On Not Minding the Shop

and finally some great news

John Cleese’s Guide to Creativity (and possibly less anxiety)

Children are completely playful and they’ve lost it by the time they are 16 and they can be playful because they haven’t had it educated it out of themselves and also more importantly they don’t have responsibilities…If you pick one kid up at four o’ clock and someone else is going to make the kid’s dinner, you’ve got those on your mind. And kids don’t have those. Somebody’s minding the shop. And I think the most important thing is to say to yourself, “I’m not minding the shop for the next hour and a quarter”. And push those thoughts away and then you can relax because…you’re not being constantly made anxious. And anxiety and any kind of pressure stops us from being creative and that includes time pressure…

John Cleese

You have to be not minding the shop - Kids don't mind the shop.

You have to not be under any pressure.

You have to not be suffering interruption.

You have to sleep - stilling that anxious little voice saying, “Come on, get on with it. Produce!”

You have to be playful.

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Imagine there’s a shop that you’re responsible for. What happens when it shuts and you leave? It’s vulnerable to theft. It’s invisible to the world. It stops making money and your resources gradually diminish.

The shop was meant to be your servant. It was meant to produce for you so that you could do other things and actually live and enjoy your life. But instead it has taken on a different role. It has developed an irresistible hue whereby it cannot be left alone. It needs to be maintained constantly for maximum efficiency. In fact, it has become clear to you that the roles have completely reversed: it was supposed to be your servant but now it is your master; it was supposed to be your provider but now you are its slave. How have you allowed this happen?

There is only one solution: the shop must be shut. More than that: the shop must be shunned and denounced. Maybe that can only happen for a short period at first. But happen it must. And then it must happen again and more frequently. And for longer. Maybe the shop might have to close one day if the relationship can’t be made more healthy. Even saying that might make your heart stop: close the shop? Yes, close the bloody shop.

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The Great News

Sorry if you’re of a different political viewpoint, but I am made up about the election of Trump-Vance this week. This is a ray of political light in the otherwise relentless gloom of the past five years, culmination in the appalling Marxist budget of last week that will inevitably represent the immiseration and impoverishment of millions.