Before I went to bed last night I chanced to watch a video about Roald Dahl and his writing habits.
Dahl has a writing hut outside and behind his house, It is quiet and distraction free. He writes seated on a comfortable armchair. The footrest of the armchair is tied to the chair itself. Here Dahl sits wrapped in a blanket. A ‘writing board’ barring his exit and completing the nest.
It is a voluntary detachment from the world and physical commitment to the task of writing. Dahl will emerge from the hut 4 hours later disorientated like any traveller from a distant world.
The point of the hut according to Dahl is freedom from distraction.
I’m just back from a short trip.
Of the two books I brought and didn’t read, one was titled the ‘inner game of tennis’. This morning in my own nest I did read the chapter on focus.
The author concludes that focus is not a state you can bring yourself to intentionally, because that intentional part of you in particularly needs to be left behind in order to enter that state of focus.
Instead focus should be seen as something as either something that pulls your attention or as a gift. It then goes on to share a couple of ways that you might induce focus in the context of the game of tennis, such as watching the bounce of the ball or the sound.
The documentary of Roald Dahl was shot when he was already rich and famous. One question he was asked was why he still wrote, and his answer was that it was for the enjoyment of it.
Kids live in this state of focus all the time.
It is a way of being that is always accessible to us if only we can remove the internal and external distractions.
Creative Action
Build a Nest
Create your own nest. Bring a sketchbook or a journal or even a sheet of paper. I built my nest with a breakfast tray over my lap on an arm chair. Notice what you notice inside and outside your mind. Allow yourself to get lost in your attention and focus. Capture any detail that stands out.