You might recall the line — “When you’ve got it, you’ve got it”. While not exactly ubiquitous it’s one of those quotes that’s probably had its share of iterations over the years. Whether familiar with it or not, today most may hear in its echoing singsong style, some self-trumpeting rhetoric. And probably more than most of us have had our lifetime fill of trumped up anything! Over time, these catchy quotes do often lose their pithiness and opportunity to teach us something about ourselves or others. Regardless of all its positive and negative qualities, like a true piece of art it’s all in the eye of the beholder. More on that angle later. 

Never mind all that. To repeat. Good lines are like good art, or even better, good wine . . . where was I was going with that point?! After writing good wine, I think I may have gotten distracted. Oh ya, all these things have something in common. Being good.  And like most truly good things in life that thing being good is only through the feeling of it being good, not a good in and of itself. Let us briefly return to the line again. Believing that you’ve got it is very much a feeling that when felt, has a lot of feel-good energy behind it. For this writer’s purposes it’s all about flow — a flow in writing, a flow in attitude, a flow in giving & taking, and perhaps more basically, good feeling in — good feeling out. Said another way, it could be mind flow, body flow, and spirit flow; those flows flowing keep the good vibes a flowing. And when it comes to academia and those time-pressures of life, it’s all about achieving and getting things done!

 

Or, perhaps some of us from first listen have just become overly familiar with what sounds like some self-trumpeting rhetoric. As such, sometimes these catchy quotes lose their pithiness over time. For some of us it might seem ageless, for the younger crowd it might come across as too arrogant. Nevertheless, it is very much a feeling that when felt, has a lot of feel-good energy behind it. For this writer’s purposes it’s all about flow — a flow in writing, a flow in attitude, a flow in . Said another way, it could be mind flow, body flow, and spirit flow. And when it comes to academia and those time pressures of life it’s all about achieving and accomplishing things. 

How to Stop Procrastinating Overcoming the Habit of Delaying Important Tasks

 

 

 

For the distracted and procrastinating mind, the flow I speak of is a quite elusive phenomenom . . . at least to behold and expect within oneself. It is also, when I think of it, a bit of an enigma – yes, indeed wrapped-well within a conundrum. 

“There is only one true thing: instantly paint what you see. When you’ve got it, you’ve got it. When you haven’t, you begin again. All the rest is humbug.”
– Edouard Manet

 

I leave you with the quote that got this blog going. For, whenever I hear or recall a good quote, much like a good joke, I want to find its origins, which is sometimes harder than one thinks, especially with those quote websites often claiming faux origins for some of the more obscure ones. Well, as you can see above its origins came from back in the 19th century and out of the mouth of French modernist painter, Edouard Manet. And what strikes me are the apparent, or perhaps not so apparent contradictions inherent in the multiple thoughts he is expressing.