Drifting under the tasks of the day and it’s only 11 am.
My fluid energy is like my fluid emotional body. I’m liminal in my behavior and my ambitions. Musician or author? Marketing executive or storyteller. I’m conflicted all the time.
I contain multitudes.*
What do you contain? How do you push your own edge? What’s your goal for the day?
What? You don’t have a goal for today? We need to work on that.
Even with a goal you may miss, fall asleep, or give in to some other proclivity of distraction. Don’t. Stay with me here. Focus on what’s important to you and your growth. Where do you want to be in five years? How about five minutes?
Right here, right now. That’s where I want to be. I’m not in a hurry to accelerate into what’s next. These “waiting” moments have magic and clarity if you can hold the urge to swim toward an unknown shore. Just tred water. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Pay attention to the big issues of your life, the day. Who else depends on you? How will you live up to your own expectations?
The wiz kid may not make the transition to wiz adult. Wiz along anyway. If you’re creating something, don’t pause or hesitate. Don’t ask for feedback. Just do the work. Sit in the chair and work. Sing. Write. Whatever you do, do it at full volume. Distractions will come. Don’t listen to anything but the sound of your own magical voice. Don’t let AI prompt you into a different path. Don’t let it suggest grammar corrections. Turn that shit off. You don’t need your editor hat, you need your creator hat. Go. Blow. Speak truth.
I try to stay fluid in my desires and consistent in my time at craft. That’s one of my truths. Time at craft is the goal and the path. You must do your creative projects. Don’t let editors, friends, family tell you there are more important things to be doing. Chores? Laundry? Dishes? I have made the declarative statement several times, “The dryer makes a fine storage place for laundry.”
Those that I’ve known with immaculate houses were often the most vanilla in their ambition. They were surviving. And one of the things they learned from their parents was something about cleanliness and godliness. All false. You are the only one looking out for you. You don’t need someone to discourage you, or encourage you. You are doing this because you can’t not do it.
Rilke is the master of this idea in his “Letters to a Young Poet.”
Write because you can’t not write. Don’t ask if it’s any good. Simply keep going, keep getting closer to your truth. Put it all down in words, colors, sounds, mixed media. Combine everything you have. Write a rock opera and put it on. Start a band and perform. Build a community of artists. Live simply. Less spending is more time at craft.
Fluid is where all of us are at the moment. We can’t believe what is happening in Washington, and we still must go on with our creative work. This is the work. Here. This word: writer. Or poet. The more comfortable you become with owning your identity the more you feel the fullness of doing the work.
Write like your life and livelihood depend on it. Then, don’t forget about the “business of writing.” Every day can’t be inspired. On those days, you edit, promote, plan, send out review copies.
*whitman
