When I was young, I ran track.

In fact, I was a sprinter.

In track and field, the instructions “on your mark,” “get set” and “go” each outlined different parts of the preparation process.

And since I’ve been in the middle of one preparation process or another over the past few weeks (gigs, job interviews, going to ITALY!), I thought I’d take a look at a once familiar process for getting ready.

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“On your marks” means it is time to start getting down into the blocks. The time for stretches, knee bends and psyching out your competition is over and you have to narrow your focus to getting down the lane as fast as you can.

(It’s interesting that in order to get into the blocks properly, a sprinter steps past the starting line and then backs into the block.)

“Get set” means the next thing that happens is sprinting down your lane. You raise the hips, lean forward and getting ready to drive the body out of the blocks using your bent leg.

The goal is to become a coiled a spring.

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I’m a coiled spring alright. *wry grin*

The problem is that none of my energy is focused.

My friend Debbie Duncan says about stage fright, “It’s all just energy. It can help you or it can hurt you.” In other words, you get to decide if you’ll use the energy or if the energy is going to use you.

(In case you couldn’t tell, the energy has been using me.)

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The problem is that I haven’t been able to prepare in the way I want to prepare. (My sister just moved and she shared the same sentiment.)

No hours spent researching my destination, creating color-coded, cross-referenced packing lists, or learning about the local flora and fauna. No weeks spent taking a crash course in Italian. No single free weekend to take one last “do I have everything?” errand run.

So I didn’t get to prepare the way I wanted, but … (and here’s another deep insight from the Songtaneous blog)

Sometimes you have to move forward whether or not you’re ready.

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Fortunately (as this weekend’s gig at the Artists’ Quarter proved), there’s a difference between feeling ready and being ready.

In my ideal world, I would have had a firmer grasp on the words and notes for a couple of the tunes we performed this weekend.

It’s not that I was un-prepared, I just didn’t feel quite … ready. But Friday night came and I was on stage and you know what?

I was ready.

I’d prepared enough.

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So I’m setting a goal to be “ready enough” to leave for Italy this week.

On my mark, get set …

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Note: Remember no blog posts from me for a couple of weeks. If you miss me, please peruse the archives. *smile*

Maybe it’s the recent blog anniversaries or the upcoming trip to Italy (10 days!), but I had trouble getting motivated to write today’s post.

(In fact, I’m still having trouble and theoretically, I’m writing it. *rueful smile*)

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I don’t know about you, but for me, it almost always more fun to imagine the work than to do the work.

Thinking about the work can be pleasant, almost like a daydream. It’s like seeing yourself in a time-elapse sequence in a movie. You work quickly, brilliantly and you never make any mistakes.

For example, if I were a movie blogger, you’d hear peppy, sprightly music and the tapping of my fingers on the keys. I’d be at my desk in a charming sweater set or cute pajamas and inspiration would pour from hands on to the page (… er … screen).

We’d flash to my blog post zipping out the back of my computer, down the “wires” to your inbox. Then we’d pan to people all over the city (heck, all over the world!) reading this post, delighting in it, forwarding it to friends.

We’d finish with me in a kick-y skirt and snappy coat twirling joyfully in the streets a la Mary Tyler Moore …

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Real work is more like … work.

Real work means laundry and dishes and putting back the dining room furniture after Songtaneous. (We had a lot of fun! Thanks to those who came and sang.)

It means following up on an interviews, writing copy and posting (other people’s) web updates. Packing suitcases (okay, not yet — but I’m thinking about packing my suitcase) and packing lunches.

And it’s all in real time. No flash forwards or edited sequences to speed things along.

And, hardest of all, you have to motivate yourself to do it. Ugh.

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Christine Kane talks about making the jobs of your life and the things about which you want to be disciplined “just what you do.”

She says by making — in my case — “get up and bike to work” just what you do, you remove the internal debate and dialogue about that decision.

In other words, you don’t have to agonize every morning (you don’t have to, but I sometimes still do *smile*) about whether or not to hop on your bike.

(You just lug it down the stairs before you’re late for work. *smile*)

So I spent the holiday weekend spring cleaning. I cleaned my kitchen and … er … well, my kitchen.

Yep, my eyes were bigger than my work ethic.

Here’s what happened.

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I decided my kitchen needed a good old fashioned, deep down spring cleaning. Oven, fridge, cupboards, windows, walls — the works. So Saturday (after sleeping in, it was a holiday weekend), I got up raring to go. Except …

My landlords were painting the porches on our building, which meant I had to deal with my lack of proper porch cleanup last fall. (Usually, I prep my porch for winter, but last year I just pulled in the furniture after the first snowfall.) So I pulled the furniture and pots full of dead plants off the porch and into my dining room.

And then I pulled the stuff from my kitchen into the dining room so I could pull out the oven and the fridge (and scrub the walls and floor behind and under them).

So pretty soon all the stuff from the porch AND my kitchen was in — you guessed it — my dining room.

Oofdah.

By the time I got the everything back to the porch and back to the kitchen, I was over spring cleaning.

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Here’s what actually happened …

I’m a poor starter. When I can see the finish line, you can’t stop me, but when I have to start a project, I just … don’t.

Not until I have to.

And even when I have to, I fumble around and cast about and go around in circles and second guess myself.

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My friends M and R love to start projects. “Isn’t this exciting?!” they ask me with smiles on their faces and gleams in their eyes.

No. Not to me.

While thinking about cleaning my kitchen was nice and imaging the ease and wonder a clean kitchen would bring to my life was delightful, actually cleaning my kitchen … not so much.

What to do first?

Clearly, there’s an order in which these tasks should occur? But what is it?

I should clean out the cupboards before I sweep the floor, right? And I should probably wash the walls and windows before I mop the floor?

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I find all the tiny decisions involved in starting things exhausting (and a little overwhelming). My perfectionist (and procrastination) tendencies come to the fore. I want to start in exactly the right place and I don’t want to waste any time or effort.

Which is ridiculous.

I mean, I’ve learned from spontaneous singing that if you wait for the perfect place to begin, you’ll never start.

And, most important, that you can find your way to a “path” AFTER you begin. (Huge lesson for me and one I still have trouble remembering.)

This weekend’s kitchen adventure reflects my challenges starting the other projects in my life — ebooks, CDs, curriculum — all things I’m trying to start. (Blegh)

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So I’m going to practice starting.

I wrote myself a note the other day that simply says: “Stop stopping.”

I’m setting scheduled times to work on projects and not letting myself wimp out.

I know if I keep at it long enough, I’ll eventually cross the invisible line where a project I’ve started becomes a project I get to finish.