There is always an excuse to not do your creative work.
Creative work is still work.
It is not easy.
It requires dedication.
It requires effort.
Distractions are abundant.
Focus is a decision.
Tag: decision
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Patience As A Choice
We do not always have to know what to do.
In fact, sometimes it is better to do nothing than to act in ignorance or in haste.
Sometimes, we simply have to wait.
While waiting may necessary, patience is a whole other matter altogether.
Patience is the decision or the ability to be comfortable while waiting.
For those of us who are driven to act by the forces inside us, whatever these forces may be, patience can be quite difficult to come by.
But, with nothing to do, we must choose to either be comfortable or uncomfortable while we wait.
And, if we must wait, we may as well do so with patience, contentedness, and intention.
Otherwise, we are not really waiting.
We are wasting our time.
Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.
Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Kogen Dojo Self Defense Academy where he teaches Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Photo by Ana.*
*Robert Van Valkenburgh’s black and white photography can be seen at My Darkness To Light
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On Risk And Action
Action without risk mitigation is carelessness, but risk mitigation without action is procrastination.
All action is inherently risky, but not all risk is necessary.
Our goal should be to preemptively mitigate unnecessary risks to the best of our ability so that our actions have the best possible chances of success.
No matter how much we have researched, tested, and prepared, however, we will never really be able to account for and mitigate all potential risks.
Risk mitigation is not the same as risk avoidance.
There is no way to accomplish anything worthwhile while also avoiding risk altogether.
If we try to mitigate risk to the point of avoiding it, we are no longer preparing.
We are now procrastinating.
At some point, we have to decide that we have done enough and that the remaining or unforeseen risks are worth facing, addressing, and adapting to while trying to achieve our goal.
Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.
Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.
Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.
If you found this post helpful or meaningful in some way, please feel free to Share, Comment, and Subscribe below.
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A Decision Without Action Is Fantasy
Is creativity a selfish or selfless act?
At the end of last year, I made a decision to write every day. I decided that I was going to challenge myself to spend some time each morning searching in myself for something worth saying, to stop hiding from whatever inspiration was in me and to channel that energy into creative output. There were sputters and stalls, but I eventually gave in to my muse and got into a groove. I began documenting my inspirations, recollections, and revelations, and I did so every day. Then, I received some bad news.
My grandfather, my mother’s father, with whom I was very close and had spent a lot of time with over the past twenty years, was dying. He was ninety-six years old and his health had been declining for some time, so this news was not a shock, but it forced me to put the brakes on in my life and to take a detour to visit him and my grandmother. I arranged coverage at my day-job and the dojo, and my wife, my daughter, and I made the drive down to Florida. We arrived in time for me to be at my grandfather’s bedside with my grandmother and her daughter-in-law when he passed away.
In an attempt to be present for my family, I relieved myself of the burden of routine. Whatever things I had committed to myself to do on a daily basis in my everyday life could and would wait until my more important work here, with my family, was complete. I was in pain and I excused myself from the difficult task of daily creativity. It was selfish and unimportant work, I told myself, and it would wait until I got back home. The problem is that several months have passed and I am just now beginning to write again. My excuse turned into avoidance and hiding, but, as the proverb goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So here I am again, recommitted and in the open, wiling to go where the process takes me.
– Robert Van Valkenburgh, co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo
Meditations on God 