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Procrastination is like a dance. At first its politely declined, but with both the glare of the ’spotlight’, and the desire not to make a scene growing stronger, she reluctantly accepts. It’s like a dance because the reluctant dancer always delays her footwork, always sheepishly out of step, still procrastinating in her own way, having never really left her chair by the dancefloor.
The first law of decision making, ‘more time doesn’t lead to better decsions’, seems to make a good case for home-girl either getting out there and tearing up the dance floor, or firmly telling the inviting party to jog on. The compromise robs her.
I’ve spent the day doing everything I’ve avoided for the past two weeks. Although I felt slightly robbed to begin with, I am happier for having danced the dance.
PS: I couldn’t find a picture of a smiling male bear and a frowing female bear, I figured why procrastinate and went with it.
Hustle. I’ve always liked that word. By hustle I mean ‘to obtain by energetic activity ‘ (not the underhand kind). It reminds me of 5-aside football coaching screamed from the sidelines way back in Primary school.
“Hustle, hustle, give and go. Shut him down!!”
The BBC did a survey recently that said the UK works the longest hours in Europe. I think this is true, but I would go further and say that the UK works the longest hours at stuff they absolutely loathe. I say shuffle on, but if your gonna shuffle, then whatever your (other) hustle is, do it with passion and skill, relentlessly. (’stubborn’ is also a good substitute for ’skilled’ in this swishism)
For today’s caveat though, I like the way, Canadian rapper, Shad puts it:
“Just recognise this, success won’t make you happy, at best it makes you rich / at worst it makes you paranoid, bitter and afraid - anyways, there’s no use for cash in the grave”
It’s 1am but, I’m trying to follow my own advice on this one. It reminded me of Dead Poet society’s, John Keating (played by Robin Williams) speaking to his English class,
“They’re not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they’re destined for great things, just like many of you, their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? - - Carpe - - hear it? - - Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.”
I’m often asked how I write, about my method and such. Unfortunately, after 5 years or so of gigging , I still find myself seeking “the answer” from other more experienced writers.
Things have gotten a lot better though, and when I look back on things I can see there’s a thin line between the sincere I-want-to-be-a-real-writer aspiration and the I’m-gonna-be-a-real-writer hubris. The latter expects it will just happen; the other respects a Jiminy Cricket voice that challenges her the moment she’s tempted to break the daily habits of accretion, of simple discipline factored over time; “skipping writing?” is his favourite question, followed by a seemingly sympathetic “I see” and then the clincher, a muttered observation that calls it like it is, “half-stepper”. Seinfeld’s dontbreakthechain is as good a strategy as any, for any type of writer. I’m gonna use it for keeping these swishisms coming, no half-stepping.
Consider a race where the resourceful, brainstorming type walks calmly at the starter’s gun, whilst others bolt out of the blocks. The sprinter’s strategy is to get a headstart: (1) good education, (2)the right networks, (3) a good job — and then to maintain his lead against a tide where 1) tends to stop after compulsory schooling and 2) and 3) consume lots of energy.
This is, of course, the story of the hare and the tortoise, only this swishism adapts the tale slightly to endow our hero in a half-shell with forethought and an innovative spirit. In the children’s story, the Hare gets complacent, takes a nap and the tortoise just factors his discipline over time. In reality I don’t think either are necessarily true, although hares do waste a lot of time and energy stacking hurdles that they can’t dont wont to jump over, they aren’t all complacent; equally, few tortoises win without initative.
Procrastination is like a dance. At first its politely declined, but with both the glare of the ’spotlight’, and the desire not to make a scene growing stronger, she reluctantly accepts. It’s like a dance because the reluctant dancer always delays her footwork, always sheepishly out of step, still procrastinating in her own way, having never really left her chair by the dancefloor.
Hustle. I’ve always liked that word. By hustle I mean ‘to obtain by energetic activity ‘ (not the underhand kind). It reminds me of 5-aside football coaching screamed from the sidelines way back in Primary school.
“They’re not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they’re destined for great things, just like many of you, their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? - - Carpe - - hear it? - - Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.”
