On the Delights of Procrastination: Blog 148

Namaste!

I am sitting today on my patio, surrounded by the beautiful colours of my pot plants. In a minute I will do my morning ritual of watering them all.
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The apples that my ma and pa bought me last year are coming on well and the new oranges too.The patio is gradually augmented with new friends. I even had one strawberry a couple of weeks ago from the plant given to me by a friend! Not enough for a strawberry tart, but just enough to taste the sweetness of summer. 

I am very pleased this morning that I spent over three hours yesterday sorting out my broadband and I finally have it at my flat after three months (I know, I know!) And the rest of the afternoon I spent at a wonderful 60th birthday party of a dear friend! The food was amazing too - made by a local Barking cafe -  Relish. 

I have just been listening to Farming Today on Radio 4, I am never quite sure why I carry on listening after my favourite Sunday programme Something Understood as I am not really that interested in farming. But I probably should be - after all what would we do without these stalwarts making it possible for us to eat?! There is a certain English comfort in the voices and the sounds of the farmyard in the background - perhaps a faint whiff of a childhood in stories and books? Comforting nonetheless.

WH Auden

But it was Something Understood that did it for me again as it often does. Its a gentle and quiet Radio 4 programme, filled with thoughts on a given topic, augmented by music and poetry. There is always a golden nugget in there somewhere - take a listen if you can .http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qn7f

Today's subject was procrasination. Now there's a nugget. I spent many times discussing this very subject with my eldest daughter Grace when she was growing up. "Why is it?" she used to complain "... that I am always putting off things I know I have to do." This applied often to her homework, and latterly her degree dissertation. I am not sure I ever came up with a plausible answer for her, nor did she. And in spite of or maybe because of this she did very well. But I guess there was something in there about the incomplete. As long as we have not finished something, particularly in our case a piece of artwork or an essay of some sort, then it still has the potential to be magnificent. Once complete we look at it with a certain disappointment, once again it is not the masterpiece we dreamed of, and all we see is its flaws and our own frailty - maybe. 

But today's Something Understood cocked a timely snoop at the idea that procrastination is by definition bad. Deadlines, deadlines -  being forced to react to things rather than to take time to respond means that often whole landscapes of ideas and experiences remain uncharted. So when I do the washing, make yet another cup of tea, sharpen the proverbial pencils, maybe I am just giving life a chance, giving my unconscious mind an opportunity to present an idea or a solution? Giving myself permission. We are so fiercely results driven, that anything that smacks of wasting time or day dreaming often brings with it a label of laziness. What if it was actually better to take the day off, feel the sand under your feet, have a picnic - just at the moment when you have a thorny problem to solve? 

Olly and I used to take our dogs for a walk every morning for many years - setting out with an imponderable question and just at the turn in the woods we would begin to get the semblance of an answer. It was a good discipline. Yes discipline! Maybe its disciplined to take time to enter that relaxed dream space. Check out the productivity yourself!

Something Understood has some great pieces of poetry - notably from Hamlet and WH Auden on this subject 

Villanelle - WH Auden

Time can say nothing but I told you so,

Time only knows the price we have to pay;

If I could tell you, I would let you know.

If we should weep when clowns put on their show,

If we should stumble when musicians play,

Time can say nothing but I told you so.

There are no fortunes to be told, although

Because I love you more than I can say,

If I could tell you, I would let you know.

The winds must come from somewhere when they blow,

There must be reasons why the leaves decay;

Time can say nothing but I told you so.

Perhaps the roses really want to grow,

The vision seriously intends to stay;

If I could tell you, I would let you know.

Suppose the lions all get up and go,

And all the brooks and soldiers run away?

Time can say nothing but I told you so.

If I could tell you, I would let you know.

Have a relaxing day y'all - and you too Phil!