JONTILLMAN.COM | part of the problem since 1976

In our daily lives, whether at our jobs or in our homes, we are so bombarded with distractions, that even our “quiet time” is packed full of things that refuse to let go of our attention, to be part of the background. We may not realize it, but we spend almost all of our time in a state of distraction, of dissipation. If you don’t believe me, go spend an entire day in a remote forest. No laptop, no cell phone, no mp3 player. Just you and the forest.

Before I moved to England, I occasionally hunted deer. I was not particularly good at it, but I enjoyed it immensely, because it put me in that situation. I would rise well before dawn, dress and breakfast, and make my way into the woods and up into a tree. From that point on, for the next several hours, my goal was no sound and no movement - to become one with the tree, the forest. Perhaps a deer would walk by, perhaps not. If it did, perhaps I would shoot it, perhaps not.

For me at least, shooting a deer was not the point of hunting. The point was the isolation, the stillness. Every time I went hunting, I found that with all distraction removed, I was able to hear myself think. I also noticed that if my hunting trip fell in the middle of some sort of creative block (writer’s block, coder’s block, etc…) that the block evaporated as soon as I without distractions.

So, if you are having trouble figuring it out or getting motivated to do it, whatever “it” is, get yourself to the woods. It might just do you some good.