Sometimes, years ago when I was producing Audio Visual Programs for the railroad everything would go wrong. We would have equipment breakdowns, the script seemed wrong, the photos just didn’t hit the target, the phone wouldn’t stop ringing, people would stand in line to just drop in for a visit and I would feel like screaming and climbing up a wall. When it got too bad to bear I would simply take a walk.
We had an old steam engine in retirement right across the main like tracks outside my office and on really bad occasions I would walk over and climb up on that engine and then pretend that I was a railroad engineer and we were blazing down the track at full speed and that all was right with the world.
Other times I would jump in my car and drive over to the river walk and walk down by the waterfall and I would imagine all sorts of wonderful adventures that took my mind off what was driving me to insanity.
It didn’t take long. Maybe fifteen minutes or so with lots of deep breathing to clean out the stale stuff in my mind and then as I returned, EUREKA! Generally the script jumped into place, the photos rearranged themselves and I would give the recording equipment or whatever a good whack and it would start performing like it was built to do. Oh yes, miraculously, the phone became silent and the visitors had gone on to bother somebody else.
Sometimes you just have to get away from a problem to find a solution. Try it.. Have a walk on me.
Art, I love your philosophy.
You have inspired me to take a walk today.