Atomic Snow #66: Snapshots
Sometimes we have to leave what we know to find out what we know
“The spymaster informed Ciro of the murmurings of a rebellion. It was inevitable. Not everyone agreed with his policies. There was no choice but to quash it at its head, and snuff out its embers. Even a small spark left unchecked would turn into a blaze that would destroy his kingdom.”
Time is always moves frame by frame and always in one direction. Each and every moment we keep moving forward. We cannot pause or stop time. We move to the next frame, and the next frame, and the next.
However, does this apply to when we are immersed into something? How do we perceive time when we are reading or watching a movie or binging a series? Surely, you have had moments of total immersion when you have felt time skip. Usually, our emotions and thoughts mark the passage of time, but when we look back at moments of immersion, there is a chunk missing.
We don’t track time with its regular markers. In one form, our memory is compressed and optimized for better use. We may not have moment to moment recollection, but our mind picks specific frames/pages that it snapshots for future use.
“And you just realize that when you’re talking to great creatives, it is this process of constant consumption, but even more, this very naturally created filing bank that somehow you’re pulling from without even realizing in the process of creation.”
Every creation is a copy of a copy of a copy. We take in enough data and process it to produce a mix of all that we see, hear, taste, smell and feel. The creative process dries out without this constant flow of information. When we get intentional in our process, we find and recognize patterns that we can use.
Ironically, even doomscrolling files away pieces of information in its consumption binge. It is only that it overloads our memory bank that our mind begins clearing out the old to make space for the new. So, it doesn’t exactly have a filter for the best/most useful and defaults to the most recent.
Most of the time, we treat each part of our life separately. We have been cheated by the concept of boundaries. But how you are doing in your personal life affects your work and vice versa. It comes down to the discipline you maintain that applies across all areas of your life.
Have you ever noticed that we can never capture the present? Only a fragment of the past. The moment when the camera button is clicked, a few frames of the recent past recorded for the future.
When we think, we jump frames. A train of thought. Constantly on the move. When we write, we have to slow down. Form the thought, find the words to express it and put it down on paper.
A reminder on why we write.
Until the next owl delivery,
Picking myself up,
Gaurav G.
P.S. Breaking the cycle of delays. We are back on track and a first for us, with two Atomic Snows on the same day. Although I did choose to play around with the format to give you variety.
P.P.S. Luna approves this snow.
Additional Reading: Consume with a serious project in mind