On The Value of Messes
I’m a very orderly person. I like things a certain way. My wife is the same way. We’re the type of people who know where every cent is spent and have systems in place for everything. Not really your typical drive across the country in pursuit of a crazy dream kind of people. Needless to say, this move to California has taken our orderly life and thrown it in the washer on spin cycle.
We’ve still got to get California car insurance. I need to setup bill pay for all our new bills. Still need to update our address in a dozen different places. The list goes on and on. I’m tempted to stop everything for a month and get our life back in order.
However, I was reading in Proverbs and came across Proverbs 14:4.
Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.
My translation of that: If you want to have success in life, you’re going to have to put up with a little mess. Stop worrying about getting everything in order and just do the hard work.
So many times the attempts to organize and bring order to our lives are just veiled procrastination. If you’re a writer, write. Stop organizing your desk or researching the best screenwriting software. Stop waiting until your schedule is less cluttered. It’s not going to be. If you’re a director, direct. You have to leave preproduction at some point. Yeah, it’s gonna be messy, but you’ll find that the rewards are worth a little mess.
What do you think? Agree or disagree?
I agree – this is a very timely post, because a lot of those things are going on in my life right now too. I’m trying to pull together a 5-minute short that is taking a lot more out of me than I would expect – the location is iffy, my lead is moving out of state in a couple months, I haven’t learned how to use the camera I’ll be borrowing, and the date I’ve set for shooting scene 1 is supposed to be next week…bleh…
You’ll do great, Carly. It always comes together somehow.
Lol, well I actually just canceled it last night – but I did get a good contact out of it in spite of everything, so I’m trying not to get depressed! But thanks, I hope things do come together in a more general sense
Doh. Don’t get down about it. There will be other projects. Keep moving forward!
Thanks – I will!
Ha, I agree with this! And that verse is really great. Philip and I have decided that we have to live this way or else we’ll have a clean but empty life. A friend asked Philip how we do a lot of the things that we do, and he answered in a way that makes it all pretty clear … we watch 12-15 hours less TV than a lot of other people, and we are okay with having a messy house. Well, I’m not always happy about it, but I’ve chosen to be okay with it in order for us to be able to incorporate the other things into our life that will bear more fruit, or crops, in the end.
So true, Heather.
So true. I think most people spend the majority of their time thinking about what they should be doing, and how the little things of life keep getting in the way. Here is something I read on time management (paraphrased):
“Identify the most important thing you should be doing right now, then do it until it’s done. Repeat the process for best results.”
It’s only when we have something we’re supposed to be doing that suddenly doing the dishes seems really important.
Good quote.
I agree in many ways. You took a step with good preparation. I think it would be foolish to think everyone could take a jump during a recession without preparing financially. I have deep respect for people who are adventerous and live their dreams. My mom and band teacher taught me that dreams can come true with more hard work than luck. Hope is also important. I consider you and your brother in the top 10% of coolest people on the planet (after my big brother of course). Perhaps it’s because in your quest to achieve your dreams you’ve inspired me and many others. There will always be people who tell you your dreams are crazy, however they are usually the ones who gave up on their own. In just a few years you’ve accomplished a lot of great things. Keep your heads high and your eyes on the goal.
Thanks, Monica! You’re too kind.