The Cluttered Mind: Blessing or Curse?

[Poopy Lungstuffing]

So maybe it is a good thing to get ideas for paintings from glancing at a bag of cotton balls in the bathroom....or a notion for an elaborate sock cat based on a funny looking shadow....but..of course it can also be terribly distracting...I have had this problem my entire life...and I inherited it from BOTH my parents....Of course my best work (or the art work I do that is the most "appreciated")..is the stuff that takes intensive amounts of time and concentration...but constantly being on the super-multi-track....makes that concentration very difficult.
If only I could be some sorta minimalist....but noooooo......I have to be stimulated by every stinking little thing...to the point where my appreciation of things outside my mind takes an akward and roundabout effort...so the my process of gathering information about the world around me is slow, cumbersome and roundabout...
I think one of the tragedies of humans is that they can't effectively clone themselves.

[Amanda K. Wolfe]

I inherited the same sort of thing from my dad (we made my mom crazy, as she's a more focused type). As he taught me, the best thing to do is just create, even if the output isn't fantastic. The only way to clear out your mind for those projects you do want to really focus on is to give in to the distractions. When I was a full-time graphic designer, I occasionally used to have to go home and do an entire painting on my lunch hour. I wouldn't say any of those were great works, but it got the urge out of the way so I could focus more upon whatever design project I had going on.

It's usually the only way to deal with that tendency, at least according to my dad... just accepting it and being ridiculously prolific isn't so bad. Often it leads to some random stroke of brilliance.

[mark spencer]

The cluttered mind is a spead bump that keeps us from running to fast on the mundane things that really dont deserve complete attention. I appreciate the art photography expressly when I have photographed parties. Impromptu work helps me focus on the keenly important.

[dynamic obsolescence]

Yeah, but if you clone yourself, then you'll have a clutter of Olivias each having the same cluttered mind/executive function issues. If I cloned myself, eventually I'd start punching my clones after getting sick of hearing their chorus of self-pity lol Nope. We each have got one body and therefore have to make sense of it all with one brain. Yikes!

If you're mind is cluttered with many inspirations, try combining them together to create just a few denser creations. That way, less ideas are neglected and more are incorporated.

[Poopy Lungstuffing]

Hmmmmm....very good point...but maybe if I had complete control over the clones of myself...
and could set each of them on an individual task...

.(one just for housework and organizing, two or three to make the sock creatures, one or two to do the paintings and weird mixed-media pipe dreams, one to generate income...and so on....

...and .....I would be the omnicient brains of the operation...(moot point as this is utterly impossible...).....oh well...

bah,,,,,stinking reality....

[Poopy Lungstuffing]

I personally need to just work on not being so twitchy and impulse-driven (and ADD meds by-no-means help with this problem)....they assist only slightly with the executive function problems and that's it......theoreticly everything is pretty centralised...I am up to my eyeballs in socks....then there is screen-printing....and the the ukulele/songwriting.......and I am not always painting....just always thingking about painting.......
Once I get a job...a good job that either allows me to daydream...or is so stimulating that it takes up all my excess imagination...that would allow me to channel my energies more productively....
the problem is....what job like this would put up with me?

[Poopy Lungstuffing]

I would kinda like to teach children.

I don't know if I am qualified to teach art, as I never went to art school.

I have been a montessori assistant in the past though.

[Marcy]

I agree with Amanda. Just go with it, and stop worrying. I had to focus on one thing to have money coming in since I was single for so long, so I chose computer software consulting and accounting. Having that security has helped, but left little time for pursing my art. I still have tons of projects though. Watercolor painting, beading, and enjoying and buying other people's art. I've tried meditation by listening to certain inspired meditation music, sitting quietly, closing eyes, lighting a candle and having a cup of tea. No distractions. I usually try this during odd hours anytime from very late at night to early in the morning. The key with meditation is don't follow any rules, just relax. I personally don't like to take medications, but it's a personal and medical decision. I would rather eat right, relax, take B12, and forego pharmas. Another thing that lifts and inspires me is talking to artists. They are a trip!

[Poopy Lungstuffing]

i sometimes listen to meditation cds in the car while riding around to help my partner out with his photography job...only time that this sort fo activity makes sense...
I take a ton of b12...and other supplements...likesay...I am lost without my omegas and maca root......I drink yerba mate like it is going out of style.....

[Mr. Robin Orta]

wonderful advice. b 12 does work for mood swings and depression. stay away from the toob as much as possible. i went on vacation not too long ago and made it apoint to stay off the computer as well.
i found this refreshing.

try picking one subject ( or one object) and paint it over and over and over till your blue in the face. like your sock monkeys. think of silly situations you could put them in. you can even paint one beating me over the head saying robin thats bad advice or something silly like that . ( hah )

i think we all to some degree have cluttered minds. its part of being in this world. life aint simple anymore. i have a pretty physical blue collar job. but im fortunate for two things, i work with really funny people that always make me laugh even if they are making me angry and i get to brainstorm while i work even though i have a lot to do at work.

as a parent i have at least 100 different things running in my mind just to keep things functional and safe for my little ones. society does not make it easy for anyone not to have an uncluttered mind.

take care

[Norola Morgan]

Howdy! I'm late to this party, but, I just wanted to chime in. Both of my parents are pretty straight arrows, so, the cluttered mind thing is all me. Unfortunately for me, a cluttered mind = a cluttered environment. I constantly see things that I see as potential arts projects, so, I take them home. Luckily, I am a found object artist, at least part time. My biggest problem is that, while I'm working on one project, I'll get inspired to start another, and another.....so I end up with all these half started projects strewn around. As part of my New Year's goals, I've made a list of unfinished projects. I'll evaluate each project and decide which one's I'll finish, and which one's I'll shelve.

[OceansRainbow]

if you were an ameoba, you could be in two places at the same time. The cluttered mind controls a great deal of the sounds that come out, and of the work that goes into getting the gear together to make the pieces to begin with.
When we work, it is in 1 to 2 hour segments of sound, often winding up in screaming bouts of feedback. I'm sure te neighbors just love it. And there's no doubt my mind creates a lot of this tensions thatswound tighter than the strings can take. For myself, it's about releasing the demons that haunt me from my past , and BOTH of my parents, and try as I might, I have a ral difficulty playing normal music. It has happened on occassion, but it is rare, Together as a duo, we wind up totally improvisational, with my love of feedback, and eardrum destructive frequencies often taking their toll, often on myself.