January 4, 2017

Resolutions. With me, those of the determinative (as distinct to those of the conclusive) kind are made and affirmed at the beginning of each day, rather than at the start of each year. We can change the calendar on the wall, but we cannot change either ourselves or the world in so doing. And in order to change the world (or at least some small part of that which we inhabit), we often have to first change ourselves.

9.15 am: ‘Of making many [lists] there is no end’, too. Over the years, I’ve developed a strategy for re-engaging work after a vacation, one that is kind to myself, establishes and prioritises tasks, and seeks to comprehend the landscape of responsibilities and activities for several months ahead. Lists are crucial in this respect. I have two, essentially: one for ‘must dos’ (the domain of action), the other for ‘must bes’ (the domain of spiritual, moral, and physical being). I’m reconciled to failing dismally, in part, in both, this year, as in every other. To begin: timetables for assessment and teaching and admin meetings need to be checked and entered onto my personal dairy; research deadlines addressed; and the day’s duties defined. In the background, I uploaded my new CD acquisitions to iTunes:

12.30 pm: An early lunch before a foray into town. From Post-its to the Post Office (which is now stuffed at the back of W H Smith, next to the magazines). I discovered that the envelop that I was about to mail had lost its tack. This prompted a second excursion (post-Pritt Stickification) to the post-box on Caradoc Road, into which several important letters related to my life’s course have been dropped, previously. But this was not one of them:

1.30 pm: Extensions, hospital appointments, smartphone screen protectors, moderations, and further Post-its: a soup made up of the mundane, necessary, professional, facilitating, and potentially life changing. Onwards to postgraduate admin. Undiluted joy (with Emerson, lake & Palmer through the speakers)!

6.30 pm: Practise session 1. 7.30 pm: Back to the SteelWorks outline. In the interim, Port Talbot Steel Works has closed its doors to all visitors. I would have liked to hear and see steel being manufactured today. This restriction may, of course, be lifted if the fortunes of the company improve. Who knows? My experiences in the past have made me sanguine towards apparent bad news. For a limitation imposed on one aspect of a project may give rise to a better opportunity, which would not have otherwise occurred. There are significant dimensions to this project that have not yet disclosed themselves. So, in order to stimulate insight, I picked a card from my newly acquired box of Eno’s and Schmidt’s Oblique Strategies:

The constraints or instructions encourage a creator to, variously, consider tangents to a point, conceptualise non-habitually, and behave out of character. The proposal may not be appropriate in a given instance, but it encourages the mind to venture in an unplanned direction. ‘Non-instrumental sound composition’. Now where did that idea come from? It wasn’t printed on any of the cards. You see!

Previous Post
December 22, 2016
Next Post
January 5, 2017