It might have escaped your memory (understandably) but Gerald Ford was President of the USA back in the ‘seventies He has not left a particularly elevated reputation behind him (if I might put it euphemistically.) Ford, not to put too fine a point on it, was widely reputed to be rather “intellectually challenged”. This was summed up in the quip that he “could not walk and chew gum at the same time.” In fact, the arrival of the present incumbent on the scene has done something to retrieve his reputation.
I have no idea to what extent this might be justified as a view of him, or a total travesty of the truth. The phrase came into my head to today, however, as we drove back from Sheffield. To my horror I began to think that this harsh judgement on Gerald Ford might also be applied to me! In this blog on previous occasions recently I have remarked on the difficulty I have been having in starting a new creative project. It only dawned on me today that there might be a very good reason for this. I have been absorbed in writing. I might be able to walk and chew gum simultaneously, but I cannot write and paint together.
This is a problem I have encountered before. I don’t understand why it should be so, but the two activities appear to require quite incompatible mental sets. Perhaps it has something to do with the dominance of different hemispheres of the brain, which is an idea that interests me generally. For the past couple of weeks I have thrown myself into the task of clearing up a huge store of old papers, and I decided that good progress could be made with this task if I were to prepare a coherent and orderly account of my former professional life. This would compel me to decide whether any of this stuff was worth keeping, for the interest of the family, or whether it was indeed (as I suspected it was) just a load of old paper.
It has been a fascinating and absorbing process, and I am well pleased with the progress I have made. (I have actually written nearly 10,000 words.) I was greatly encouraged today, talking with one of my sons, to hear that he thought it was a great idea. The problem is, however, that it does take over my life, and especially my creative energies. Fortunately I believe that the end is in sight, and with any luck and some discipline I should be able to finish the job in the coming week.
This realisation has come as an enormous relief to me, as my inability to get started with a painting project now appears to be not breakdown of the normal order, but something which is understandable and indeed to be expected. Even so, the reputed similarity between me and the former President is not one I cherish.