“The Day Time Is The Right Time” To Be With The Work You Love Most…
Despite the romantic notion that creativity is best spawned by a bit (if not a lot) of mind -altering substances, coaxed by the mystery and intrigue of the night - I find quite the opposite to be true. Creative thinking and output seems to come more clearly and readily during the morning hours. A project that would have taken a few hours at night would take half that time in the morning.
That being said, I also don’t like getting up early enough to have time for my creative work. Hence, I get very little of any substance done - by the time I’m ‘engaged’ as it were, life has kicked in. For instance this morning I slept in - the extra hour or two that I would have had to myself if I got up at 6:30 was swallowed up by snoozing and resetting my alarm and once I did get up I had many chores that needed to get done - buy groceries, clean the bathroom, clean the oscillating fan in the kitchen, rake up the branches felled by last night’s storm and don’t forget, I’ve gotta watch the Mets double header today!
If I was a true creative, I would have eschewed these chores and gotten down to business with the real important matter - expressing myself. As Dale Carnegy once said: “Self-expression is the dominant necessity of human nature.” - heady words worthy of serious consideration, but nooooooo, I disregard Mr. Carnegy’s sage advice and instead betray myself once again! This is a pattern that I’ve pretty much followed my entire adult life and there seems that there’s little hope of breaking it. Even if I did, what would it matter at this point? - I’m 63, my body is falling apart and my inspirations are few and far between. I might as well just polish the porcelain, dust the bunnies, wash the dishes and worry about what the neighbors think of my yard.
I may be the time I give up the facade of the ‘suburban wanna-be creative’ who just revels in their useless claims of having something of import to express with no real evidence or plans of doing so. SWBC’s are all ‘ideas’ and no sweat, all bravado with the intention of seeking praise despite having done nothing. If they were truly honest with themselves, they would incessantly binge-watch YouTube, falsely dream of being a rock star while rotting away - now THAT’s the ‘wanna-be creative’ spirit!
Obviously, since this blog is a product of my creativity, and I did write this, I don’t take my words of retreat from hope and creativity to heart. That being said, I do recognize the part of my spirit that looks for distractions and detours. Hence, these distractions must be dealt with - they need to be put in their place - it’s fine to watch a Mets game but not at the expense of time set aside for creative work. The intake of adult beverages and related substances need to be taken in moderation or set aside for times when 100% mental acuity isn’t required. Hanging with friends or staying late at work (which can be the same thing) should be abandoned when in the balance is time needed to get expressive work into the world.
In other words, making sure you get what’s in your mind and heart out of your internal world and into the external on a regular basis is absolutely necessary for a healthy mental and spiritual life. It’s kind of like your soul is making a daily visit to the artist’s latrine so as to not become creatively and spiritually constipated. Not only is it necessary, but it feels good. I wonder what the creative equivalent of a bidet would be…?
Cheers!
