Slow Progress

It’s the little things.

What I really want to do is complete a short film.  Not even a feature film, just something short, just a minute or two. I have ideas, have some footage, know that it’s probably the project that I should be working on most. But I don’t.

Because there are always other little tasks that are easy to complete, and always seem necessary and still give a sense (maybe false) of achievement. Learning some Spanish, cleaning up, writing this blog - things that I don’t want to let slip. But that shouldn’t be my #1 priority.

Procrastination I guess. The ‘war of art’. What does it take to overcome the distractions and get on with the thing that matters most? Courage, guts, discipline, motivation? I’m sure I’ve read hundreds of productivity solutions.  ‘Just start’ is probably the best advice. Just do a little bit more. Make a little more progress.

I just watched ‘Adaption’ this week. Great movie. One brother is stuck, lost in trying to create his screenplay. Lost in thought and analysis and fear and frustration and expectations. The other is learning and free and inexperienced but willing to learn and try and be wrong and take criticism. There’s a lot more to the movie but it’s a telling comparison.

How do we keep that freedom of experimentation and excitement when there’s experience and expectation and standards to be met? How do we stay willing to take risks and try something new, when we’ve been taught how things should be done?

I know that I want and need to make more time for making stuff. Priority time, not just after all those other little jobs are finished.