My idle mind

There I was, reading along, interesting post, etc., got to the last couple of sentences and laughed out loud and scared the dogs.

Last Friday I told some friends and yesterday I was thinking that I am the most impatient painter. I have so many interests. Writing, reading, driving my MX5, reading, snoozing. I cannot stay at my painting task for very long. I always come back but this sporadic style means I am not very productive – at least my outcomes don’t meet my expectations. So now I am impatient with myself. My wife counsels me to ease up on myself.

After making a nice living painting…pictures…for 40 years, my sister says I can’t possibly retire since I “never worked a day in my life.” My reply is you’ve got to be really smart to get along as well as I have without “working.” Keep painting everyone and live the good life!

I’ve always thought that most artists have ADD, with their minds always having to be engaged on one thing or another. Is there really a way to stop thinking about things when you’re conscious and not painting in the zone? Doesn’t everybody always have thoughts running through their heads even when they’re not doing anything?

Good One! The line I usually get is, “but what is your REAL job.” I usually then tell them I am a “Visionary Archivist specializing in Realistic Data.” End of conversation :)

Raschella, I had exactly the same reaction you did! Thanks, Robert. I wonder what the results would be were I to be in that position. My tendency when I have procedures that require me to sit (or lay) quietly, is to go into meditation. I am fully aware, but my mind chatter quiets. In a way, it is the same state I am in while painting. On the other hand, I do have a fairly odd and whimsical way of interpreting the world as I interact with it (something that baffles some people and irritates others). Or maybe that’s not an other hand kind of thing. People who think the two halves of the brain have exclusive domain over specific things are mistaken: the two halves are constantly communicating, collaborating, and coordinating on a lot of tasks. Lots of room for creativity in the process if we allow it. Then comes the work of trying to communicate it in some way to others. Or not. Sometimes it’s just fun to be who I am. And yes, Darla, the brain seems to want to follow every random thing it encounters and commenting on it. The key is to let the thoughts just flow through without holding on to them. ADD people seem disjointed because, ironically, their brains lack stimulation and seek it.

The best combination: Smart + Funny

“Older adults have trouble turning off the stuff that goes on in their heads.” (Cheryl Grady, Baycrest-Rotman Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario) Which is a good thing. It just means we know so much more…:-)

P.S. From some reason, based on your description of the process and researcher’s comments, I am not under an impression that they know what they are doing. Maybe it’s just me…

When asked “What do you actually do?” reminds me when my grandson was 5 years old, said “he was going to be an artist when he grew up so he didn’t have to work.” When you advertised about your last workshop being on a boat, etc., I was almost the first one to sign up until I began to face reality about possible painting in the rain etc. I have made quite a few treks across the world and am growing weary. If you would just please give a workshop in a normal easy-to-get-to place, I will be the first to sign up! I am a watercolorist (trying to be an acrylic painter) My website is dorisolsen.com. What about the northern California coast…beautiful spots, Mendocino, etc. I love your letters and your books!

I understand idle however if one wants to rest the mind then going to a place where we can let go of the chaos seems like a good idea . I know meditation does that for me. A true rest even from idle. But I love idle because the time one is in idle can be most useful. The place where clarity or understanding is allowed to just find its own place . I think idle for me is where I allow the pieces of the puzzle to drop into place rather then try to make them fit. The place where you surrender to creative order .

Yes, artists minds travel and the visions are as real as this physical world we live in. When we dream at night it affects us in a real way, so what we carry in our waking minds does to. Now the task at hand seems to be allowing the mind to wander while also disciplining it so we can function in the world. In other words our minds can be our greatest gifts or our worst enemies. The truest happiness flowers from within and allows us to engage in a balanced way in the world.

My mind never stops and my inner world has always been vast and busy. Sometimes to the detriment of my relationships. So, i try and honour my inner world and remember that i also live with others in an outer one. I definitely, at times, prefer the inner!!!

I find my idling brain more interesting now than when i was a young “knowledge worker”. I let it idle a lot, when getting dressed or undressed, when sitting on the pot, just after waking, and have, what to me are most interesting insights, or sometimes – good times – painting ideas.

You are getting more and more entertaining with each art letter; thanks for letting us into your world. What comes next; who could ever have thought they could do a measuring of your brain; you are very brave to allow this hook up. It seems you are encountering a multitude of negative thoughts from outsiders. She did, though, commend you on your brain activity. We are all joyous you became an artist and not a rocket scientist.

Ah ha ha ha ha ha. I understood part of it and the gist of all of it. Hope the study was for research and if not that it was for only slight memory loss which you don’t seem to have since you remembered all those parts of the brain.

