Observing from the Sidelines

The earlier version of my forge space here at Wareham.  Photo by KPS

 

Some days are infinitely frustrating. I think I am just beginning to get down to it, starting to be able to dig in and do what I am “supposed” to be doing...and sproing! Suddenly I'm hijacked. My attention, my emotion, my focus shattered – the intercom of life buzzes and prompts me to drop what I'm doing and change direction immediately.

At the heart of it, the problem is not the inevitable sproing! The problem is my willingness to be hijacked. My belief that what I'm doing is not as important as whatever the interruption is. My lack of faith in the fact that this work deserves my undivided attention and is vital to me. It is the idea that giving focus and time to the creation is an aside, meant to be done on stolen time.

This is nothing new, and nothing I haven't addressed before. Everyone who runs a small business, or creates art, or works from home (a lot more of us in these days of pandemic) or is self-employed or.... Let's just say that many people face their own version of this countless times a day, every day. The circumstances will change, but the core problem is the same.

Perhaps, though, if each time we face it we choose to recognize it for what it is, if we choose to mark it rather than letting it sneak by, we will begin to change the pattern. The sooner we see it for what it is, the more likely we are to be able to say, “no, that is something I can deal with later” and shift our focus back to where we were and what we were doing.

Somehow, a guaranteed paycheque allows us to do this when we are “at work”...at least it does for me. So perhaps part of the problem is the value I place on the financial reward vs. the more intangible rewards. Not surprisingly it seems that once again, it is a problem of perception.