Monday, December 1, 2008

clean


barbed, originally uploaded by Justin Davis Davanzo.

funny how procrastination works huh? Yesterday I cleaned the house...i mean really cleaned the house...I vacuumed every nook and cranny and wiped the blinds down and got out the wet mop for the floors, and scrubbed the toilet and sinks and tub, and even managed to shorten a few of the blinds for the windows...something i have been wanting to do for a long time....I dusted, I wiped down the fridge and the stove and the washer and dryer, i did two loads of laundry...Like a hurricane I was...a category 5 cleaning hurricane for about 2.5 hours...and then i went and bought a small christmas tree..not a real one, but a great little fake one that looks real and already has lights on it and we named him Herald...not Harold, but Herald..you know, clever like....and then it finally happened...3 hours later, I found my point of entry into my work again...I spent the next 5 hours lost in my studio.

I guess it works out that way sometimes. I knew i needed to be in there, but couldn't quite find the moment of entry, so I cleaned...and cleaned...and mindfully procrastinated. I say mindfully because I knew all along that I would end up there, but it was just a matter of timing....like creative foreplay...yes...that is what it is...Creative Foreplay! Aha..see, this really works...I think that will be the name of one of the chapters...

gotta go now, there are a few drawers I have been meaning to organize....

Love and Understanding.

6 comments:

Luke said...

I iron my shirts when this mood strikes me. It helps to do something really, really structured, and somewhat monotonous, right before I do something creative. I did it for years before I recognized the pattern. Weird, huh?

Justin Davis Davanzo said...

damn..good idea...wish i had an iron...

Justin Davis Davanzo said...

damn..good idea...wish i had an iron...

Ms. Conley said...

cleaning is one of my secret weapons to creativity....isnt that weird....Cleaning puts me in a good mood and it helps clear my head somehow...

Anonymous said...

Justin
I will gladly buy you an iron next week and drop it off along with my ironing basket (that is full to overflowing). Let me know if you need an ironing board as well....
Love
Mom

Anonymous said...

Justin
My son, my 'temple treasure'....
You embody the high calling of 'beginner's mind'.
I once wrote you that: "You were once
the child
steering your own
jewel
river boat

Peter and the Wolf
chased you
along the rivers
shore
of
deep imagination..."

I believe it was Meister Eckhardt who said that we do not find the Divine by a process of addition, but by a process of subtraction." Your courage to extract yourself from feeling a 'life unlived' has been a sweet reminder, for us all, that venturing into the great unknown, reaps rewards we could never have imagined.
Love
Mom