The Wrong Kind of Work
Published by Andrew Leigh March 31st, 2007 in Barriers and Blocks.Phew! What a tough couple of weeks - tough but very instructive about the kinds of stuff that drain away my creativity - and perhaps yours.
I promise not to bore you with the details - but over this last two weeks of March I’ve been committed to doing a mountain of assessment work for a coaching course I used to be involved with. I don’t regret making that commitment and I really don’t want this to read as a plea for sympathy - it’s not what this post is about.
So - the deadline was the end of March and I seem to have spent the whole of last week with my backside glued to my chair and my eyes welded to the computer screen. Here’s a sketch - read tick read comment read smile read mutter comment - grade - stand up stretch scratch yawn - sit down read tick……get the picture? Happy to share. A creatively deadening week that took me back to my time as an English lecturer and what for me was a creatively deadening life.
Now here’s a thing - all last week I felt heavy - heavy legs, slow lumbering brain. I let my exercise regime slip even though I knew that this week more than ever I needed to keep it up, I felt too pressured to write or practice my guitar - but this morning - this morning I was bouncing in body and mind - uplifted by music and ready to write.
Here’s the point - we can’t ignore the effect the rest of our life has on who we are, including our ability and desire to be creative. And I don’t just mean producing creative work - I mean all the things that can go with it - zest for life - spark - wit and humour - curiosity - impetuosity. The lot of it can get buried in life’s sediment and crap - and if we’re not careful - become fossilized.
We (myself and Lynda) began to recognise an incredibly telling pattern when I was teaching A-level English. Every year towards the end of the summer break, that bright, sparkly bit of my personality (that also included my creativity) would resurface - washed clean of the sedimentary garbage that had suffocated it for the rest of the year. And for two whole weeks I felt joy and awe and energy and inspiration. And then I went back to work.
Now I know we’re not all the same. I know there are people who thrive on the pressures of deadlines and marking and meetings - but I ain’t one of ‘em. Don’t get me wrong - this isn’t about hard work. I am a hard worker. It’s about recognising when you life style blankets and clogs your bright and sparky self, your creative core - and then doing something about it.
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Your views are appreciated. Please leave a comment.
Hi Andy
Glad you have finished the marking - CMI stuff? I am interested in your post from a Work Life Balance standpoint. I have found personally, and with some of my clients that I/they are far more effective when they are giving time to themselves. Once the things that truly fulfil us are given some attention, it’s amazing how much more energized we become in all other areas as well. And so often it’s little things - we had spring break this week and I didn’t hit a tennis ball for 2 weeks.
When I got back to it yesterday I was awful - heavy legged, timing was off etc. I played twice and the second time was better. I hurt this morning but feel great just for playing and I am so much more focussed today!
Hi Jerry
Yes, it is a work life balance thing - but the balance I’m talking about is not necessarily the amount of work (although there was too much of that last week) but the quality of it. As you say in your comment, if work activities are fulfilling and enlivening then you feel more energised to do other fulfilling stuff. If the work is deadening then you can find it much harder to do the things that really switch you on.
One point here is that boring isn’t necessarily the same as deadening. I know some really boring jobs can act as a spur to creativity in the rest of your life. There are no hard and fast rules - you just need to increase your awareness of the effect your other activities have on the inner you.