On idleness and productivity 

I’m struck by a remarkably foolish conundrum.

The busier I am the less productive I become.

While at the same time?

The less I do, the more I create

In order to be productive, I need to be idle. But if I'm idle, that means I’m not doing any thing productive. But if I’m being idle in order to be more productive, am I really being idle?

I have a problem here that relates to creativity and idleness. I need time to dream. I need time to let my mind wander and go sideways.

In order to create, I need time by myself to think. Or whittle. Or just walk. When I’m doing that stuff, I’m mostly thinking about you guys. What fun or helpful things can I share here. How much wisdom can I squeeze out of a fart joke? Thanks for being someone to think about and write to. Whether it's making change happen, creating a company, writing a book, we have to commit to showing up on a daily basis. 

Knowing that you read these suckers?

That keeps me writing. It pulls me away from the delightful land of daydreams. I focus and bring my daydreams into something moderately coherent.

Daydreaming is a massive part of the creative process. During a concert at Massey Hall in Toronto, Greg Kealor of Blue Rodeo was telling the story of how he came up with one of their greatest songs

I was at my cabin, up north, getting high and staring at the stars (the audience laughed) What? Isn’t that what you pay me for - to get high and look at the stars?

Writing to you allows me to go between the divergent, dreaming phase of the creative process. That’s my version of ‘getting high and staring at the stars’. Some days, it’s simply sweeping the floor. Other days, it’s walking to work. Eventually, in order to deliver, I then switch to converging on a thought or idea, writing it and then positing it to you daily.

2021 was the year the Foolsletter started. Writing like this is changing me. All of this began because of The Creatives Workshop. There, we were challenged to create and share something daily. The next cohort of The Creatives Workshop begins on January 24. It’s 3.5 months long. It blew me away.  Check it out.

There are days where showing up is challenging. There are days where I’m at a loss for something to share. Despite this, I keep showing up. A lot can be said for showing up when you don’t feel like it. Showing up like this is changing me. 

So, 

Thank you all so very much for being a huge part of my 2021

I imagine that I’ll spend a good chunk of 2022 thinking about what to say to you.

With that in mind, always feel free to replay to this email. Send me some stuff you think I might want to daydream about.

Here’s hoping that 2021’s sick sense of humour turns a little towards silly and slapstick for 2022.

Much love.

Happy final day of 2021

J