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I got a couple of really nice projects going but need to go for a walk first so my body and mind are okay with sitting down to draw...
There's a gap from seeing the potential in my mind to physically, actually making it work, and at the moment that needs filling with lots of positive thingsn...
It's always a bit like that, which is, I believe, very hard to understand for people who think the truck is to just knuckle down. Can't knuckle down creatively when you're entirely depleted of positive feedback to existing
Got to regularly go out, communicate, have sensory input, or the engine just stops. Great if that's not how you work, but totally normal if it is, it's okay to need happiness
Some of us just don't get regular positive feedback pings from what we do, and some of us can top them up with jogging or hugs or cups of tea, sometimes that doesn't work or isn't there though. It's not one size fits all
I absolutely need to communicate with friends a bit, and see something complex and natural, and feel a nice texture, and hear some good abient noise, and then I can literally feel the little pings of positive energy that start up the bigger wheels of my mind and soul.
Sadly I don't get them from exercise and sadly if I run out I run out hard, so yeah, making sure that I have a chat and a walk and look at a tree is part of my job and not procrastination
And I strongly advise to ignore any creative colleagues who tell you that you're procrastinating when you should be knuckling down when you've just detected that you need some positive energy and are getting that - they're either blocked up themselves or have a different source.
For some people it'll feel like they can just keep going with willpower and it's working really well and happily but you know, I do think they just have some source of constant positive feedback that works for them so well that they may not even know it.
If just seeing one flower of a particular colour causes an echoing ping of delight in your tired soul like a single drop of water landing low in a deep well, believe me, you need more flowers right now not more work
And sometimes you got to work anyway and you know what, that's wrong, that's a wrong thing in the world and I'm sorry that it's so.
It's difficult to know what small things keep other people going, and sometimes also ourselves... It's not something where we can usefully demand a shortcut. It's not "smiles" or "sports" or "biscuits" universally.
I suspect it is part of the work of being human to notice and provide them as we can, with individuality and kindness rather than the greatest volume and ease and speed. I don't think it's meant to be easy.
The small things, in the end, are life.
