The longer you work, I think the more possibilities you have of creating something. At least in my case, it doesn’t come through divine touch, it just comes through just work.
For a lot of my life, work was home base. Homework and then working for a living. And then there was the work of making. I have always felt most myself and safest when I retreat to work.
But I have lost some of that. I work enough – and people are always telling me how surprised they are how much quilting I get done. And I am busy at work.
Work is not home base anymore though. I feel my brain is distracted. It is hard for me to accomplish. Part of that is the unavoidable complexity of life. But part of that is the noise I create with dumb TV and dumb smartphone.
My husband has the beautiful little reading nook upstairs. It is quiet. It is peaceful. It reminds me of my great grandmother’s apartment. Bright, quiet, and invitation to play or think or read. I want to create that same space for quiet in my brain and in my home.
I seem to need to recommit to this daily. It no longer comes naturally or easily. It may be too late for me to rewire. All I can do is try. I know, dear reader, you can’t stomach me committing one more time to work and focus. Yet, it helps me. It really does.
This evening I stated to my family that I was never going to play a video game or watch a dumb television show again. The kids witnessed this and looked back down at their phones. The role modeling can’t start soon enough.
Cal Newport has a lot of excellent things to say about focus – and how it can lead to achievement: http://calnewport.com/blog/
weeknight quilting 