 things done I can. If I have a week to get one thing done I will put it off and barely get it done at the last minute.
Anyway, you are a productive person and sometimes we just need to be in limbo.... it is a good place to breath - which may be hard to do after starting a new job...
Procrastination... could be another word for a retreat? I've always loved the idea of a spiritual retreat, a time to still my mind and centre myself again. I think those monks knew something important.
Not thet I say "I've loved the idea..." that's because I've never actually been on one! But perhaps if we did, we wouldn't feel the need to procrastinate?
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