Strolling, Not Striving

I have my new strategy for creative freedom--in fact for the kind of weightless freedom from pressure I felt in my first two weeks post-surgery. It's a standard bit of yoga advice: don't strive. Or as my mother used to say when I was a kid: "don't strain your goozle." That can be hard to remember when one is trying to get everything in the world done in a day. Which is usually the case for me.

The only problem with "don't strive" is that it's a negative. Better to focus on doing rather than not doing. So I toyed with the idea of Nike's "just do it" slogan. That says basically the same thing, but sounds a bit grim and dutiful.

I've settled finally on the word "stroll" to describe the no-pressure approach to getting things done.

From now on, I'm strolling through my days. No getting all twist-legged about how much work is ahead to do. One thing at a time, done peacefully. I think this is going to work. In fact, I'm sure it is. It's already working.