Free Time and Creativity
Author: Lara
Having been pretty much snowed in since Thursday, I have had an unusual amount of free time this week. Whenever this sort of thing happens (which is not often), my creative juices start flowing, almost a driving need to make something original, anything really. Perhaps there is something about the mind numbing repetition of going to work that stifles this urge. You are not aided by creative originality in an environment where you are required to perform the same sorts of tasks over and over. In fact, it may well be a detriment, because you become much faster at things you have done over and over. That is not to say that my job is exactly like a manufacturing assembly line, there are areas where a bit of creativity comes into play. But overall, it is not the prevailing mental operation and therefore must get shut off by my brain.
It may also be related to the different paradigm caused by having your time partially “owned” by someone else. I am sure we can all admit there are things we waste time on at work which we would not at home, simply because it is not on your own time. That then gets you into a sort of momentum pattern at work, a rut, and by the time you get home you can’t break free of it enough to be motivated to create something for dinner, much less make art.
In short, for me at least, having a job is not good for my creative self. At least not a repetitive, mostly non-creative job. Not that I needed a snow week to tell me that, but it makes for a good reminder anyhow.
Side note: snow days are also excellent for getting housework done.
read comments (2)