Spring Cleaning: Musings on the seasonality of creativity.
Spring Cleaning
Now that the weather near me is starting to warm up, I've gotten the Spring cleaning itch.
I've been going around cleaning and purging anything and everything, physical and digital.
On the digital font, I now have the strong urge to delete all of my tasks and todos in various systems and start over.
I'm a large proponent of the 'Cult of Done' method. 'Inbox Zero' is a great ideal, but I think an even greater one is 'TODO Zero.' I want to get rid of everything that sits in the back of my mind taking up even the smallest amount of mental space, freeing me to focus on what I really want to do.
So far I've been able to resist the urge to purge it all. But I have been going though and cleaning things out. I've been reviewing tasks and ideas that have been sitting in todo purgatory. Most that I've looked at so far I have ended up deleting. A few I took action on. Regardless, I'm a few steps closer to 'TODO: Nothing.'
My media consumption is fairly sparse as it is. However, I've also been ruthlessly cutting various RSS subscriptions, culling the media that comes into my world to a slow trickle. For me, media consumption is it's own sort of todo list. RSS and YouTube subscription feeds are simply lists of media I need to check a consumed or ignored box on. My TBR shelf is just a todo list of books to read. Same goes for movies and TV shows. So, like my task lists, I've been trimming my consumption lists as well.
All of this clearing out is first, sort of, an unexplainable urge. But, secondly, it is for the purpose of getting rid of distractions and focusing in on what it is that I really want to accomplish. Winter has left me a bit aimless, and now is the time to really decide how I want to spend my time.
The Seasonality of Creativity
All of this Spring cleaning business got me thinking about the seasonality of creativity and digital life in general.
This isn't anything new, but it's finally stuck that there's a rhythmic cadence to my media consumption and creation.
Spring is the time when I purge distraction and focus in on what it is that I want to do. Spring is for cleaning, decluttering, and getting focused. Spring is for cleaning out the cobwebs. Spring is for slimming down and winding up.
Summer is the season of active work and play. It's where things get done and fun is had.
Fall invites us to wind down and bulk up for the Winter ahead. Fall is where we take a breath from the hard work of Summer, while preparing for the cold quiet season ahead of us. Like a squirrel storing away nuts, I build up a collection of media to consume on the dark days ahead.
Winter forces us into a period of quiet rest. Creation is often limited in this season, and that's okay. This is the period where we relax, regroup, and take a break. Winter is for letting the cobwebs grow a bit.
And the cycle repeats.
For me, the seasonality of creativity is about points of high creativity and low consumption contrasted with points of high consumption and low creativity, both accented by points of transition.
This cycle is important. Resisting it causes a lot of unnecessary suffering. I'm starting to realize that I've wasted a lot of effort fighting against my urge to consume more during the Winter season. In Winter, I need to embrace my need to fill up my creative tank with high quality works of art. And maybe the occasional junky TikTok trend.
But, Winter is over. Now it's time to Spring clean.
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