Its amazing that the summer is over already. Our local school district starts the new year next Monday!
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Creative Boredom
Summer in Vegas is an indoor, sedentary affair. In response, we’ve been starting our mornings in the backyard with a simple rule.
“Don’t sit down for 20 minutes.”
One day, the kids followed a roly-poly for ten minutes before running around.
Another morning, they drew petroglyphs on the CMU wall.
They made a maze of rocks on the patio. Then a chalk labyrinth.
They made daisy chains out of dandelions.
My daughter climbed a step ladder and proclaimed she was on the mast of a tall ship.
Ahoy Mateys!
One morning, we walked boring loops in the backyard until they noticed the leaves collecting in the side yard. They swept up a pile and jumped on it enthusiastically.
Watching the kids make the most of these morning impositions made me consider our big people’s jobs.
How much of our days are filled by busywork? Have our imaginations been crushed by endless todo lists of marginal tasks?
Maybe we should schedule a quiet twenty minute block every morning, so the mind can climb the mast and jump into a pile of leaves.
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One Question
Before the pandemic, I’d spend an hour every Friday morning at the coffeeshop to sort out my mind. Do you have any regular rituals of stillness?
Hit reply and let’s chat!
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Three Links
Hilary Levey Friedman wrote a short article about organized youth sports, reminding us that many of our cherished institutions are recent in origin.
In this busy world, we all need a little more slack. Trying to fit all the work into increasingly tighter boxes is a recipe for making regrettable mistakes.
This “delicately perforated Corten steel” façade at the Manchester Jewish Museum is gorgeous.
… and a photo.
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Thanks for subscribing to the OPM letter! I hope you found some prompts to stretch your craft and relationships as a curious Owner PM. See you next week!
Stay humble, keep experimenting, and be kind!
Justus Pang, RA