From muddling to wriggling, here’s Kafka:
“My mode of life is devised solely for writing, and if there are any changes, then only for the sake of perhaps fitting in better with my writing; for time is short, my strength is limited, the office is a horror, the apartment is noisy, and if a pleasant, straightforward life is not possible, then one must try to wriggle through by subtle manoeuvres. The satisfaction gained by maneuvering one’s timetable successfully cannot be compared to the permanent misery of knowing that fatigue of any kind shows itself better and more clearly in writing than anything one is really trying to say.”
Franz Kafka – Letter to Felice (further thoughts here)
It is always possible to do something – and if we wait for perfect conditions, we’ll never get anything done. Foster guile.
Hat tip to The Whippet – great to see it back!
See also:
Setting the bar low
The next (small) step
Steven Pressfield on playing hurt
Aristotle’s cardinal virtues
Better than perfect
There should be something here from Oliver Burkeman on embracing finititude too, so here’s an external link