Telling me to take a vacation from film-making is like telling a child to take a vacation from playing.
-Stanley Kubrick
When your work is also your passion, it might not seem like work to you at all. Despite the hours, months and years you happen to spend on it, it doesn’t matter to you at all because your work is an essential part of who you are – an extension of yourself. I love writing and painting and regard myself as fortunate because I never want to stop…
Baking and Making,
Shaping and Forming,
Turning out, Churning out,
Decorating, Adorning…
(The Lunaberry Moths of THE WORLD OF GLIMPSE).
Charles M. Schulz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip, described in Charlie Brown & Charlie Schulz, how he had to alter his behavior to give people a visual image that they expect of a person at work: “It’s hard to convince people when you’re just staring out of the window that you’re doing your hardest work of the day. In fact, many times when I’m sitting here thinking and therefore really working, I hear the door open and I quickly grab the pen and a piece of paper and start drawing something and so people won’t think I’m just goofing off and anxious to have a little chat.” (HAVE YOU EVER HAD A HUNCH? The Importance of Creative Thinking)
There is supposed to be a disparity between work and play. How can something that is fun, actually be work as well? It can – if you are fortunate to do something that you love. For me, my work is an extension of who I am. How deprived I would feel if I was told I had to take a vacation from painting or writing. I do what I do because … THAT IS WHAT I DO!
How many times have I gone off on a long walk, specifically to NOT work, and somewhere along the line had an irresistible chain of thought pop into my head? Thank goodness for cell phones – I can do a quick video note while I continue to turn the ideas over in my head. Sometimes they lead nowhere – sometimes they need refinement – sometimes they are complete by the time I get home. And the next time I go for a walk (the next day, usually) I still think it’s not for work!
What a great example Rick, of the seemless flow of leisure and work! Creative ideas pop into your head unbidden while walking and because you allow them in and record them in some way, leisure can be productive work, too, because some – or many of these ideas that came to you spontaneously, turn out to be really good ones. Thank you for your comments.