Day Nine - Stay at Home, The Estuary, Flexibility and Creativity
Today really was a full stay-at-home day. Neither Mike nor I ventured beyond the property. I looked out towards the beach and sea several times from the deck and felt tempted to head down, but I was locked down on my computer making good progress on a project and kept going. It's ok to stay put, I made no "must go to the beach every single day" promise to myself!
The good news is, I can still post a highly relevant photo of Omaha as I took several yesterday - these are taken from a different perspective - the Omaha Estuary.
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| Omaha Beach Photo of the Day - estuary and golf course from the causeway |
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| Omaha Estuary |
It’s Friday night. I suggested to Mike we should have a party, he didn't seem amused. In the interest of having a proper weekend, he's keen to remove his screen from the dining room table to ensure he takes a break. I’ll be working through the weekend, day and time of productivity doesn’t make a difference to me.
Flexibility is the key to productivity. It's my middle name and has been the norm for most of my working life.
In London, my workplace had a brilliant flexi-time system. Not ony did the system expect honesty and integrity, it engendered it - during a time when technology couldn't police this. Everything balanced out nicely and work was done when work was needed. As long as you were there during the core hours (10.15-12.15 and 2.15 to 4.15 from memory) and did the required hours each week around those, you could work the timing however you wished.
I tried to share this excellent system here in NZ in the 90s when I returned but no one seemed to take a bit of notice. Couldn't work here, I was told. Whilst I didn't believe it couldn't, looking back, it was probably true. NZ was still in its adolescence, didn't have the commuting, traffic, parking issues that other big cities had and most workplaces were too ingrained in what had always been and, it seemed, must always be. Until those commuting, traffic, parking issues arose ...
In four decades of working, I've done just about every which way one can work. Before kids it was always full-time - and best with flexi-time. Since kids, it's been a mix of everything: 4-days, part-time, full-time, work from home, job share, self-employed. Amongst all these various scenarios, I also spent six months not working (well there's a misnomer) when my kids were both under five. Being a stay-at-home mum means working very hard indeed.
In London, my workplace had a brilliant flexi-time system. Not ony did the system expect honesty and integrity, it engendered it - during a time when technology couldn't police this. Everything balanced out nicely and work was done when work was needed. As long as you were there during the core hours (10.15-12.15 and 2.15 to 4.15 from memory) and did the required hours each week around those, you could work the timing however you wished.
I tried to share this excellent system here in NZ in the 90s when I returned but no one seemed to take a bit of notice. Couldn't work here, I was told. Whilst I didn't believe it couldn't, looking back, it was probably true. NZ was still in its adolescence, didn't have the commuting, traffic, parking issues that other big cities had and most workplaces were too ingrained in what had always been and, it seemed, must always be. Until those commuting, traffic, parking issues arose ...
In four decades of working, I've done just about every which way one can work. Before kids it was always full-time - and best with flexi-time. Since kids, it's been a mix of everything: 4-days, part-time, full-time, work from home, job share, self-employed. Amongst all these various scenarios, I also spent six months not working (well there's a misnomer) when my kids were both under five. Being a stay-at-home mum means working very hard indeed.
Having been self-employed since 2006, I work when I need to produce something useful, whether for my work, my family, or whatever project I'm focussed on. Whether that's week or weekend, night or day, 7am or 2am - it's irrelevant.
When I returned to NZ I also returned to the doldrums of 8.30-5pm routine. I wish I'd pushed harder for introducing flexi-time back then, it would have made a difference. I did initiate the concept of job-share into an organisation I worked for - and while the system itself has merits, it also has drawbacks if the person you share the job with doesn't do it terribly well!
SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:
I'm venturing into my beloved creative realm today.
Sadly, WOW has been cancelled. Such a shame, as I've been involved for a long time now, with 8 garments in the show over 6 years since 2011. The WOW experience and community of like-minded creators is amazing and it's gifted me more than I can ever express; special beyond what words could ever convey.
Alas, cancellation was their only choice - to enable the show to happen at end September, they have to start work on the show now. Impossible. And not essential.
I had registered to enter this year but, although I have a very clear concept of my garment, and all the materials to set to work with, I hadn't started. My inner voice kept saying "no urgency" and I had held off. Normally, I would have at least prototyped things well before Covid set in. But not this year. I kept thinking that it would be fine if I just saved it for next year. I feel really sorry for all the creators who have put in huge effort to date. It will indeed keep.
The 2021 WOW Show could be the best ever!
I truly believe that the world is poised to embrace Creativity as a central focus moving forward. Sports has had its day in the sun and has fallen over. I think it could be Creativity's time to shine.
I truly believe that the world is poised to embrace Creativity as a central focus moving forward. Sports has had its day in the sun and has fallen over. I think it could be Creativity's time to shine.
Here's a video of my garment from the 2018 show - called Minerva Maxima this is made of 150+ masks and was also on display in the WOW museum in 2019.
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