So world… what do you do when you have an off day? Remarkably today I was up at a reasonable hour, I met with my Personal Trainer, Steph, who thrashed me around on the beach for a while, came home and had a shower and a good breakie… all the hallmarks of a good day in the making. I even sat down and meditated for 20mins… I thought for sure I was up for the most efficient of days.
I sat down at the computer ready to let loose. You see, even though everyone keeps telling me to write a book about personal development, or speaking or any of these things that my life has been about up til now… truth of the matter is that those books don’t want to be written right now. What wants to be written is a novel, so I am honouring my creative stirrings, and for an hour or so, 3 or 4 days a week, I am trotting out what may eventually end up being a novel. People ask me what its about… I don’t really know. Well, its about the lengths that people go to, to actually feel something in this day and age. But I am letting it write itself. I’m sure my old English teachers would tell me I have to plan it and make sure the characters are developed and blah, but to be honest, I am just enjoying the process and if it never gets published, well… hey, I’m learning about myself. Sometimes art needs to be created for art’s sake.
So, my days usually look like this (when I’m not travelling!) Wake up, exercise, usual morning ablutions etc. The real “work” is marketing. Greg and I (my divine partner) are developing marketing systems for our own internet business and for my Dad. I love using words to help people to take action! And because we are being smart about the way we structure our businesses, it really is tough to fill up a whole day with things. SO “work” also means hanging out at our favourite cafes and drinking coffee and reading the paper. Aren’t we lucky!!?
However, before I start my “real work” work for the day, I usually spend an hour or so writing the novel. I get the Amelie soundtrack playing (yes… novel is set in
But unfortunately despite very promising beginnings, today I could only eke out a paragraph. Today I was attacked with the “I’ll never be as good as Jeanette Winterson”-s. Ah… comparisons… the odious destroyers of dreams.
So… I now have to sit down and get some other work done… my to-do list is quite long today. But I haven’t had my creative kick. So I’m interested, what do you guys do when you’re clear and the direction you’re headed, but for some reason the juices just aren’t flowing? Let me know your thoughts!
Perhaps I’ll take a break, warm up some of the yummy pumpkin soup I made last night and start my day again!
Make yours a great day!
Cheers,
Joey x
HiJoey,
Love your musings so far. My take on ‘off days’ is to always have a ‘to do’ list. Then, when the creativity isn’t flowing, you can turn to the more mundane tasks and still feel like you’re moving forward. And, be ready for the creativity to flow when you’re not ready… bit of a contradiction I know. When I was writing my thesis, the minute I drove out of the Uni carpark (and I mean as I was literally driving out of the exit), the best ideas would come to me! It’s like as soon as I’ve given myself permission to switch off, that’s when I actually switch on. So it pays to be prepared with some sort of dictaphone or notepad to capture those thoughts (so you can still keep your hands on the wheel)!