"He would arrive early, climb up on to the scaffolding, and set to work. Sometimes he stayed there from dawn to sunset, never once laying down his brush, forgetting to eat and drink, painting without pause. At other times he would go for two, three or four days without touching his brush, but spending several hours a day in front of the work, his arms folded, examining and criticizing the figures to himself. I also saw him, driven by some sudden urge, at midday, when the sun was at its height, leaving the Corte Vecchia, where he was working on his marvelous clay horse, to come straight to Santa Maria delle Crazie, without seeking shade, and clamber up on to the scaffolding, pick up a brush, put in one or two strokes, and then go away again."
I love this. My husband and I have a few rules for living, and now I want to add more. Our rules are: (1) Always get in the water. (2) Never go somewhere unless the getting there takes less than at least half as long as the time you plan to stay. (3) Never eat in a restaurant that is named after the capital city of the region of that restaurant's cuisine.
THAT one is definitely *not* always very easily done. I speak from experience, unfortunately. Humans LOVE to be critical / judgmental on big things & small.
My rule : Do you have critical thinking skills ? Use them ! Don't believe any shmoe who tries to sell you magic beans in exchange for that big fat prize cow that you're taking to market.
Use your creative spark or lose it. Think outside the box. At least LOOK at the new & different before you dismiss them. I know people who SHUN creativity & critical thinking both, usually among my own relatives.☹️😔
“Freedom is a scary thing
Not many people really want it."
--Laurie Anderson, "Statue of Liberty"
Ah, good one!!
As someone who has been afraid of most people my whole life, I will do my damnedest to adopt this. Thank you for posting.
I literally wrote almost that exact sentence in the first draft, then took it out 🫣
Learn to retain focus. And learn to get back on track quickly when you get off.
How? Different for different people, imho. Look up the Da Vinci Last Supper work story!
This story?
"He would arrive early, climb up on to the scaffolding, and set to work. Sometimes he stayed there from dawn to sunset, never once laying down his brush, forgetting to eat and drink, painting without pause. At other times he would go for two, three or four days without touching his brush, but spending several hours a day in front of the work, his arms folded, examining and criticizing the figures to himself. I also saw him, driven by some sudden urge, at midday, when the sun was at its height, leaving the Corte Vecchia, where he was working on his marvelous clay horse, to come straight to Santa Maria delle Crazie, without seeking shade, and clamber up on to the scaffolding, pick up a brush, put in one or two strokes, and then go away again."
Somebody the other day quoted these 3 rules from Nelson Algren's novel A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE:
“Never play cards with a man called Doc.
Never eat at a place called Mom's.
Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own.”
Haha, what a weird list!
(That last one feels especially interesting given Algren's longtime affair with Simone de Beauvoir 👀)
Hey, we teach what we need to learn 😂
I love this. My husband and I have a few rules for living, and now I want to add more. Our rules are: (1) Always get in the water. (2) Never go somewhere unless the getting there takes less than at least half as long as the time you plan to stay. (3) Never eat in a restaurant that is named after the capital city of the region of that restaurant's cuisine.
So you're saying I should never eat at a restaurant with Sacramento in the name?? (OK, that is a good rule.) Thanks for sharing these, Sarah!
Take your inner critic out to the shed.
THAT one is definitely *not* always very easily done. I speak from experience, unfortunately. Humans LOVE to be critical / judgmental on big things & small.
My rule : Do you have critical thinking skills ? Use them ! Don't believe any shmoe who tries to sell you magic beans in exchange for that big fat prize cow that you're taking to market.
If you can't love your neighbor as yourself, work on loving yourself. Nothing really matters in the end.
Get bigger than what’s bugging you - really the how to of the Anderson/Reed rules?
( focusingresources.com)
Use your creative spark or lose it. Think outside the box. At least LOOK at the new & different before you dismiss them. I know people who SHUN creativity & critical thinking both, usually among my own relatives.☹️😔
This is indeed very tender. A fourth rule: see from within, but just from without…
Thank you!