We’re all Sisyphus. Some of us just choose to whistle while we work. I choose to whistle while I work (between whining sessions). It’s when I stop working and the inertia surrounding my lack of work sets in that the whistling stops and I find myself back at the bottom of that metaphorical hill facing my stone to roll. Again.
That’s where I’ve been for the past 9 days — the longest I’ve ever gone without posting to my blog since I began it 104 posts ago. I’ve been in that zone. Rolling that dang stone.
And now I’m done. Did you see that? I just rolled past the line between “inert” and “in motion” and now I’m back to work.
Every time I find myself starting again I have that forehead slapping moment when I remember that the secret to avoiding inertia — “the tendency to resist a change in motion” — is simply to NOT stop working. Seriously.
I don’t mean it’s necessary to maintain the sweatiest, adrenaline drenched, looming deadline angst-laden version of work. I mean maintain the “bean by bean” version. The steady, one foot in front of the other version.
And always try to have an unfinished piece to get back to the next day so you’re not starting from zero. That’s key. Once you’re “finished” then you WILL wake up, sooner or later, and find yourself in the silence, “resisting a change in motion” one more time. The change from NOT working, to working. Again.
So, try this instead. You know how to whistle, don’t you Sisyphus?
You just put your lips together and blow.
