Sidetracked

The last few weeks have been ones of extreme focus. Going from one task to the next on my "Must Do" list. Actually I am not much of a list person, so it was more like putting out fires! But the process had the feeling of constraint. I was unable to do much following of the muse. I had to tell her to go "sit down over there, and wait" too many times lately. I just did not have time to listen.

This morning I went into my studio with the intention of "productive" work. Within about 3 minutes the muse had jumped out of hiding and ambushed my plans. Thank goodness! It is amazing what 30 minutes following my muse can do for my spirit, as opposed to the plugging ahead through the "must do" or "should do" list.

I just put the beginnings of a new idea in the oven for the first stage of curing. I don't know if this idea will go anywhere,....but just pursuing these impulses, or creative surges from time to time feeds that creative spirit. I have spent many, many hours on projects and ideas that went nowhere. I have had people tell me to drop them over and over again as I continued down the path. Some of them are in hibernation. I believe they will re-emerge again when the time is right. In a way, this is my sketch book. I don't sketch out my ideas on paper, as much as sketch them out in clay. There are so many things about the construction of an idea that cannot be understood...at least by me....in a sketch. I have to confront these issues in 3-D. Periodically I have to do a purge of these "sketches" from my studio. They are not as space efficient as drawings! But they are as instructive as sketching out an idea can be.

Sometimes our culture rewards the idea of crossing items off the to-do list more than the unfocused explorations. Yet, our creative souls needs that ability to just explore and play. To not have a "reason" for what we are doing and where we are going. Purposelessness...try saying that fast!.....is actually purposeful. Just like a kid who is exploring the world and learning in their play, we need to play just for the sake of play. Give yourself permission to be sidetracked this week. You'll thank yourself for it!