The Wrongness of "Hurry Up"
Dude, so I think a lot of us live our life according to this "hurry up" philosophy. I'm constantly telling my kids to hurry up and shower, hurry up and get their shoes on, hurry up so they don't miss the bus.
I don't like being late, but I also want to squeeze every second out of every minute, so I often find myself hurrying to get ready, eat breakfast, and get where I need to get.
I guess that's okay for life, though I do enjoy it when things aren't in hurry-up mode.
I definitely think I've been applying this "hurry up" offense to writing, and it hasn't made me very happy. It's just frustrating to feel like I need to hurry up and get where someone else already is. Hurry up and write something new. Something on-trend. Something commercial. Something that will sell.
The problem is, I can't do more than I'm already doing. Writing and publishing is not my full-time job, nor the only thing of importance in my life. I also don't want to write something just so it'll sell. Writing is much more artistic to me than that, and I'm kind of a snob about what I write.
So the hurry up attitude is hurtful to my process, and my psyche. I was talking to a good friend last week about this -- she's the one who actually put it into words I could understand -- and she helped me see that I don't need to be where someone else is. I don't need to be hurrying to do anything. I'm right where I'm supposed to be, doing what I'm supposed to be doing.
No hurry up needed.
Have you ever felt like you need to hurry up and get where someone else is? How does it work for you?
I don't like being late, but I also want to squeeze every second out of every minute, so I often find myself hurrying to get ready, eat breakfast, and get where I need to get.
I guess that's okay for life, though I do enjoy it when things aren't in hurry-up mode.
I definitely think I've been applying this "hurry up" offense to writing, and it hasn't made me very happy. It's just frustrating to feel like I need to hurry up and get where someone else already is. Hurry up and write something new. Something on-trend. Something commercial. Something that will sell.
The problem is, I can't do more than I'm already doing. Writing and publishing is not my full-time job, nor the only thing of importance in my life. I also don't want to write something just so it'll sell. Writing is much more artistic to me than that, and I'm kind of a snob about what I write.
So the hurry up attitude is hurtful to my process, and my psyche. I was talking to a good friend last week about this -- she's the one who actually put it into words I could understand -- and she helped me see that I don't need to be where someone else is. I don't need to be hurrying to do anything. I'm right where I'm supposed to be, doing what I'm supposed to be doing.
No hurry up needed.
Have you ever felt like you need to hurry up and get where someone else is? How does it work for you?
Published on January 14, 2015 05:00
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