Ever have one of those days?
What days? I hear you ask, because the question is ambiguous.
One of those days when you want to do something, when you want to accomplish something, and your brain absolutely refuses to cooperate?
I hope so. I hope you understand what I am talking about. Because I am having one of those days and it’s making me a little crazy.
Things at the old day job have gone decidedly pear-shaped.
The regular staff there is a full-time manager, a full-time clerical employee, a part-time clerical employee (2 half-days a week), and a remote crew working on a system changeover. Normally there are two people in the office with me, handling the operations and occasionally asking for my help because after 22 years I do Know Things.
Do I know as much as this guy? I am not sure, but sometimes I DO wish I had a crystal ball to help me find the answers I need!
I am not part of the regular staff; I am just a highly-experienced former employee who is back to help with a couple projects and then retreat to my well-deserved (and creative) retirement.
I am not involved in the day-to-day operations.
Except.
Except that both full-time employees called off sick on Monday and by Tuesday afternoon both had tested positive for Covid.
In a department that’s only two full-time people. The good news is that my test on Tuesday came back negative. Thank you vaccines, masks, and social distancing.
The bad news for me is that the department is now me, doing the work of three people and trying to manage the remote crew. It’s making for very long days and a high level of mental and physical exhaustion at the end of the day.
Which leaves me on Saturday afternoon scrambling to catch up the housework that must* be done and casting about for a topic for today’s post. (*Must is being very narrowly defined for the near future.)
Which brings me to this post, and an idea that I will expand on next week.
Making something from nothing.
(Hold that thought, have to go put laundry in the dryer. It really is that kind of a day.)
Sometimes creativity seems to desert us, and as the cliché says, “The only way forward is through.”
Sometimes we have to ignore the roadblocks and keep moving ahead.
For today I am going to share an example from my husband’s afternoon walk.
Steve went to his favorite park to walk. He usually posts a picture to his social media, because the park is photogenic and he likes taking pictures. (I happen to think he’s pretty good at it, too. A lot of the photos I use here are his.)
This afternoon it was sunny and the park was lovely, but it was the same place as every other day and he was struggling for something different.
He spotted a couple walking down the dock, and thought the two of them silhouetted against the sun shining on the water would make a good picture.
Except that the couple moved. One of them stepped behind a post from Steve’s viewpoint, and there was no shot. He tried changing angles but they moved farther apart and eventually one of them started back toward the parking lot while the other walked farther down the dock.
Which was when he decided to make a story from what felt like nothing. Instead if a couple, he had a separation. He took the shot and posted it with the caption “Split decision,” and a hashtag #disagreement. My comment was that it wasn’t a real disagreement until someone was pushed off the dock.
Are they going their separate ways? Or is she just cold and heading back to the car? Either way, nobody's gone off the dock. Yet.
The reality is that he had no idea if they were disagreeing on anything, but it made a good story. Something from nothing.
I will circle back to examine how we can deal with this in our own creative lives next week. When I hope to have more brainpower.
In the meantime, I hope your creative brains are firing on all cylinders and that you’ll have something to share with us.
I’d love to hear from you.