did you do it?
did you? did you do it?
huh, huh, huh
lay off…
with your peremptory ways
always insisting on my immediate attention
I am not — I repeat — I am not a creature of obedience
I am not subject to your imperious demands
draw it up now, go ahead
do your check-ins and check-ups
and touch your bases and follow up with so and so,
and fucking update all the bullshit you need to update,
but you won’t move me!
I’m recalcitrant, and I go at my own pace
I do shit my way, and people are just gonna have to live with it
hurry, hurry, hurry,
what’s the ETA…
listen, shove your schedules and time estimates right up your own
anal-retentive asses
because I don’t work that way, motherfuckers
haste makes mucho waste
and when it comes to time for the things that matter,
I’ll waste it all to hell and back
because I care about my work,
and I don’t give a fuck about your deadlines
hurry, hurry, hurry!
everyone says
move fast and break things— pshh, yeah…
but how about go slow and keep shit together,
how ’bout that as a counter philosophy?
because, man…hurry all you want,
but, really, it’s the grave that’s our destination
and the ones who rush will always get there first
“I see you’re in a hurry to get somewhere. It’s a great mistake to hurry…because the grave’s our destination. And those who hurry usually get there quicker than those who take their time.”
—Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove
Garbage Notes:
Sometimes good work takes time. Actually, no, check that—most really great work takes quite a bit of time. Don’t let anyone fool you. In this world of fast everything, next-day everything, immediately gratified everything, you’ll be tempted to rush through things just to get them out.
I’ve been there. I’ve been in settings where people cared more about turnover time than quality. Even writing on the internet there’s always pressure to keep things churning out rapidly so your name is always at the top of the algorithm. So our names are always fresh in the minds of our audience. But what are we all rushing toward?
It would be one thing if speed guaranteed success. But it doesn’t.
I was always one of those kids in school who was one of the last ones to turn in their test. I never could understand why some idiots would rush through it just to be the first ones done, only to sit around staring at the clock proud of themselves for being foolish speed demons.
Yes, I know. There’s people out there saying, well, there is such a thing as too slow. Things can spoil if you take too long on them. I know I’ve had some promising short stories fall flat because they took forever to be written. But I think if something is taking too long, or if you’re struggling to get it out right, that’s more of a signal that you don’t have the awareness or presence of mind to realize that something isn’t working.
It’s all about mindfulness and self-assuredness. Not giving into the people that will nag at you. We’re all going to have haughty bosses or self-interested supervisors who are going to care less about us than they do about the bottom line.
Art takes time. So it’s up to us to realize that we’re the ones who set the tempo. We control the pace. And if anyone outside of you has a problem with that. Then you can go find better and more reasonable people to collaborate with.
Life is short, and we should all do as much as we can to explore the possibilities of doing creative work our way and in our own time. Even if it takes your whole life to figure out how to do it.
Franco Amati 2023
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This 🙌 a much-needed reminder!
Thank you for the reminder, appreciate it mucho ❤️ I used to be one of those rushing fools... And, not because “time is money” but simply because I didn’t know any better. I didn’t know what really matters. We are all so (wrongly) conditioned to multitask and produce and accomplish and be better, that slowing down and feeling, sensing, allowing space... is somehow a weakness. But, we know better now 😊😊