THE SPALENTOR or OVERCOMING WRITER’S BLOCK (N.M.)
Creative indecision, coupled with a looming deadline, is simply the worst. How it feels, but more importantly, how it makes you feel about yourself. It doesn’t matter whether it’s difficulty preparing a harpsichord recital, writing a new composition due the end of the week, or a blog post that’s two months too late.
“Really, you can’t even muster one good paragraph today? That’s pathetic.
“I bet Joe Diligence already has his social media agenda planned and ready to go for the next three weeks. What are you doing to compete with that? Lazy.
“Think of all the hours Margaret So-and-So spent in the practice room tonight. Come on, don’t throw away your career!”
Days go on, you bang your head against a wall, and nothing comes out. Well, nothing that you wouldn’t throw away after a second look. You think you have an angle on something, so you become stubborn, and until or unless something totally different comes to shake things up, it gets harder and harder to see light at the end of the tunnel.
And so, in this desperate state, my girlfriend suggested I write about my favorite piece of architecture in Basel.
For those who do not know, this is, without any doubt, the Spalentor. It holds a special place in my memory bank, indelibly impressed from my earliest visits to many recent returns. As a student at the Schola Cantorum, I walked by it multiple times near daily.
Like many beautiful buildings from times gone by, it once served a practical purpose as part of the outer city walls; it’s not the only such structure still standing in Basel (see the Sankt-Alban-Tor and Sankt-Johanns-Tor), all of which have now entered their vestigial stage as charming old ornaments. They are thoroughly medieval, adorned with carvings and figurines full of life, people depicted as if in constant motion.
Even this becomes another slap in the face. These Baslers persevered amidst warfare and plague, building mighty gates and churches which continue to impress. Sure, there were maybe half a dozen leisure activities (at most) compared to our endless range of choices; they could deal with their boredom by being bored and that was just another part of existence. Sloths get a bad rap for laziness, but lions are inactive for about 20 hours a day.
Ironically, our encyclopedic variety of tedium-escaping activities is paired with societal pressure to constantly work (hustle is the mot du jour). Meanwhile, I sense a common complaint in the 21st century is that no one actually does their own work anymore; no one wants to because there’s too many things to do which we would rather outsource. Too many priorities ultimately lead to a hierarchy of prioritization.
And so, what’s my point? Truth be told, I’d like to find a life philosophy that successfully avoids modern pitfalls, while allowing you to enjoy your free time (however you choose to spend it) without neglecting your social and professional obligations. But I don’t have much to say there; ultimately, this entire blog post has been a writing exercise to activate my productivity.
Well, perhaps I could rephrase: Render therefore unto Labor the things which are Labor’s, and unto Rest the things that are Rest’s.
Nathan Mondry