There is a reliable quick fix when your technology stops working or becomes stuck: unplug the device, wait a while, then plug it back in and start it up.

   Most times it gets you back on the road to productivity. It usually seems to work.

   For the past while I have been rather unproductive, uninspired even, so for the past week or so I simply unplugged.

   I didn’t concern myself with daily deadlines or much of the stuff that has become routine; I simply stopped.  It was more than a break; it was what I needed to do.

   I wasn’t concerned with projects I’ve got on my slate, I stopped planning and preparing for what’s to come next, I didn’t do what I felt I should be doing.

   For the first couple of days there was the guilt involved in not keeping up. Then, as the days passed, I almost forgot about what I had going on.

   I did a few other things, I started another class that will, eventually, lead to something else (or get me back into an artful state.) I didn’t even bother with the final stages of a work that is almost complete.

   I ignored it all.

   It was respite in the simplest terms, mostly unplanned but effective. And necessary.

   At my class last week I began to, again, think and plan. It felt different.

   It was motivating.

   I allowed that pleasant feeling to take hold over the past couple of days and, on the weekend, did a few of the things I should have been doing. I even finalized a couple of the things that had dragged on a bit too long.

   I unplugged, for a while, and it felt good. And necessary.

   The trick now is to allow myself to get back into my art, my life, and the world around me without feeling the stress and self-induced pressure.

   I think I’m now feeling like I should.

   It was a needed break but, I know, it can’t last much longer.

   I do have things to do.

© 2026 j.g. lewis