You will never be ready. You’ll never know enough. You’ll never think you know enough. You’ll never believe you’re adequate. You’ll never think you have the necessary skills or talents. You’ll never think you have what it – whatever “it” is – takes. You will never be ready.
Work Life
Sit Down. Rest a While.
You. You down in front. The one tapping your pen against your knee. The one rushing to and fro making sure everyone has a seat and has everything they need for the duration of this speech or film or whatever it is that you’re attending. You. Sit down. Rest a while. Put the pen in your purse or your pocket. Let the other people be. You sit down. You rest.
How to Find Good Ideas
Good ideas aren’t necessarily hard to find. It’s the process, as Dean Young says of writing, involved with finding them that’s difficult. It might be work one might not want to do. It’s a process that’s both creative and analytical; at least, it is once one becomes accustomed to the process of coming up with good ideas. What, though, is that process? It probably varies from person to person but, perhaps, some generalizations can be made.
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How to Keep the Heebie-Jeebies at Bay
heebie-jeebies [coined by American cartoonist Billy DeBeck]: jitters, willies
When I’m about to give a speech or a presentation or am about to attempt some new feat, I experience the jitters, the willies, the heebie-jeebies.* Such emotions aren’t new, and I’ve learned to face them. Sometimes, the facing requires defensive maneuvers; other times, it requires offensive.
You Will Find You are Strong
The Ents are going to wake up and find that they are strong. – Gandalf
When you’re weary and merely going through the motions of the work you are called to do, you don’t feel strong. You feel weak. You think everybody must know how weak you feel and are.
When Your Heart isn’t in It
When your heart isn’t in it, you still work hard. You turn in your work on time. You continue to beat deadlines. You give your best efforts even if they feel false and pale in comparison to your usual ones. You trust that your heart will return to you, that you will find yourself giving your all, including all your heart, as you do your work.