Thought Collisions

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Maybe it’s the barometric pressure? The way it can bring out aches and pains; for example, how, according to my chiropractor, a change in barometric pressure often makes the place hurt where I fractured my spine a year ago? Does this also potentially cause our thoughts to collide, bringing them all out at once so create frustration? I’m looking for a scientific answer here, and not being all that scientific, this is the best I can do.

So, it’s a snowy, gray, January day. I decide to join the masses for a grocery run, in case the snow amounts to anything must-stay-in-worthy. While my daughter unloads groceries, I bring the firewood in. Then laundry. While I’m there, in the laundry room, the place that also serves as office supply room as well as a catch-all for stuff-that-might-be-useful-some day (am I turning into my father?), which also desperately needs to be purged (so I can put other things in there) but is mostly out of sight and out of mind and when it comes to mind (the purging process) it’s overwhelming to think about (who has time?) so has remained largely un-purged since rearranging my studio a year and a half ago after The Flood happened, and anyway, (breathe) I see it and think, heck, just get rid of some boxes. That’s not such a big deal. Just do it. Now. Then I think, but of course! ~ just do a little bit each day, rather than feeling like you have to do the whole thing at once. (I knew that). So I pile up the boxes, empty boxes that I-thought-would-be-useful, and take them to the dump. Before I do that, I mention to my daughter how some of them are very nice boxes, in case she wants them…. this way I wouldn’t feel guilty about being wasteful. But alas, she says she’s pretty good on her box needs, and to the dump I go. On the way back, a car in front of me does a crazy-eight on a straight road. “Slow down” comes to mind. I check my speed, and despite traveling at a snail’s pace, make a wide and slippery slide around a corner heading home. Then, I remember I forgot to get milk. Shoot. So I carry on, crawling to a stop sign, and turn another corner with no trouble. Get the milk, get home. And somewhere in the midst of all this, my mind starts filling up with all the projects I want to do; things I’ve started and not finished but want to finish, or haven’t started but really want to, and they all circle round and round my head, vying for attention. “Me first!” “No, me! I should have been done ages ago, but you keep getting new ideas and I’m left undone.” “You should focus on me, over here, because I’m the one you want most”. (Mostly books and paintings, by the way; all the pieces that typically scream at me when I’m otherwise detained on things like, say, keeping a roof overhead.) And on and on… a creative traffic jam ensues. Inspiration overload. And also somewhere in the midst of all this muse-like bantering, I briefly wonder where my patrons are, so I can get to this stuff in earnest without so much energy needed for the mundane. However, realizing this is a fruitless thought at the moment, I allow the banter to continue, which it does annoyingly well.

Einstein was right. I don’t know what we’d do without the concept of time, because whether it’s real or not, it gives us a chance for a little order in what could otherwise be all out chaos.

And I still don’t know which muse will win out today, but maybe it’ll sort itself out when the barometric pressure switches again. Stay tuned. 🙂

 

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Amelia’s Wisdom

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On May 20, 1932, Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland and nearly 15 hours later landed in Ireland, becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

I applaud her courage, her sass, her confidence, her skill, and her devotion to a dream!

And that’s all I was going to say. Except then this thought came along for the ride…. that sometimes I feel like we’re all flying, flying through time and space, yet we’re moving from one thing to the next with an odd sense of urgency, like an almost directionless wave. Are we piloting, or going wherever the wind propels us ~ and in the end, does it even matter?

Amelia had a goal, for which she was very clear and very determined. Her eye was on the prize; nothing deterred her vision. Distractions were temporary ~ in contrast to today’s practically full-time, ongoing societal movement of distraction and sense of go-go-go to the next thing, the next chore, the next gadget, the next appointment, the next video, the next news cycle, the next facebook post that will fill in the void created in the five minutes between.

When do we sleep? When do we sit still and just be? Talk with a friend?  It’s almost as though those things have become diversions. I find that sad. I also find it true. And I also feel grateful that I have at least a couple of personal outlets that take me away from the frantic “gotta do this” mentality – a mentality which is very real, but also a manufactured product resulting from the marvel of technology allowing us to access everything NOW. We’re like little children who want to stay up so we don’t miss anything. We’re like subscribers to a virtual Life Magazine, interested mainly in the quick pictures.

