Deadlines and Resolve
Over lunch at the brewpub, a discussion of the constant stress of having an uncompleted project hanging over one's head. So the just do it motto must be resurrected, return to guide the work of my days. I'm sure parades of wise writers, artists, other creative types before me have written about their struggles to lasso the work, do it more like a job, when the impetus, energy, inspiration for a project lag, maybe even fail. Now, with the web site project, done, I have to return to the project about G. , to make my morning to-do lists be less about errands to the post office and dry cleaners and more about finishing the numerous rough drafts. Yeah, we all know "finished" is a subjective word in this business. But there has to be a way to see this work to its end, to follow the paths I've already started, a few tricks to make this feel less-than-hard. Is it simply a balancing act between force and heartfelt willingness? A mantra I can chant before I greet the page or keyboard each day? Something like begin, focus, complete, then move on?
I guess I often want the daily work on a project, the writing itself to feel sparking and alive, zesty with urgency and that dirty word: inspiration. But I know it doesn't work like that and that's what I'm up against now, continuing in spite of flagging enthusiasm, a sense that the work as originally envisioned can never be what I wanted it to be. I so often zero in on the negative and the downbeat rather than remember to celebrate what turns up.
