Ever since I read your input/output newsletter I've been thinking about how quickly my brain shifts inputs into the output column. The minute I notice something pleasurable, I'm thinking of a way to package it into a lesson plan or an essay. On the one hand, I have been more productive at teaching this year, but on the other I've been so distracted from writing. Now I'm thinking about ways to slow down my process and -- to use a gross metaphor -- absorb more nutrients from my food before I crap it out as content.
"What would happen if you gave up the idea that there’s only one correct way to proceed with a current creative project?" OH WOW I need to spend some time thinking deeply about this question!!!
I really love that quote from "Flow Daddy" (thank you for sparing me from having to type his name--I never get it right).
I am also embracing that old Fitzgerald quote: "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time..." including in relation to today's politics. I am actively reminding myself, when there seems to be an internal pressure to decide between two ideas or synthesize them into something else that instead, maybe the mind needs to flex the muscle that allows one to NOT decide/merge/simplify. To leave paradoxes in place and learn to tolerate uncertainty and lack of resolution. (This doesn't relate to input/output but your newsletter made me think, today, about mental flexibility in general.)
Hi, I'm kind of feeling two opposite things (or, so it seems) lately. On the one hand, I'm on a self-imposed deadline to finish a first draft of a gift book proposal (the poker one) and have no problem staying on track (I do freelance writing, so I'm used to, and actually like, deadlines). On the other hand, I'm feeling bored, restless, and in a rut -- yet, I'm still able to keep plugging away on my book proposal and freelance projects. I'm not sure how this can be, but there you have it. Maybe I'm on some sort of auto pilot. The mention of The Artist's Way reminds me that it might be helpful for me to re-visit that valuable book to get unstuck.
I'm still adapting to a new location, having moved in July, and I feel like it gives me a great advantage in being surprised by something every day. The ordinary here is different from my former home's ordinary and that's still so fresh and exciting. Watching my new hometown change seasons has been particularly exciting.
Hello Caitlin, good to hear from you. I started reading Julia Cameron in my 20's. I love her. That book was a wonderful new navigation system that has anchored itself into my life for many years. I still write my morning pages! Thank you!
Ever since I read your input/output newsletter I've been thinking about how quickly my brain shifts inputs into the output column. The minute I notice something pleasurable, I'm thinking of a way to package it into a lesson plan or an essay. On the one hand, I have been more productive at teaching this year, but on the other I've been so distracted from writing. Now I'm thinking about ways to slow down my process and -- to use a gross metaphor -- absorb more nutrients from my food before I crap it out as content.
"What would happen if you gave up the idea that there’s only one correct way to proceed with a current creative project?" OH WOW I need to spend some time thinking deeply about this question!!!
I really love that quote from "Flow Daddy" (thank you for sparing me from having to type his name--I never get it right).
I am also embracing that old Fitzgerald quote: "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time..." including in relation to today's politics. I am actively reminding myself, when there seems to be an internal pressure to decide between two ideas or synthesize them into something else that instead, maybe the mind needs to flex the muscle that allows one to NOT decide/merge/simplify. To leave paradoxes in place and learn to tolerate uncertainty and lack of resolution. (This doesn't relate to input/output but your newsletter made me think, today, about mental flexibility in general.)
Hi, I'm kind of feeling two opposite things (or, so it seems) lately. On the one hand, I'm on a self-imposed deadline to finish a first draft of a gift book proposal (the poker one) and have no problem staying on track (I do freelance writing, so I'm used to, and actually like, deadlines). On the other hand, I'm feeling bored, restless, and in a rut -- yet, I'm still able to keep plugging away on my book proposal and freelance projects. I'm not sure how this can be, but there you have it. Maybe I'm on some sort of auto pilot. The mention of The Artist's Way reminds me that it might be helpful for me to re-visit that valuable book to get unstuck.
I am nourishing with an abundance of cookies!
I'm still adapting to a new location, having moved in July, and I feel like it gives me a great advantage in being surprised by something every day. The ordinary here is different from my former home's ordinary and that's still so fresh and exciting. Watching my new hometown change seasons has been particularly exciting.
Such a great collection of quotes! Especially the Gerwig quote.
My relationship to output is... fraught. My book tour just ended and I feel like a bowl of mashed potatoes but not delicious.
I’m rethinking *a lot* right now and these quotes helped. 🤘🏽
Another great boost of inspiration! Love the idea of always looking for the extraordinary in the ordinary.
Hello Caitlin, good to hear from you. I started reading Julia Cameron in my 20's. I love her. That book was a wonderful new navigation system that has anchored itself into my life for many years. I still write my morning pages! Thank you!