ponder and mull

Staring into space is something I do an awful lot of. My friend Jane, a very talented artist, says it's important for creative minds to spend time quietly thinking things over, it's an important part of the process. You aren't just staring idly into the middle distance you are turning and sifting ideas, wrestling with concepts, flexing and refining your craft. Thanks to this wise, and rather appealing, advice I never feel guilty when I'm watching clouds scud in from France, or leaves chasing each other along the pavement, or steam rising slowly from a coffee as dark as my four a.m. fears; I'm working hard damn it.