Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that magic happens in the mushy middle. With
Speaker 1: any long term project or habit, motivation can dip when
Speaker 1: both the starting line and the finish line are not
Speaker 1: in sight. But I have found that magic often happens
Speaker 1: in the in between places. It is best to be
Speaker 1: there for it. Longtime listeners know that I am a
Speaker 1: big fan of year long projects. This particular year, I
Speaker 1: am listening to all the works of Bach. I am
Speaker 1: also writing a sonnet every week at the rate of
Speaker 1: two lines per day. This episode is first airing in July,
Speaker 1: and all that New year energy for new goals is
Speaker 1: long swept into the past. We are also nowhere near December,
Speaker 1: where the prospect of finishing starts to exert its own pull.
Speaker 1: Long term projects can occasionally suffer from some malaise and performance.
Speaker 1: Let's just say that a few of my recent sonnets
Speaker 1: have been fairly pedantic. I rhyme the words eyes and surprise,
Speaker 1: and that wasn't even the worst of it. Persisting in
Speaker 1: the mushy middle is hard, but I try to remind
Speaker 1: myself that magic often happens in the mushy middle. You
Speaker 1: have to be there to experience it, and so you
Speaker 1: commit to continuing to just be there. For instance, I
Speaker 1: was listening to BWV one eighty one the other day,
Speaker 1: which is my one hundred eighty first Bach Church cantata.
Speaker 1: As a lot of cantatas, some are more workaday than others.
Speaker 1: But then there was this thrilling, aggressive violin line thrown
Speaker 1: in there where the violinist plays more than one note simultaneously,
Speaker 1: which is always pretty cool. And then there was a
Speaker 1: glorious brass fanfare. A few moments after that. I sat
Speaker 1: up in my seat listening just a little glimpse of magic.
Speaker 1: There is no way I would have listened to BWV
Speaker 1: one eighty one if I wasn't going through all the
Speaker 1: works of Bach. It is not a particularly famous cantata,
Speaker 1: unlike say the Christmas oratorio. Oh, people aren't performing it regularly.
Speaker 1: But because I am listening to all two hundred plus cantatas,
Speaker 1: I listen to that cantata and I heard those wonderful
Speaker 1: strings and trumpets. I am trying to keep this in
Speaker 1: mind with my sonnets too, because I keep writing two
Speaker 1: lines a day, I keep completing a sonnet every week.
Speaker 1: Some are not particularly inspired, and so it is tempting
Speaker 1: in the middle of a week where I can see
Speaker 1: that the sonnet is going nowhere to stop. But then
Speaker 1: sometimes I come up with an image, or an interesting rhyme,
Speaker 1: or just an interesting line. I might be able to
Speaker 1: use that elsewhere, and it wouldn't have happened if I
Speaker 1: had just stopped. You never entirely know when the good
Speaker 1: stuff is going to happen, so you just have to
Speaker 1: keep at it. Sure, magic might be possible at the
Speaker 1: beginning or the end of anything, but it can happen
Speaker 1: in the middle too. You write a draft of an
Speaker 1: article that is not particularly insightful, but one line in
Speaker 1: the middle sparks a new way of thinking that you
Speaker 1: then pursue in your next work. You go to worship
Speaker 1: services most weeks, and many aren't that memorable, but then
Speaker 1: one week something just opens up new ways of understanding.
Speaker 1: I am not saying you need to stick with anything forever.
Speaker 1: Many things do just run their course. But if it
Speaker 1: is a mostly positive force in your life and it's
Speaker 1: never too onerous, it might be worth persisting. Even if
Speaker 1: things are a bit ho hum. You never know when
Speaker 1: magic will happen, but it is good to be there
Speaker 1: for it. In the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
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