It’s Getting Harder To See The Birds

Marking time and getting things done

I’m fortunate to live close to many parks and woodlands and I’ve just returned from a chilly morning walk. Pretty much all along the way I was accompanied by birdsong, and I spotted wrens, robins, great tits, blue tits, blackbirds, thrushes, goldfinches, pigeons and more.

As I wandered – I resolved to write something on my return. I used to blog regularly – and after I took time out to process my post fraud anxiety, I wound right down. I wasn’t short of ideas – but I had no motivation or energy to write, choosing instead to focus on getting better and keeping my creative practice ticking over through my art.

As the gap between blog posts got longer, I convinced myself I had no business scribbling anymore. How long is too long? Have you ever had that experience before now – where you’ve left something so long you end up believing you ‘can’t’ go back to it? I suffer from this tendency – and having got over myself a few times lately and been pleasantly surprised by the results, I’ve decided to stop suffering and get on with it.

I’m sitting here flexing my fingers, tapping away, and enjoying the experience – feeling the rust crack from the hinges of my hands. Coincidentally I’m listening to an interview with Dave Gregory who has just responded to a question about getting stuff done by suggesting that rather than find ‘time to spare’ to practice, we should dedicate time instead. I think part of my drift has been made easier through not scheduling writing time – so I’ll experiment with putting something in the diary and see how I get on.

What to write about? I have a strong desire to explore and write about the subject of fairness, so I’ll do some work on that. I’m also tempted to share aspects of my creative process too. I learn a lot from my experimenting and I’m curious to see what happens if I share more about that.

Spring is advancing – and though it is still cold out, it’s lovely too. There are bright greens in abundance as the trees come into leaf, which is beautiful. It is getting harder to see the birds, but I can still hear them, and they’ll be back.

An abstract patterned image - looking down on an imaginary woodland from above.
A Walk In The Woods – Tombow and Posca pens on card

Author: Doug Shaw

Artist and Consultant. Embracing uncertainty, sketching myself into existence. Helping people do things differently, through an artistic lens.

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