shifting the focus
SaraJane, my enthusiastic upstairs neighbor on this beautiful block in paradise, came by not so very long ago, to tell me that the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs where playing their season football game on local television. Now, I like Sara (without an H). She’s bright, funny and a bundle of preoccupied positive energy. So I reminded her, as gently as I knew how, that Baseball - not Football, was my sport of choice and that, in either case, I didn’t watch T.V. anymore.
She gave me the same puzzled look that I get from everyone in my world who finds out that the “boob-tube” isn’t part of life’s equation
for me.
After all, this is America!. . . land of the formerly free and home of the “you’re supposed to have one of everything Walmart sells†mentality.
But it’s true, the tube’s been unplugged and in the closet for over a year and, in that time, the broadcast buzz in my head has faded away and it’s a whole lot easier to hear myself think.
The quiet life of a practicing (and I do mean practicing) yogi and a man with his heart in his art is what I prefer these days.
An early morning meditation followed by an hour or so of NPR or BBC streaming radio (I like being informed, not inundated) and I’m good to go for a morning of artistic lédger de main. In the afternoons, while the paint’s drying, I tend to the business of returning phone calls, scheduling or making meetings, balancing the books and/or marketing the artwork. By the time I’ve had enough of that, fed the cat, had a little something to eat myself and done the day’s reading, it’s it’s pretty much time to call the game on account of darkness and get my butt to bed.
Now, I know what you’re thinking and you’re right. It doesn’t always work perfectly. Some nights I’m up burning the midnight oil to solve a client’s problem or write a grant request. Some mornings I wake up late without a creative bone in my body and some afternoons the marketing madness gets so frustrating that I blow it off and beat feet for the solace of friends, live music and a couple of cold ones.
We’ve all been there. As artists, most of us are one man (or one woman) bands so, when the wheels do occasionally come off the creative process wagon, we have no one to fault but ourselves and, sometimes, the pointed finger of fault can be pretty brutal. For myself, a recovering Catholic steeped in my German/English - Misserfolg ist nicht eine Auswahl* - lineage, I can get pretty hard on myself.
I was in one of those less productive funks the day that Sara, you remember Sara, came by to tell me about the football game. There I was, a blank stare at a freshly gessoed canvas and ready to dive deep into depths of despondent depression, shame and guilt until her visit unexpectedly shifted my focus. I took it as a wake-up call from the Creator. “Look man”, he was telling me, “it’s not happening today but there’s still a world full of sunshine out there. Get off your own back and go to the beach!”
As it turned out. . . there was, I did and it was an inspiring afternoon.
Maybe it’s a function of age and experience or maybe life in this laid back island city is finally having it’s way with me but, since then, if the sun rises on a less productive day, I’m able to shift my focus, look in the mirror and tell myself “it’s o.k.”
Sister Mary Francis might never approve but, you know what? It really is O.K.
(*failure is not an option)
Art on April 13th 2007 in Articles
Harry responded on 14 Apr 2007 at 6:51 am #
Nice piece Art. It interests me how a culture so similar to my own, here in the UK has its own individual sports and interests. I mean I presume when you say football you aren’t referring to what we define as football (soccer as you call it), but rather a game not too dissimilar to another sport of ours, Rugby. Also instead of baseball we have cricket and rounders. Cricket is perceived as extremely English (“Its just not cricket, old boy!â€) and baseball is very American.
I think these subtle cultural differences are very important to ones (as the queen says) identity. I have noticed over the years though there seems to be a blending of cultures, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I remember for example when British people started using the term “Hi†instead of hello as it was only about 15 years ago. Also now I often hear people use the term “Yo!†which makes me laugh.
Art responded on 14 Apr 2007 at 2:12 pm #
Thank-you Harry and yes you’re right the football reference was not to soccer. Baseball, by the way, evolved directly from Rounders in the 80 or so years between America’s war for independence from Britian (how is that conflict remembered in Brish history?) and our Civil War.
As to the blending of cultures, my hope is that it is the beginning of globalization on a politics aside, personal level. The more we speak each other’s languages the better we can understand each others ways of being and that, can only be a good thing. Where the people lead, governments (even America’s) will follow.
cheers