In the 2003 movie “Finding Nemo” there comes a moment when Nemo’s dad, Marlin, feels the journey towards finding his child is just too overwhelming. Marlin’s friend, Dory, sings him some sage advice: “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.”
Just keep spinning
A few years ago, I did a lot of distance road cycling, initially to raise money as a charity trustee, and then for fun and relaxation. I love cycling up hills – they’re a physical and mental challenge. Bloodstream glucose and muscle glycogen reserves depleting with every push against the pedal. Knowing that the summit becomes closer with every turn of the crank, and that every uphill has a corresponding downhill. In the moments on steep sections when I wanted to give up, get off and throw the bike away, I would sing to myself: “Just keep spinning, just keep spinning. Just keep spinning, spinning, spinning.” My legs would keep time with the music/mantra, the journey would continue. The uphill would be easier next time out – my muscles and brain would remember.
Spinning as a way of life
Keeping spinning is a way of life for me. “I don’t know how you manage to keep all these things going at the same time!” is a recurring refrain from friends, family and casual observers. It’s how my brain works best – uphill: working towards the next summit, challenging myself to improve.
But before you start thinking I’m going at 100 miles per hour all the time, some of that spinning is s-l-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-w and some of the summits take years to reach. My body always ensures we incorporate some downhills along the way to avoid overwhelm and burnout. (Singing also helps with this.)
It’s because of this need to always be on a steep learning curve in some part of my life (not all of them!) that my “creative practice” is configured the way it is – lots of different challenges that test different thinking and making muscles, always building on and from learning from the last uphill. Some projects are about craft and making, some about data and digital technologies, some about storytelling, some about all of these. Some days are all about the studio; others are all about the laptop and meetings; some are a mixture of both. Some times are all about singing and moving my body (and, yes, this includes during studio time and meetings and workshops!)
Whether I’m spinning yarns literally (in the studio, in my living room, in the garden), spinning yarns figuratively (pitching ideas, writing project proposals or manuscripts), or spinning plates (from multiple projects, my own and those as a freelance project manager for organisations), the mantra remains the same: just keep spinning. And keep sparkling while you’re doing it!
Weaving webs
The yarns myself and others spin intersect as warp and weft. Everything I do within my professional and personal life feeds into and informs everything else.
I’ve chosen to follow a path of joy, led by values-based decision-making. Valuing people and planet through the stories I tell and I the projects I work on. Embedding creative play and story-telling to explore who we are, where we come from, and how we connect to place. Spinning yarns, weaving a web, exploring my and our role within the ecosystems in which we operate. It’s been an exciting journey so far, and I can’t wait to see what’s over the next hill!
Post published 10-JUL-2024