A note to self ― Chaos is inevitable, control is impossible, structure helps: flow, don't force.
Morning! It’s Monday [not today]. The start of a new week and I’m full of hope. And a bit of unease. A kind of fizzy feeling in my belly.
If my ‘comfort zone’ is a place of getting sh*t done then can I urge myself into a playful place, after all, isn’t play comforting? I wouldn’t choose a road-runner state as my comfort zone but I suppose I’ve trained myself into it. I think getting little tasks done is easier and safer than the free-fall unknown of making something with no fixed parameters, no deadline, no one I’m accountable to except myself.
Have I become too much of a grown-up to play? I hope not. I hope never.
I have to admit that I need and appreciate structure whilst longing to be carried around on a bed of clouds, weightless and responsibility-less. The sweet spot between structure and flow seems like it might be a lifelong balancing act. I feel that I need both: a clear structure and room to stretch out into and improvise.
The sweet spot between structure and flow seems like it might be a lifelong balancing act. I feel that I need both: a clear structure and room to stretch out into and improvise.
Simplicity is the word that keeps coming to mind. To keep things simple and not get tangled up in should-dos and what-might-have-been and if-only-things-were-different . . .
If I keep things simple then there is a natural flow to playfulness, retreat and interaction. Finding the simple path, I have to feel into it. I don’t plan every detail, there’s less effort, no striving, tugging but instead allowing it to be.
Reflective questions
- What can you release to make things more simple?
- What can you let go of to conserve your energy?
- Be it a plan, a project, a habit, a worry - anything that is draining your reserves.
Written by @skylumusic - founder of @jamsandwichlive
