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Creative Every Day: Get Your Blinders On (or Off!)

[And now back to our regularly scheduled programming…]

When I was watching the film Secretariat, one visual feature that really jumped out at me was the horse’s blinders.

Did anyone else, who saw the film, notice the horse’s blinders as much as I did?

Maybe I noticed them because I am in the throes of a marathon writing project, and indeed, the only way a writing project like this can be completed is by adoption of invisible blinders—the kind that allow you to spend hours upon hours focused on an individual project without interruption.

In Secretariat, the horse’s blinders were real. The blinders were part of an apparatus cupping the horse’s eyes so that his peripheral vision was blocked and his clearest view would become straight ahead.

I am not actually wearing any physical blinders. Instead I use routines, habits, and focus to stay on track and get large tasks completed.

But even though my blinders are not actual, and even though I enjoy deep immersion in my book project, it’s a whopper, and it’s been a long run, and I’m looking forward to ripping these blinders off and taking in the wide view again.

How about you, do you need to put some blinders on? Or do you need to take yours off for a while?

Either way is a valid choice as far as your creativity is concerned.

~Photo by wallyg

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  • Pamela Toler February 21, 2011, 2:50 pm

    This is what I needed to hear, when I needed to hear it. Definitely time to put the blinders on. I’ve known this for several weeks, but haven’t been able to do it. Somehow, I now feel like I have “permission”.

  • Anonymous February 21, 2011, 3:40 pm

    Good for you, Pamela. 🙂