Saint Razamataz

Ahhh... pondering the imponderables of life. That's my game. A past time in which I like to indulge. Today's imponderable is, "Why do I write better at night than during the day?". What makes that an imponderable is that I'm a morning person. Always have been. I've been working at home the last couple of years and I get up at 7 AM and am working by 8 AM. I get the most done in the morning. That's when I'm the freshest. That's when I'm the peppiest. That's when I'm my most productive.

When I'm working on some piece of artwork I make most of my big creative decisions in the morning.That leaves the day for their execution. When I'm working on an oil painting I always mix my colors in the morning. Works best for me. The light is better and so is my concentration. The morning is when I think straight. So why is it that I write better at night?

Now certainly I don't write better late at night. And by late at night I mean an hour before or anytime past my bedtime. I'm useless when I'm tired. My mind gets all jumbled up and nothing makes sense. But I'm not speaking of that time. The time I mean is before bedtime when the sun goes down and the world quiets down a bit. Maybe that's the key. A little quiet.

As I'm working on the computer, easel, or drawing board I don't like it quiet. I work by myself so I need some noise to keep me company. I usually have on movies, music, TV shows, documentaries, or the Stern show. I don't actually watch the TV but I do listen to it. That's why I like shows that are dialogue based rather than action based. I find it easy to concentrate on my work while listening to something. As a matter of fact the noise helps me concentrate because I find silence distracting as my mind will wander into it searching for its edges. Of course there is really not much silence here in this world. Just sounds you have to concentrate a little more to hear. And as I'm drawing in the quite I strain to hear those sounds. Ruins my focus. When I'm writing the complete opposite is true.

I need things a little quieter when I'm writing. TV, music, talking, it's all a distraction when I'm trying to concentrate on words. I have to shut it all off or shut it all out. Writing with the TV on in a near impossibility. Things are a little quieter around here at night so maybe that's why it's easier to write.

Then there's the fact that I usually work standing up. My drawing table, easel, and even my desktop computer are all at standing height. But I've always had trouble writing while standing. It hurts to write standing for some reason. I can't block out the little aches and pains of the day when writing. I have to sit down. I started writing with a lot more regularity once I got this laptop back in '04 (time flies). I can sit down with it. Night is my time for sitting so sitting during the daytime and writing is a bit strange to me. The day is my time for standing and working. It's all so ephemeral. Who knows why these things are as they are?

So there is my pondering the imponderable for the day. I don't know if I'm any closer to a real answer but what the hell, examining the small things in life is what gets me through. And by the way, I'm writing this in the morning as a change of pace and it sure is hard. I'll have to look it over when the sun goes down.