And so we tell ourselves, oh, who cares about the cobwebs creeping down the walls, there’s no time for that. We get pulled in, sucked in (whooshing sound – can’t you hear it?), carried into the current. And time goes by without our noticing. It literally seems to fly – but not the same kind of dedicated flight Amelia ventured upon; not at all. And is that good or is it bad? Is it just different?

Is it harder to have focused goals like Amelia Earhart had, when we are driven to distraction in modern daily life? (Not counting those wealthy enough to hire others to handle the mundane.) Goals were simpler, “cleaner” way back when. Farmers sowed seeds in one season, harvested in another. Granted, that was hard work, certainly no walk in the park, but now it’s as if hoeing and tilling and sowing and harvesting and reaping are simultaneous actions, and then everyone needs to broadcast and re-broadcast their progress so the world will know that their tomatoes are the best tomatoes ~ because by tonight, something else will have our attention.

Time will tell… but I know that I need to do something organic everyday to counterbalance all the time spent electronically, that computerized place that’s “open all night”, around the clock, every day of the year, for business or play. There is a great usefulness there, and I value that, but I think it’s all too easy to lose sight of one’s own “prize” in the process. So I need to walk away now and then, whether it’s to pull a few weeds from the garden, play a few notes on the piano, draw, swim, stop and pet my cats. Spend some time with myself, the core me, not the “what am I going to share next with the world” me. Meditate. Stay away from my to-do lists.

It’s just hard to find the time… but I’m going to go do that very thing right now. An hour should do it. Maybe I’ll start by contemplating Amelia’s wisdom. Or maybe I’ll just thank Amelia for reminding us that we can do anything we set out to do, and then go feed the birds and not think at all.

ps: Sorry for getting all off base here from the original intent of a quick, light post, but sometimes it spills out and I’m not going to change it because I’m now on a bird-watching mission.

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How To Slow Down Time

I don’t really have the final answer to this idea of slowing down time, although finding one has been on my mind a lot lately as we all keep moving, moving, moving, keeping up a brisk pace only to pause for dinner or maybe even some sleep. It’s just not right to me, all this constant motion, this world that moves so very fast, this world of instant news (and too much news), a wild sea of images and thoughts and appointments and gadgets, gadgets, gadgets. This very real sense that there isn’t enough time in the day. So I thought, it being Monday, that maybe Pooh has the best idea yet….

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It’s a nice idea, isn’t it? But napping intrudes on time; time that moves so quickly, so furiously full. One could argue that a nap leaves you refreshed, better able to accomplish all those things that need accomplishing ~ and I find no fault there. But what about slowing down time so you don’t “need” a nap ~ like Pooh, you could take one just because it feels like a good thing to do?

What about slowing time at will, right here and now, without having to go on holiday to find it, and without detriment to your clients, your families, your peace of mind?

There are only a few ways I know that effectively slow down time. One is a fabulous snowfall ~ but this requires a northern climate and Mother Nature’s whim. The ocean has a similar effect, as does being on a mountaintop.

Another, more “here and now” way, is meditation. And of course, for me, there’s drawing. Or painting or playing the piano… when you’re cocooned in the embrace of creativity, it’s very much like a meditation; time simply doesn’t exist in that space. So I’m not sure if it’s actually slowing down time, or merely alleviating the consciousness of the ongoing tick-tock. But I do know that it’s good for the soul, and that practically amounts to the same thing. I think Pooh might agree.

Oh and there is one other way I know about for slowing down time. What you do is believe you have all the time you need. Saying it out loud can help. With conviction and slow, deep breaths. It’s almost like conspiring with the universe. You may laugh, and that’s fine, because I have no scientific explanation ~ but it’s not all that silly if it works, and it has for me.

And now that I’ve reminded myself of this ability, I just need to harness and command it more often!  … After my nap.

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Tuesdays with Chris: “Slow Time”

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“Beware the emptiness of a busy life.”

Oh boy, I think we can all relate to this video’s message about time…  Beautifully done ~ and a beautiful horse, too! Thanks Chris, for this wonderful reminder.

(If you missed my introduction about Chris Staley, master potter, educator and Penn State Laureate 2012-2013, you can read that here.)  Enjoy!

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