arup’s blog

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

I came across this book about 8 years ago. There were three friends who all mentioned it simultaneously but independently of each other. They all said that there were useful ideas in the book with regard to improving ones creativity and removing blocks. I had a look it but didn’t really read it till much later, mayber 3 years later. But in the meantime I had begun the main exercise in the book called Morning Pages. This involved writing three pages of whatever was in your head without stopping or editing or critising or thinking. Just writing. You were meant to do it first thing in the morning before you could become influenced by anything such as mail or news or whatever. I tried it and I liked it. It was addictive. But I didn’t do it every day. When I stopped meditating regularly around 1990, this took its place. And now I do it every day. Why? Well, I’ll try and explain, but you’ll get a better idea if you try it yourself for a while.

It just allows you to let go and stop worrying about what you are doing and how you are doing it and just do it. In which other activity can I say the same. Maybe sleeping, but even there I’m not so sure. When do I actually let myself just do it? Usually there is a voice in my head telling me how to do it. "Slow down", "Speed up" and so on and so forth. But here I just write it all down without judgement. Most days it’s the same old drivel over and over again, but on some occassions a few gems stand out amongst the dirt. And it’s not really about digging for gold either. It’s more about getting the dirt out. And then you’re ready to take in the day. I usually get some good ideas of what to do that day or solutions to problems that I hadn’t thought of before.

It’s a bit wierd when you start, but you get used to it and then you can’t live without it. But that’s only one exercise in the book. It’s actually composed of a 12 week course where you are faced with all manner of creative opportunities and methods to analyze your response to them.

In Praise of Slow by Carl Honore

In Praise of Slow: How a Worldwide Movement Is Challenging the Cult of Speed
I ordered this book from amazon when it hadn’t even been printed. And it was around eighteen months before it arrived. So it was slow to start with. And I still haven’t finished reading it. So I’m reading it slowly too. The main message of the book is not just to do everything slowly, but to find what the Italians call "tempo guisto" or the optimum pace. Not too fast and not too slow. A pace that suits. What is the right pace for us? I don’t know. I think that if we feel a bit rushed then we need to slow down and if we feel a bit lethargic then we should speed up a bit. Most people are going too fast and need to slow down, hence the title of the book. Start by slowing down completely and discard extraneous activities and then gradually speed up. Then continue at a speed that still allows the quality of life to be maintained.

from pages 237 - 238

…the world is still straining to do everything faster—and paying a heavy price for it. The toll taken by the hurry–up culture is well rehearsed. We are driving the planet and ourselzes towards burnout. We are so time–poor and time–sick the we neglect our friends, families and partners. We barely know how to enjoy things any more because we are always looking ahead to the next thing. Much of the food we eat is bland and unhealthy. With our children caught up in the same hailstorm of hurry, the future looks bleak.

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