I am indebted to John Taylor who inspired this conversation.
Especially with regard to being
creative
and bringing forth something (new) from
nothing
count-on-ably, regularly, reliably, and ongoingly, I've noticed I
operate better when things in the physical space I'm
working
in, do not distract me by calling me to handle them. In the mornings
when I'm awake before dawn, I
open
the curtains and sit at my table to
write
as the sun rises over the cattle pasture in front of me. That's the
exterior space (if you will) I look out onto, and it is
inspiring. But I can't give myself
fully
to what it is I'm
creating,
until the interior space
works.
What do I mean
"works"?
If there are dishes in the sink, they call me. I'm distracted. I must
wash them and dry them and put them away before I can give myself
fully
to being
creative.
If my bed is unmade, it calls me. No, I can
write
when my bed's unmade, but it's at best in a low gear of
creativity.
The physical space in which I prefer to
work
is one in which whatever must be handled, is handled, leaving me
undistracted.
How far and how deep does this process have to go before the stage for
creativity
can be deemed to be
workable?
To make a point, if I got down on my hands and knees and
really looked, I'd probably find sections of the floor
(which otherwise look clean) could do with a wash. While the
windows
also look clean, I know if I went outside and looked in, I'd find drips
of
horse
saliva on the
panes,
calling cards ie
gifts
left there by those
magnificent
animals who come over when I'm away, and look into my
windows,
hoping to get carrots. Should those drips be cleaned also? even if
they are not immediately visible to the naked eye? for the space to be
workable?
Werner's
events are famed for being set up in impeccable, immaculate physical
spaces: chairs are lined up
perfectly,
tablecloths are folded and pinned exactly around tables.
What does it require for his physical space to be
workable?
In the
celebrated
cases, shag carpets are raked (that's right:
raked). Yet if I got down on my hands and knees looking at the
raked shag carpets with a magnifying glass, there would surely be
threads the rakes missed, carpet threads which were still not
immaculately aligned.
Listen:
if every thread in every carpet in the entire room had to be aligned
perfectly
first, and all other physical objects in the room also had to be
attended to
with that microscopic level of
attention and detail
before
the work
could
begin,
it's very doubtful
Werner
would have ever gotten a
chance
to utter one
word
in public.
So what then is the
tipping point
at which a physical space is deemed to be
workable
- even if all the carpet threads are not
perfectly
aligned, even if every single drip isn't washed off all
window panes,
even if there's still a scuff or a dirt mark or two on the floor which
isn't immediately noticeable? When is it enough to be
workable?
Part of where I
intend
this
conversation
should go, is teasing out your own definition of
workability.
So ante up! Here is my
opening
bid: there has to be an
opening,
some
clearing
for
who we really
are
to experience being
welcome
to come into the space, for the physical space to
invite
our true nature (whether appreciated or not) to come forth and be
awesome in it.
Workability
includes both handling things which draw
attention
away from the
intentionality
of the moment (those unwashed dirty dishes, unmade beds etc) as well as
whatever draws
attention
away from the purpose of the space (chairs out of line, sloppily draped
tablecloths). There should always be enough of everything that's
required (pens, notepads), and anything extra should be out of sight
(not distracting) yet easily accessible if needed. The space should be
conscious (whatever "conscious" is, is in itself a subject
for another
conversation
on another occasion) and
inviting,
without being ostentatious. There should be no clutter or mess (that's
pretty basic, yes?). The physical space should be akin to a
walk-through
Zenpainting
(if you will). In such environments, people have the sense of
workabilitywithout necessarily being able to articulate exactly what
workability
is. Some will simply say "This space
works!"
- adding
nothing
else. And even though all carpet threads may not be
perfectly
aligned, it's a space in which
Werner's
OK to
speak
and (more important) in which he's
easily,
clearly,
and
completelylistened.