I would have said, “Both!” But I only get paid for one.

I continue to be amused an educated by your ponderings. You’re a funny guy.

I’m sure glad I’m older and can wonder and wander as I please.

I don’t quite understand why you were having these measurements of your brain and the remark by the technician about “old people being rigid and have trouble turning off”. I think that the brain is turned off only when it is dead as in a person who is brain dead. I’d be worried if my brain is “turned off”. I think as people grow older they have garnered more knowledge and good memories that their brains are more active and productive where younger people have not. Perhaps that is how a creative person draws material for his inspiration. Old brain keep on dreaming, imagining and take flight on the wings of fancy for more beautiful and meaningful work of art. Translate those dreams wondering,and wandering into words and pictures that transcends mankind to a better world. Thank you for an interesting newsletter.

I would love to have my brain mapped! I live in Maryland, and you would think with Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, that they may be doing something awesome like that. But mostly, they do brain scans to look for mental disorder activity. I did have an MRI once, when I was about 42. It was deemed “unremarkable”. I felt a bit discouraged. In medical terms, unremarkable is good, but in real life terms, it seems like I must be a moron. My brain is often all over the place. Right now, I am painting with color combinations that no one would want to justify. But it is working, and I like the intensity. Just when you think you have your style down, your brain says “no, I want to play some more”. And I say, “okay”. I guess my brain is spoiled!

Idle mind “NEVER” we as Artists know we don’t need a brain machine, to measure our activity. The Artist mind is always creating…give him or her a blank canvas and surely the juice will flow. I personally feel a need for 2 lifetimes to paint what is in my mind.

Thank you for that belly laugh so early in the morning…the astonishing looks on the faces of people when they find out that I paint on canvas rather than on walls is just precious. With the economy as it is now, I might just consider a career change afterall…

This is fascinating! I would find this very difficult. If I am lying still and awake, I’d better have a book or be getting a massage. And thanks for teaching the technician that artists actually can think.

When I tell people I am an illustrator, they almost inevitably respond with “Published anything?” Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I always read your letters because they 1. Contain something of interest 2. Are succinct. Some other sites that I never bother with anymore involve opening numerous pages which I just don’t have the time or inclination to do.

Model A Fords are great machines. They can run on just about anything, unlike the spoiled and finicky machines of today. My synapses are making connections here. …I have probably killed more brain cells than the average 25 year old has altogether… …and I can still tie my shoes. Sometimes, the person administering the test is actually the test subject.

I have just passed a couple of your newsletters onto close artist friends and urged them to subscribe, I feel as though I have just given them a great gift. Odd (but as you would realize not so odd) some of your newsletters hit the spot when most needed.

“I’m a painter,” I said. “House?” she asked. “Picture,” I said. “Okay,” she said, “but what do you actually do?”>>> She, the tester, obviously never had her brain turned on…much less idling.

Again I thoroughly enjoyed reading your letter and found it thoroughly amusing. So when are you going to get a real job?

This post is too funny. I always hate it, though, when people do that: “Yeah…but what do you DO?” That’s so insulting! My mind is always racing, reeling, and churning. Creatives are some of THE biggest/most active thinkers around. We have to be!

As early a kindergarten I was labeled a dreamer. Sometimes my dreamy nature prevents me from the mundane tasks of everyday life. But who wants to do the laundry (marketing, bill paying, cleaning, cooking…) when one can be painting?

Nicolai Fechin a good American artist – ha, ha, brain dead indeed!

Absolutely fabulous session. I’ve enjoyed every word. It’s good to have validation of my quirky, never-bored mind. I have painted for years and took up writing (three novels) after becoming a senior citizen. My doctor tells me I’m the over-all healthiest patient for my age he has ever had. Creativity keeps us young, healthy in mind and spirit and I’ll be searching for something new to learn with my last breath. Thanks to all for making me feel more “normal” than “abnormal”.

An idle mind is useless, but a placid mind is something of value beyond measure.

I find the subject that you have chosen for this date to be of particular interest. I have been contemplating the over active brain for years. I myself have what I call a ‘pinging’ brain/mind….it never, or almost never, stops. After poling most of my family and friends, I have discovered that this type of over activity is not actually that normal. I had a specific experience that started me contemplating how different people ‘see’ life differently and I mean differently! Most people DO NOT jump from thought to thought in no particular sequence to no obvious conclusion. I found this rather odd. Most people do not actually ‘see’ what they are looking at, in fact, they seem to see what they want to see. I find that odd as well.