Lessons from the library
A reminder to slow down and work deeply
Hey there, Bec here
Yesterday I had an all-too-rare day of writing at Gladstone’s Library. I drove west from Yorkshire to North Wales, speeding along the motorway. As I pulled off at the junction the road signs told me to slow down, decelerating from 70 miles per hour, to 50 and for the last couple miles crawling at 20. I was impatient to arrive yet the signs, in Welsh and English, were telling me to go slow - ARAF!
I entered the quiet of the library, the smell of old books calming my nervous system. I found my favourite desk on the upper gallery, nestled between the ancient wooden shelves stacked with religious texts. I waved to my friend Alison Jones sitting opposite and emptied my bag of books to read, folders of notes, and my laptop.
The ambition of the physical contents matched the to-do list I’d optimistically written in my notebook the night before. I already felt overwhelmed and like many of us do when feeling like that, I pulled out my phone for comfort and distraction. I took a photo of the library to send to a friend for her birthday, then decided to post on the socials. So far so performative. Some might call it procrastination, but for me it is more of a pre-writing ritual. I have learned that a little bit of social media engagement doesn’t do me any harm, in fact, it can help mark the transition between tasks; switching mode from the concentration of driving a long distance to the focus of writing.
To-do lists and the spirit of the times
On the drive over I used the time to catch up on some podcasts. Kae Tempest was on The Weirdos Book Club and made a reference to Carl Jung’s The Red Book. I wondered if the library had it in stock? It wasn’t in the catalogue so I hit the internet to check it out. I was taken by his exploration of ‘The Spirit of the Times’ versus ‘The Spirit of the Depths’. The first refers to the Zeitgeist, our mainstream culture, society, values and beliefs. Its focus on trends is seen by Jung to suppress humanity (what he’d call soul) in favour of efficiency and conformity.
The spirit of the depths is the opposite - a timeless eternal truth, spiritual rather than rational. According to one source online Jung argues that a healthy individual must listen to the spirit of the depths while still living effectively within the spirit of the times. We need to integrate both as individuals - and as a society - otherwise we’ll experience crisis.1
The spirit of the depths
It was fascinating but not what I was here for. I closed my browser and I opened my notebook to read the long list of things to do. All those possibilities! But of course, no time to do them all. I was reminded of the productivity advice of the difference between a list of intention and a list of action.2
I often write a dump of all the things I need to do, it helps to calm me by emptying my head. But doing them is another activity. It’s a clash between the spirits of time and depths. What are the depths calling me to do? Or, more prosaically, in time-management speak: what is the one thing I need to action? That’s where to start. I picked the top item of the list and got to work.
🎧 Listen to This Might Work on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I was writing a script for our new podcast This Might Work. It started as a fun side project when I was grieving after my mum’s death last year. I couldn’t write at the time and doing something different was exactly what I needed. Plus, I got to chat to my writer friends and share their advice. But as ever, I had underestimated the time, effort and expense involved in creating and releasing a podcast. There was so much to learn and to do. Now we were on a weekly release schedule and it felt relentless.
It was time to slow down
What if we had a mid-season break? Chris and I had released five episodes, and only this week we’d managed to connect the rss feed to Substack (no, we had no idea what this meant either two weeks ago). We needed time to catch up, to promote and share it, and to figure out whether it was working. I have lots of bonus material, transcripts, photos, interviews with the writers featured, reviews of their books, and so many ideas of how to work together as a writing community to test out the tips. If only I had the time to explore all of this.
This Might Work: the first five episodes
With thanks to writing friends Oliver Burkeman, Emma Gannon, Benjamin Myers, Alison Jones and Mason Currey for their writing tips.
Also, you need time to listen. The episodes are short, around 15 minutes, but like me catching up on my most favourite podcasts on the drive to the library, people need time to download and listen. And the point is to try out the tips and see if they might work - which takes time.
I’m so proud of this podcast. It’s not just ‘content’, it’s the culmination of years of experience working with writers and thinking about creativity. While the spirit of the times says we need a consistent weekly release, the spirit of depths tells me that creators and consumers need time to savour. It’s about the process not just the product.
There are six more episodes in the pipeline ready to be shared and a long and ambitious list of guests for the next season. But to help us decide on that, we need to know if it is working for you or if you’d like bonus material. Let me know in the comments and please do like and review the episodes on your podcast player, and share with a writer in your life.
Keep going, slowly
I spent the day at Gladstone’s Library working on that one thing from my long list. It was so satisfying to work slowly and deeply; to think, to read, to write. I completed the script half an hour before the library closed. It was a day well spent.3
As always, keep going, but go slowly. ARAF!
Cheers, Bec
I only came across these concepts yesterday so forgive me any misinterpretation of Carl Jung’s work. I haven’t read the original translation of The Red Book and am relying on the internet for quotes, which as we know, isn’t the most reliable of sources.
Credit to Oliver Burkeman for explaining this to me. It is one of my go-to piece of advice and understanding the difference between intention and action (dreams and reality) has given me much perspective over the years.
If you get a chance do visit Gladstone’s Library. It is the only residential library in the UK and you can also visit the cafe or join as a reader and write for the day. All the details on its website: https://www.gladstoneslibrary.org/
Hi Bec, was really interesting to read about how to go deep and slow. I often forget it when I write, a voice in my head telling me "it`s a waste of time" to go deep. A library is probably a perfect space, and that,s something I should do more often. Probably ending up beeing much more effective. Espen
What a great way to lean into "Araf!".
I've been enjoying - slowly - listening to the pod, and recently recommended it as a helpful resource in the recent issue of my "The Artist's Way: Next Steps" series 😊🎧
https://laurenkatepowell.substack.com/p/the-artists-way-next-steps-part-5 x