by Ali on September 1, 2010
Yesterday, I got a lot of the clutter out of my study, and dealt with some mental clutter too, knocking off a few quick-win tasks.
Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised by the results. Maybe I should’ve actually listened to all the people who’ve told me that clutter (physical and mental) gets right in the way of creativity.
Because yesterday, I felt suddenly inspired to write fiction, for the first time in … quite a while. After several hectic weeks finishing a chunk of my novel to MA-dissertation standard, I was feeling pretty darn low on inspiration and pretty darn high on frustration.
Yet, I got the best part of a scene written. It wasn’t on my plan. I didn’t make myself sit down and do it. I don’t have any deadline whatsoever for this. I just felt like writing.
Somehow, the process of tidying broke down a growing block in my head. And this got me thinking about the relationship between clutter and creativity.
[click to continue…]
by Ali on August 20, 2010
What matters more – your journey or your destination?
It’s a stupid question, really. It all depends on where you’re going, and how much you enjoy the process.
In a couple of months, I’m off to Blog World in Las Vegas. I’ve booked my flights. Rather than flying direct from London to Vegas, I’m changing planes to make the trip cheaper. Yes, the journey won’t be so fun – but te reason I’m going isn’t because I get a kick out of sitting in a metal tube for ten hours. I’m going for the destination: Blog World.
The journey/destination metaphor appears a lot in personal development advice: you’ve probably come across it before. Some folks think the key thing is to enjoy the journey – after all, you have to live through it (for months, years, even decades):
The purpose of goal setting isn’t to control the future. That would be senseless because the future only exists in your imagination. The point of goal setting is to improve the quality of your present-moment reality.
(Steve Pavlina, Personal Development for Smart People (book) – Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk, p53)
Others focus on the destination – if you get to where you want to be, life’s gonna be a whole lot more fun:
Put reminders of this goal all over the place – your bedside table, your computer monitor, your rearview mirror. Whenever you take an action of any type, ask yourself if that action is helping you reach your goal. Is buying this unnecessary thing really helping me reach my goal? Is sitting on the coach vegetating really helping me reach my goal?
(Trent Hamm, The Simple Dollar (book) – Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk, p47)
So who’s right? Who’s wrong?
[click to continue…]
by Ali on August 13, 2010
This post is a sequel of sorts for “When Overwhelm Hits Hard“.
You’re struggling with a burden that you’ve been carrying too long. It felt fine, even easy, when you picked it up, but as you walked, it seemed to grow heavier and heavier. You’re getting tired, too. You’re not strolling along easily any more. You’re not enjoying the journey. Every step feels like a big effort – and you can’t understand why.
Sounds familiar? I reckon it’s not just me who feels like that from time to time.
Life can get hard. This isn’t always to do with external events (in fact, you can probably think of times when you were happy and thriving despite everything the world threw at you).
[click to continue…]
Can’t you help me be uncrazy?
(Metallica, The Unnamed Feeling)
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve felt overwhelmed. Not consistently, but when it comes, it’s been a strong and scary feeling. And I want to share a bit about this, not because I have all the answers (I don’t really have any answers), but because I want to reassure you that you are not the only person who goes through this stuff.
Here’s how it’s been for me. Last week, I was struggling to write. I’ve got an assignment due in 4 weeks, which makes up 60% of my assessed work for my MA.
Our wedding plans have been going smoothly, but a few days ago it felt like there was still lots to organise – and it all seemed like too much.
On top of that, it’s that time of the month, where I’m always prone to bursting into tears at the sight of a cute baby, or getting mad at Paul for something totally arbitrary. (Sorry, love.)
I know there are plenty of ways to deal with stress. I know what’s likely to calm me down – making a list and checking things off slowly, journaling, going for a walk, taking a shower, doing some exercise. The problem is, when I’m pacing the room and yelling at Paul, or lying on my bed sobbing, it seems next to impossible to do anything to drag myself out of that mood.
It’s a horrid and destructive way to feel. It stops me getting on with work (which makes me even more stressed). And so I’ve been really focusing for the last couple of days on ways to be calmer.
[click to continue…]
