Slowly, slowly...

The ennui, she is terrible…

Lately I’ve noticed a trend among the online creatorati — a stunningly ugly word I just invented — to confess that with pandemic restrictions easing they find themselves just as immobilized as before.

It’s true: many of us somehow failed, during quarantine, to produce a new album single-handedly in our bathroom, or spit out a new fantasy series, or write King Lear. The interruption to our lives was too severe, and we broke. (You may have noticed that I didn’t even blog for the past two weeks…)

We were all hoping that the recent bursts of freedom and fresh air would also release our creative mana, returning to us our urge to MAKE THE THING THAT IS NOT. But for many, it’s not happening yet and that is a source of frustration and fear.

I would like to offer all of us a phrase I learned from Mike Funt, a founding member of the Lichtenbergian Society and a world-class instructor of clown and play. Mike is an adventurous sort, as you might expect from someone who has committed his life to clowning, and one of his adventures was climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. (He was in Africa either teaching a workshop or working with Clowns Without Borders or both.)

Climbing Kilimanjaro doesn’t involve scaling ice walls or rappelling down sheer cliffs but it is nonetheless a grueling thing to do, especially as you go higher and higher and the air gets thinner and thinner. Mike told us that the guides immediately teach you the Swahili phrase, “pole pole,” which means “slowly slowly.” (It’s pronounced “po-lay.”) Slowly slowly put one foot in front of the other. Do not worry about getting there faster. Do not worry about falling behind. One foot at a time. Slowly slowly.

And that’s what we need to say to ourselves as the theatres reopen and the concerts begin again and your favorite regional burn is confirmed. (No, not yet, but soon-ish, maybe.) Slowly, slowly. It’s okay if your psyche has to get in a few good meals or performances or nights out before it remembers how to paint or compose or write. (Somehow mine never forgot how to make cocktails. Thank goodness.) Slowly slowly.

I’ll leave it at that. There will be more interesting news on Wednesday.