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Inclinations

Priscilla Fagan

Inclinations this month concentrates on the subject of procrastination. No, not writers' block, for I have many things to say. I'm just putting everything off for some reason. My gray cells won't cooperate. I'd rather stare off into space and think about why I don't want to start anything until the gray matter focuses and I'm back on target. I go to my computer and begin to write and suddenly wham, I'm staring out the window again. I tell myself I can do this later, let me think about it, I'm tired. I become depressed.

I turn to my Thesaurus of Quotations and find: Procrastination is the thief of time, written by Edward Young in 1742. Isn't this the truth, I think as I meander about the house wondering what it is I want to do? I know what I want to do for crying out loud. I want to sit at my computer and write. Okay, so why don't I? Because I'm procrastinating. I can hear John Steinbeck's words again echoing in my mind: Three hours of writing require twenty hours of preparation. Luckily I have learned to dream about the work, which saves me some working time. I wonder if he was a procrastinator? For this is exactly what I'm doing, reflecting about the work.

Did you happen to receive the MILLENNIUM e-mail that went around? You know the one where you type Millennium in capital letters and then change the font to Wingdings.
MILLENNIUM = MILLENNIUM.   Interesting, eh? Enough to make anyone stop procrastinating and get busy. Defer not till to-morrow to be wise, / To-morrow's sun to thee may never rise, William Congreve wrote in the 18th century. Such an astute saying. So with these sage words of advice, why am I still in delay mode?

Andy Rooney made an observation that sounds reasonable: It isn't working that's so hard, it's getting ready to work. In there lies the crux of the problem. However I am ready, I'm stalling. American novelist Charles Portis writes: You put things off and then one morning you wake up and say today I will change the oil in my truck. Well one small step for mankind I say. Perhaps if I say today I will write my column, then the next step should be to catch up on my course I'm taking and that should lead to working on my novel. Right? Cervantes said: Delay always breeds danger and to protract a great design is often to ruin it. (1605) However, Thomas Jefferson once wrote to George Washington: Delay is preferable to error. Perhaps it's the mood I'm in but I'm holding onto these words as if my life depended on it, after all I'm only putting off today what I can do tomorrow. ;-) Oh I'm so confused.

The great Will Rogers observed: Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. Some say it takes one highly intelligent remark to help you get your act in gear and this did it for me. My column is near completion and I've caught up in my class. Far be it for me to become a sitting duck.

I'll leave you with this little gem from James Thurber: It is better to have loafed and lost than never to have loafed at all. I wonder if in my loafing I haven't actually gained some insight and in that accomplished some undetermined objective? Oh well, I have a novel to rewrite.

Til next month I remain,
Priscilla --the eternal optimist