Neutral ground

is a fallacy.

There are things actively fighting for your attention all day every day.

‘The overstimulated generation’.

In war; soldiers go prepared with suitable equipment, knowledge, and strategy to tackle the enemy. This is to ensure the best possible outcome rather than to be surprised. As Sun Tzu said in Art of War, “Every battle is won or lost before it is ever fought”.

When your life is able to be swiftly taken away by the device in your pocket you have two choices:

1) Build your defence- develop restrictions, habits, and systems

2) Wing it- depend on your finite determination to navigate through distraction

Busyness prevents time to reflect and develop rational thought, a war strategy.

You have the enemy at your doorstep and you do not even know it because you haven’t had that time to zoom out.

Truly step back from distractions; understand your tendencies, triggers, and where all your time is going- is this what you want to be remembered for? If not you need to get a plan in place quickly or you will lose the war.

Related posts:

I recently gave a talk about my creative practice to students as part of a ‘Creative Lives’ lecture series at Sunderland University. I shared aspects of my work stretching back to the early 2000s and…

Standing at the hill of Palonkon, looking west towards the ocean, I saw the entire western sky moving, clouds swirling into whirlpools; Space Jets taking off from the city of Saint Philip, due north…

If you are new to Sinatra and Active Record and getting confused about accessing associated models, you are not the only one. I recently finished my very first Sinatra project at Flatiron School and…