A Snake in the Stones

What does it mean to stay present in your work?

Is that just woo-woo gibberish, or is there really something to it?

Some thoughts recently from my journal:

Finished a post yesterday. Tweaked it this morning. Changed the title to Between a Rock and a Vague Place.

It’s about rushing through a project just to get to the next, never fully immersing yourself in the one at hand. It’s a cycle: You want something. You get it, but before you’re done, you’re already thinking about the next thing. You get that, and before you finish it, your mind is onto what’s next again.

It’s a snake eating its own tail.

It’s a kid ripping through presents, hoping there’s a better one underneath.

It’s endless swiping on a dating app without ever going on a date—or swiping while the date you finally connected with is in the bathroom.

Right now, I’m trying to stay present with this project. At the same time, I need to plan for the next one. How do I balance being present with still getting shit done?

This comes more easily with writing. When I’m writing, I’m writing. I’m not thinking about the next thing to write about. There are distractions, but they show up in different ways. Once I sit down to write, I’m in the work.

Can I bring more of that into my stonework?