Focus

It’s been one of those weeks when focus becomes a challenge. We’ve a concert with the choir this week, including singing in German (a bit of a nightmare for a non-German speaker) so I should be practicing. There’s a gig with the Big Band next week, so I should be practicing. I’ve a script deadline approaching, so I should be writing. I’ve a couple of speaking engagements and should be prepping. I wrote this and decided to walk the dog…

Some weeks are like this, a range of conflicting calls on my time, flying towards me like iron filings to a magnet. It’s my own fault. I can’t help committing to things- and while I know I’ll get it all done somehow, will it be as thorough as I’d like? It’s not just me of course. I’m surrounded by over committers. Why do we do it? Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing. Variety has its benefits, its compensations. The downside may be the pressure, the difficulty in finding time to breathe, to simply be, although this need not be an issue. I think it was Sukhraj S. Dhillon who said “You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day - unless you’re too busy; then you should sit for an hour.” Something I need to work on. Be that as it may, the upsides definitely include the joy in creativity, the benefits of cross pollination, and the people I get to work and play with – the actors, musicians, singers, and fellow writers.

Just writing all this down eases the pressure too – another reason for the discipline of writing.

On process


despite my scribbled writing
pen to paper

feels less daunting
than the screen

my writing means transcription
will make me face the question

of what I’m really saying
of what I really mean

an organic way of editing
painless and unforced

while varying demands
contain solutions

preventing writer’s block
so much going round my head