The last couple of months, my husband and I have been talking about building a covering for our deck. We talked about retractable awnings, a gazebo-like structure and many variations in between. Do we do it ourselves or hire someone? Do we find plans or design our own? We were caught in the – I’m not sure – trap. You know the one, where every idea is OK, but just not winning either (or both) of you over. So we waited, and talked about it, and measured, and investigated – yet were still on the fence.
Then, a few days ago we were outside enjoying our deck, sitting in the sun when an idea hit me. Not just any idea, the right idea. I said it out loud to my husband and he agreed. By the next day, we had drawn up plans and a shopping list and scheduled the build (that we will do ourselves, for much less money than we orginally had thought).
I had the moment of clarity when we were in the space enjoying ourselves. Not thinking about or trying to solve the problem. You know you have experienced similar moments of clarity yourself. I would love to hear about them!
Moments of clarity are necessary for sound decision-making. When I get stuck on a project I often find that the best thing to do is just walk away and do something else for a while. Sometimes the answer comes while I’m doing that “something else”, sometimes when I return to the project with a fresh perspective or, sometimes it comes when I wake up early in the morning, when my mind is still and able to float free.
Yesterday, for example, I was frustrated because I couldn’t match two paint colours perfectly. So I stopped working and pursued other projects. And this morning, when I looked again I realized I’d been much too focused on perfection and that no one else would ever notice the slight difference between the two shades.
As a writer who edits his own material, I have a cardinal rule: Before editing, set the writing aside to let it cool down for a while. Then read it as a READER, not as a writer. That’s the only approach I’ve found, after 30 years of writing, that allows me to readily identify the issues in what I’ve just written.
We live in a too-busy world, where we allow too little time to just “being” without “doing”. It’s in those moments of “being” that clarity comes.
Very well said Thomas, thank you so much for sharing this!!
Stephanie…I LOVED this entry of yours! I have learned that when I’m stuck and feeling inertia around an issue, it usually means that I’m blocking the answer somewhere inside, whether it’s due to laziness, fear or just plain stubborness. So leaving it to percolate for awhile often gives me time to settle down and, once my mind & heart are more open, I can “hear” the answer. At other times, when I really just can’t sense a proper direction, I have to do as it sounds like you did- send the question out to the Universe and trust that the answer will come back to me. This has happened for me on both small issues (such as whether I should go to the gym or to the movies, a decision I was conflicted over only hours ago) and large ones (like my career path!)!
~Marin
Thanks Marin! It sounds like you have great Trust – that the asnwers are there and will come.