Somewhere, between the urgent disruptions, the thought-robbing distractions, our screaming to-do list, and the continuous lure of breaking news, there are openings where we can slow down, slip through the cracks, and actually find enough peace of mind to get some creative work done. Some days, the openings are so wide we can spend long hours catching up on our most important projects and goals. Other times the days are jammed with a boatload of responsibilities or unexpected urgencies and there are no openings to be found anywhere.
However, what I’ve come to learn is that manipulating our busy schedule is easy, because most of us artists & treps have our own favorite software, or built-in time-management system that helps us triage the storms of the day. But finding that time to contemplate, create and manifest our imaginative ideas, can be illusive.
Important because the cracks we need to slip through, are the ones between our busy thoughts, where pure creativity lives, not the ones between our busy schedules, where time-management lives. And the only way I know to slow down my frantic thoughts, just long enough to slip through the cracks and experience that illusive, creative peace of mind, is to sit in a private space, for 10-20 minutes, close my eyes, and allow the cracks between my thoughts to open up effortlessly, so that I can slowly slip into the deep end of the pool. And for over 30-years, the balance I’ve found in my life between the hoopla of showbiz and the silence of my soul is astounding. I’m not sure who I would be without this one simple, daily practice in my life. As Leonard Cohen would say, “that’s where the light gets in.”