Envy and covetousness

I'm inspired when I see something good, something done well, something beautiful, something well crafted. I want to do something as good, as well done, as beautiful, as crafted of my own. I may envy your expertise and skill, but its' a generous sort of envy. It's an appreciation for things that are a force of good: insight, craft, expertise, application, etc. It prompts us to ask ourselves, what more could I be doing or being?

This is the opposite of the envy we feel for others' possessions.  Covetousness, as the King James Bible describes it. The problem with covetousness is, basically, not only do we want what the other person has, we also want them not to have it. When we talk about 'keeping up with the Joneses' but really we want to be the Joneses (or the new Joneses). Displacement is part of the aspiration.

The world needs all kinds of minds (Temple Grandin)

Three quarters of a loaf

They say that half a loaf is better than none, although it is subject to dispute.

Today is the 3/4 mark of my challenge, and I find that 3/4 of a loaf is a whole lot better than none. At the beginning, I quoted Seth Godin, that real artists ship. Shipping changes thing. As Tschaikovsky famously remarked, he would turn up at the keyboard each morning around 9am, and the Muses would usually show up around then too.

Even tonight, when a bad bout of insomnia last night robbed me of all but 3 hours' sleep, I can still find something to say. It's even fairly grammatical.

Until I saw which post number I was up to, I planned to write about Giving Good Phone, so I guess that will have to wait for another day.

This is post 75 of 100 posts in 100 days.

When the mood takes us

I don't really feel like posting tonight. I've had a hard day, I'm cold and frankly I just don't feel inspired. So negative inspiration led me to the subject of today's entry.

I think most of us have times when we're like the little girl with the little curl: when we are good we are very, very good, but when we are bad we are rotten.

When I feel well, feel happy, and - most important - feel appreciated, I can move mountains. I can be efficient, good-tempered (even in the teeth of provocation), insightful, industrious... you get the idea.

Then, the wind changes, or my head aches, or it's been a little while since I was praised, or I'm coming down with a cold, or I'm annoyed with my spouse, or... you get the idea. Since I'm a grown-up, I don't let "don't feel like it" completely derail my life. I still get the must-dos done, although sometimes other things slide. The joy of doing is often absent.

I'm intrigued by this. What happens to turn our mood? Where does inspiration go when it hides from us? Do you know?

This is post 12 of 100 posts.