Don't Marry the fly

I recently reread a chapter from Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones; Freeing the Writer from Within, a book on what makes good writing good, and bad writing bad. The chapter was titled, Don't Marry the Fly. It describes that when in the midst of creatively writing, there is a tendency to square in on one detail ever so descriptively to the point where one looses a sense of space, plot or order. The analogy from the book explains that the writer gives the reader the setting at a dinner table and then there is a fly nestled beside the fold in the table cloth and continues to get more detailed from there. This becomes so excessive to the point where the writer, Marries the Fly.

I tend to see her book (which is more than a how to on creative writing) as guidance in art making and in general and simply, in thinking. I've often found myself walking down the street and being conditioned to look visually for an opportunity to make art. I've considered the power in words and how they reveal judgment and speculation. I will occasionally stop myself from the looking, and let all things just, "be" as they are and leave behind as they were. I've just come to the conclusion that I fall too hard and tend to Marry the Fly and I start to over analyze a situation to the point where it no long has a valid foundation. The best part is that I acknowledge this thinking and I am more patient and letting thoughts settle before getting into a big road block of thinking.

So how does this relate to the image above? Well, I've tried to be communicative both in art and in life but the lines get blurry at times and its hard to make the switch but I'm now mediating between the two.

I am also curious as to how one perceives a word. Are they taking the specific word for how they would use it or describe it or is there a common language of understanding happening? How deep are the waters of listening to what one has to say? I find communicating in life making way more sense when I find a common ground. Everyone has a slightly different perception to things and to find that meeting point is to be okay to move forward.