Tag Archives: Observation

Modulating the Wave

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I’ve been away from here for a while. It happens. There’s probably some kind of wave pattern here, but I’m not going to find it. I have had a lot of feelings about so called “productivity” and what that means. I’ve been working hard at doing the things that I’m moved to do as I feel like doing them. Sometimes I practice niksen. Niksen is the Dutch art of doing nothing. Sounds silly, but it matters. Taking time and just letting my mind wander. Staring at the screen saver on the TV and just watching the fish swim. Breathing, closing my eyes and listening. Trying to get all the junk signals to quiet down and focus on the ones that matter.

I recall posting about this before, but I’m going to say it again in case there are folks that have missed it in the past. At one point I was reading a regular column from a local new source. This is someone holding the job of writer at an actual news source. Yes, writing the “local view” type columns, but still a pro. Then this writer filed an entire column that said, “I have nothing to say. Seriously, there was a deadline and I came up empty…”

I was furious. This person could have relinquished the weekly spot to somebody with something to say. Could have put in anything at all and it would have been better than “I got nothing”. I stopped reading that persons work (yes, still employed at that new source) and constantly question the managerial choice of keeping this person on board.

I will never do that here. IF I’ve got nothing to say, guess what? There won’t be a post here.

The biggest issue for me here is that I have things I want to say frequently but they tend to be time sensitive type things and by the time I get the chance to type something up it feels like the moment is past. So, for right now – I’m riding the wave. There maybe be a flurry of posts, there may be a gap. Perhaps I’m trying to change the wave pattern of my production by going to stare at some fish.

The Obvious

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I wrote previously that writing is still hard. Among other obvious statements, I’m going to continue that train of thought.

Work is still work.

After a couple of weeks getting our balance with the way things work now people seem to have gotten the hang of remote working. I say this because teleconferencing has spiked for me personally. Others may or may not have been experiencing this before ~ it’s a new thing for me. I had 5 teleconferences yesterday. I’ve got 3 lined up for today. I had 2 on Monday. Three days, 10 meetings. I bailed early on my on-line book club meeting because I was just exhausted by the end of the day. It’s just the same as when I was at the office being interrupted… I got very little actual work done.

I will admit it’s nice to see other faces, but it’s still work.

So, I don’t have all the “extra” time that some people have right now. I’m thankful to still be working. There are a lot of folks out there that aren’t and they’re suffering because of it. Yes, I’ve taken a 20% pay cut, but I should survive that. We’ll go right back up to full levels as soon as work in the construction industry picks up again.

I’ve been trying to give my creative needs outlet. As always, I have six or eight projects that have cropped up in the “OH! I should to THAT” category and got notes or nascent beginnings. I’m really trying to focus on the things that I know I have opportunities for though. There’s a lot going on – and I’m doing my best to stay on track and continue to function. We’ll see how it all shakes out as we go.

I’ll continue to share things here as they come up. Hopefully there will be exciting stuff on the way!