Planning is something that we humans seem to spend most of our time doing. I'm forever working on ways to plan effectively so that whatever I plan comes to fruition. I'm not notoriously bad at making things happen, in fact I usually receive compliments about ongoing activities, but from my viewpoint I seem to be very haphazard.
One method I have, and it really makes me laugh sometimes, is naming my to-do list my 'Quest' list, or my 'Mission Log'. I decided that things might be more fun to do if I treated them like Zelda quests or SpecOps missions. All that done I proceed ahead at ridiculous speed and then burnout.
This, I think, is what I'm getting at, the obsession to be continuous productive, always moving and never just taking the time to observe. Meditation and the art of thinking were historically considered a form of work; think about the Greek schools of thought, monks, etc. Consider the following, a line taken from LOST:
“Ludovico Buonarrati, Michelangelo’s father. He was a wealthy man. He had no understanding of the divinity in his son, so he beat him. No child of his was going to use his hands for a living. So, Michelangelo learned not to use his hands. Years later a visiting prince came into Michelangelo’s studio and found the master staring at a single 18 foot block of marble. Then he knew that the rumors were true — that Michelangelo had come in everyday for the last four months, stared at the marble, and gone home for his supper. So the prince asked the obvious — what are you doing? And Michelangelo turned around and looked at him, and whispered, “sto lavorando,” (I’m working). Three years later that block of marble was the statue of David.”
- John Locke (Terry O'Quinn)
That, I think, mirrors what I want to be able to achieve, a state of awareness that allows me to plot a course, see it through and come out the otherside having really achieved something. Extraordinary measures for extraordinary results.
Let's learn from each other - how do you plan?
Voracious Visualisations
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