Creativity on Pause?

After 297 blog posts, starting late in 2013, posting every Monday – Have I run out of new thoughts, ideas and experiences to write about?  In that time, I have missed only two weeks and that was within the last couple of months.  I like the creative outlet, the chance to share thoughts, and to journal my world.  As we went into last weekend, I did not have an article prepared.  Well, not ready would be more like it.  I had started the article, the topic was relevant (to my life), but the execution was not meaningful.  My main editor as of late (that would be Gab) asked why I did not have a backlog of articles.  There are times when I have a backlog, depending on my creative flow of thoughts. 

It would seem, at least to me, that there are times where we are engaged in certain things / activities and at some point, after years or some significant time, we want to take a step back and re-evaluate where we are at, where we are going, and the overall value of what we are doing.  I guess one way to visualize this thought is to see the way athletes’ function, who during their careers are in peak physical condition and shortly after they retire, so do their bodies.  I saw this with my grandfather – he was in the food business and had a fantastic sense of taste.  Then he decided to retire, and shortly afterwards his taste buds decided to follow the same course, as fine dining was replaced by mediocre buffets.  To maintain the same high level / standards, it requires diligence, persistence and consistency which takes energy and time. 

I started writing to fulfill something that I had always wanted to do, but never had a fully fleshed out an idea enough to be a book.  This shorter form, blogging, met that desire and still brings me pleasure.  OK, the creative pictures that I include also fulfill that creative notion.  Having missed a week, nobody noticed…which means that if I stop, would anyone say anything?  Truth is, I would notice.  I enjoy sharing my thoughts, I enjoy the challenge that this signifies to me and I enjoy the fact that I can point to something I have done consistently.

Jascha Heifetz, considered amongst one of the greatest violinists, is also known for saying, “If I don't practice one day, I know it; two days, the critics know it; three days, the public knows it.”  The fact that he acknowledges himself first in the list shows the integrity of his approach towards his art and ability.  While it is easy to take a break, step back or go on hiatus, it is easier to remain idle than to start up again.  The old example of a steam engine – where there is an immense amount of energy expended to start the train moving, so much so that a rock on the track could stop the entire process.  But, once in motion, that same train will crush through anything in its way while using little energy.  That is the power of momentum.  While I missed last week, it was merely a bump in the road and now it is back to doing what I enjoy.

Mental Realignment

Years ago, I went to a chiropractor for a brief period of time.  One of the reasons for going was out of curiosity.  I had heard about the benefits regarding alignment of the vertebrae in one’s back.  I went a handful of time for the re-alignment, then realized, that for at least me, there were no additional benefits at that time.  When you think of it, even the vehicles that we drive, occasionally need a tire alignment.  Over time, a vehicles’ tires need to be realigned (and rebalanced) to help optimize performance and tire wear.  As we move through time and space, I began to realize that we occasionally need time to realign our mental abilities, thoughts and processes.

Unless we are perennially at a standstill, we will continue to take on many experiences, challenges and daily activities.  Between family life, work, volunteering, hobbies, etc., there is a bountiful amount of activities afoot.  The ability to segment each portion of our lives into distinct timeframes becomes important so that we can focus, at any given planned moment, on the activity before us.  When that activity finishes, we mentally store that away until next time, bringing forth and into focus the next activity we are engaging in.  It is the same as partitioning one’s day appropriately and focusing on that task for a given time (i.e., exercise in the morning, work 9-5, family 5 – 8, volunteer 8-10, etc.) and why it is important to use an agenda, or calendar, of some sort, to organize our activities.  Can we keep everything in its place all of the time?

Maintaining times for each activity takes diligence and has to be a planned activity as well.  But what happens when an event occurs that demands more than the allotted time?  We have all had times where a crisis occurs, there is something new on the horizon or there are simply changes that need to be addressed.  Seemingly, all of a sudden, our brain power is taken up, pushing aside other thoughts / activities and mental focus.  Sometimes, we see this coming; other times, however, we realize it after the fact, because while it is occurring, our excess brain power has already been consumed.  Once identified, we must go through our own mental realignment, take the time to step back, evaluate where our time is spent, review the importance of what is consuming our mental time and adjust, or align, accordingly.  

Independence 2019

As the second half of the year begins, as Americans, we take one day, July 4^th, to step back and celebrate the birth of our great nation.  In many nations across the globe, there are many countries where the population is nationalistic, proud of their place of birth / origin and celebrate similarly every year.  For me, this is a day to celebrate the birth of our nation, parades take place and we spend time together as a family.  OK, in truth, this is really more than just a one-day celebration – there are celebrations on the weekends and fireworks presented by the neighboring towns over a bunch of nights.

For this year, as for the past many years, one of the ways that I look forward to celebrating our Independence Day is as clown in a local parade.  For about an hour and a half, I had one simple goal, spread happiness!  The group that I work with, Miles of Smiles, takes an interactive approach to parades – we do not march in the parade down the middle of the street, but walk along the sides, interacting with the people and high-fiving children of all ages.  It is about making them feel good, giving them a memory and adding to a positive experience.  For me, it is really a chance to live in the moment - I was able to not have to worry about making decisions, no thoughts regarding the issues of the day and no crises to avert.  That time in the parade was a series of small slices of time and watching a smile appear on someone else’s face.  Needless to say, by the end of the parade, I was tired.  Onto the next two events, in costume, of course. 

As we celebrated the 4^th, it really was a celebration about a nation that broke away from being a colony.  A country striking forward with new thoughts and new ideas for that time period.  We were to be a country without a king, but representative leadership selected by the population.  In a relatively small amount of time, aside from becoming a world power, we were able to lead in multiple areas of development, technology and thought.  We have many good, positive reasons to celebrate.  I hope that you all had a great 4^th of July.