Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Brain Farting

Oh.  Maybe the problem was running after the DDT truck on mosquito patrol when I was a kid.

So, I am sitting here in my bathrobe with the doors open and air coming in for the first time since October!  The weather is finally up in a more normal range and I can stash away all the heavy sweaters I've been forced into for months now.  The weather guy says El Nino will be gone by summer and we will be back to what we are in Florida for.  Good-  just in time for the 90 degree summers.  Ick.

But a few minutes ago TY waltzed through for another pail o' coffee and commented on how long I slept last night-  I made it through to 7 AM today, kind of a record.  I realized I was very tired last night from working in the studio most of the day, the brain-tired, not the running-a-race-tired.  I worked all morning, met a friend for lunch at 1, went back to the studio at 3 and had TY pick me up at 7-  that's a full day.  He asked me why I don't listen to music while there, something he cannot understand because he has his CDs on 24/7.  I said I like the quiet or I like listening to a tv (which I don't have, donations gratefully accepted!) rather than music.  And I had a revelation!  Yeaaa!  Seems that when I listen to talk shows on radio or tv programs I let my left brain listen to keep it busy and get right into my *zone* for working with the other side of my brain which doesn't hear very well because it's so busy.  When I listen to music, it involves my right side brain and poor brain can't do anything but count and listen and sing along, thus rendering me incapable of any creative action.  So, that was my insight for today.  Too bad it has taken me all these years to figure out how my own self works best.

Also in today's email was Robert Genn's newsletter talking about working in one's studio and making lists.  here is the condensed version:


...written by British author Jeanette Winterson. Like a lot of lists, (the Ten Commandments come to mind) her list has ten items: 

1. Turn up for work. Discipline allows creative freedom. No discipline equals no freedom.
2. Never stop when you are stuck. You may not be able to solve the problem, but turn aside and write/paint/draw/create something else. Do not stop altogether.
3. Love what you do.
4. Be honest with yourself. If you are no good, accept it. If the work you are doing is no good, accept it.
5. Don't hold on to poor work. If it was bad when it went in the drawer it will be just as bad when it comes out.
6. Take no notice of anyone you don't respect.
7. Take no notice of anyone with a gender agenda. 
8. Be ambitious for the work and not for the reward.
9. Trust your creativity.
10. Enjoy your work!
Fair enough. Number 10 and number 3 sound about the same. But it's all good stuff, don't you think? I notice as I'm getting older my lists are getting shorter. One of my own favorites, a totally golden one, first granted by me to the creative world on May 16, 2003, goes: 
1. Go to your room.
2. Work regular hours.
3. Finish lots of stuff.
4. Fall in love with process.
Nobody says anything about having podcasts blasting but that's my own addition!  Robert's 4 step list goes along with Allison Lee's mantra from her CraftCast podcast to "get your butt in the chair" which is even simpler.  And that is what I am doing.  

1 comment :

mary beth frezon said...

8. Be ambitious for the work and not for the reward.

I'd be interested in hearing what people think about this one. In what ways can one be ambitious for the work without that end reward being the goal or measure?

Go.

Mary Beth <-- nailing that sucker to the sewing room door