Tom, I'm saying that idleness is not conducive to art or to anything else, at least not in my case. The less I have to do the less I do. Few of the projects I'm saving until I get more time materialize when I get more time. I'm not so busy that I can't find time do the ones at the top of my list. Unless something happens to move the put-offs up the list they just go on being put off while other things are added above them.
When I have something to write about being busy doesn't stop me. I'll jot down snatches of an idea for a poem at work or in the car or on a pad of paper by my bed and add to it until I'm ready to sit down at the computer and knock it out. When you are idle you mentally gear down. You lose self-confidence and effectiveness. I'm more productive when I feel good about myself than when I'm bored or miserable, and my poetry is less likely to smack of self-pity if I do write it. If you want something done, ask a busy person.
And if I don't have something to write about I can sit and stare at a piece of paper or computer screen eight hours a day for six weeks and nothing will happen except that I'll be bored. I might as well be working.
Carol
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