With a couple of major projects wrapped up, others delegated, and others dropped, I have found myself in a slow season.

First, I took a vacation. When I went to set the autoresponder on my email, I learned that I hadn’t done so since the summer of 2018. Yikes! Even if I didn’t go anywhere, this complete holiday from my laptop was necessary.

I further decided that, upon my return from my vacation, I would strip away everything from my to-do list that wasn’t essential.

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Whenever I’ve played something impressively fast and intricate on the piano, it’s been easy.

That doesn’t mean I’m amazing at the piano. I’m just saying that’s how it works. Once your fingers learn the mechanics of what they are supposed to do, the moves become ingrained in your muscle memory and it all flows.

Getting to this point requires slow, deliberate practice. Ironically, there is no speed involved in the learning process. The speed comes later, without even trying, as long as you’re staying relaxed and playing the notes correctly.

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In fourth grade, I had to do a report on Leonardo da Vinci.

I still remember everything I learned about him in my research — he was a fascinating dude.

I also remember that I stayed home from school the day the report was due, because I had not yet done the report.

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There’s a tension that I experience on a frequent basis. It’s between the necessity of slowing down and allowing space for reflection and growth, and the reality that the clock is ticking.

I don’t do my best work dangling by my fingertips off of a precipice. I need to be peaceful, grounded, and safe.

And yet these are the same conditions that can lead to complacency — to doing nothing and letting the time simply pass by.

It is easy enough to fill a day with meals, laundry, and a walk in the fresh air — maybe a bit of bill-paying, family time, or creative work. And the next, and the next.

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When faced with an overwhelming mess — I have one in my living room right now, the result of literally emptying the contents of a pickup truck, including a table saw, onto the floor — it is sometimes reasonable to take drastic measures. Let’s shove it all into a closet or call the junk people to haul it all away.

And when the mess is more of an intangible one — a broken process, a difficult relationship, a cluttered schedule — we likewise might seek ways to metaphorically shove it in a closet or send it to the dump.

But sometimes, the elements are too valuable to discard. We must salvage what we can. In these cases, we have to use a more deliberate process. At the very moment when we most want to rush and just be done with the whole thing, we have to slow down and be present. When we do, we might discover a much more satisfying experience and outcome.

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