The above picture has been attracting lots of comments on Facebook, mostly of the mocking sort. I find the words here poignant and wise.
The essential message of this is profoundly true, IMO. One’s muse does not come to a person not fully ready to address one’s art; therefore, eliminate distractions (including anxieties). Replace “sewing” with “your piano” or “your skating” and I don’t see how anybody can contest these sentences: “Never approach sewing with a sigh or lackadaisically. Good results are difficult when indifference predominates.” (What is funny about this “advice” from 1949 is how silly and archaic this particular author’s distractions seem to us. God forbid that the world finds out how silly my own distractions are.)
Image taken from 24 Blocks’ Facebook page. H/t PS
It certainly hearkens back to another era. I remember in the 1960s when we used to dress up in our good clothes in order to go shopping. :)
Much of the advice makes sense to me, my mind can’t be free to create if there are other tasks to be done or if I’m distracted.