I gave up working to deadlines a few years back.
I was in the process of making changes to my life, but I was still running a busy costume hire company.
And then there was COVID and the enforced lack of work/things to do that we all (mostly) endured. Then it became a way of living that I decided I needed to embrace further by initiating another change of home, occupation and location. I had only moved a couple of years previously, but COVID made further drastic changes inevitable. No slowness there, but a swift letting go of everything that used to be. No more theatre, no neighbours and a tiny home in a new place.
Daily life without a long ‘things to do’ list wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. But, a few years later, I have managed to immerse myself in a quiet and creative solitude. I'm rarely in a hurry to finish a project, although beginnings are generally much easier and quicker to initiate (I've always liked the start of a project more than the end). It helps the slowing down process when the view from the window by the work bench is just countryside and sky.
Dolls take shape as and when they call to me - a romantic notion that means some days I just don't pick them up. When I do, it's with full attention and a slow hand. I have quite a few in the pipeline. There's still part of me that wants to 'crack on' with everything - I'm just not sure where she lives any more. I'm sure she'll show up one day; meanwhile, I'll just amble along...