Been thinking about this a lot lately. There are things on my IHC list of goals that I’m not getting done. Mostly they are drawing and meditating. OK, yes, my numbers aren’t where they should be either. I keep thinking, I have to get my work done before I can take time for these things. The spare moment never comes. For example, I took my sketchbooks out to the farm this weekend, thinking I might get a spare moment when I finished my tasks to draw. That moment never came.
But maybe I have it backwards. Maybe… I need to do them before my work.
It is said that a person should meditate ever day, even if only for just a few minutes, and that if a person is too busy to meditate, they need to meditate for an hour every day.
My goal for meditation this year was not only to get back into the habit of meditation but also to be more of an empty cup (as opposed to an already full one), to be more receptive.
I hadn’t thought about it this way before, but I find drawing, sketching from life, to be meditative as well. My mind quiets easier than if I just concentrate on my breath, as is often taught in meditation. I start to see things that I never saw before because I took the time to be more observant in order to be able to draw the subject matter. I can’t help but be “in the moment”.
An artist I admire equated drawing to breathing. Maybe I need to think of drawing as also meditating. They don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
The problem with choosing to do these things before the work gets done is there is always a lingering feeling of guilt. At least for me. I shouldn’t be “wasting time” I should be getting work done. There are deadlines to meet, things that need to be completed, people counting on me. Yet, when I take a step back and look at the bigger picture, I can see the value in prioritizing these practices. When I had a regular meditative practice in the past the “work” got done faster, more effectively, and with less stress than when I try to just hunker down and get it done and then use my “spare time” for the other stuff. Besides, the work is never “done”. There is always more work to do, and there always will be.
It is about taking an opportunity whenever you can.
I think if you do the drawing or meditating first, but set a time limit of 30 minutes or so, then you might be able to trick your mind into not being guilty that you're doing those things first? I think I'll try this approach,
As always, you can set your alarm clock to go off 10 minutes early so that you can get a bunch of your goals/requirements tended to without sacrificing 'work'.