On the topic of constructive waiting time

A lot of people are concerned about the fear of the blank page - about having the urge or need to write, but not be able to do so.
I feel privileged not to suffer from such anxiety, and I think I know why. I am well aware that inspiration is something that can not be forced, inspiration is something one has to wait for, and use the time waiting constructively.
If at the same time, one has a plethora of stuff on the reading list, this is a match almost too good to be true. For how to spend time better while looking for inspiration, than by seeking inspiration, for example by reading something one finds interesting?
One should not wait for inspiration with idle hands. On the other hand, inspiration should not be left waiting when it arrives.
It will obviously not always turn up in an opportune moment, but as a minimum, enough key words must be written down to enable rediscovery of the inspiration when time and quiet is available to get it translated into text.
(Translated from Noget om konstruktiv ventetid, originally published February 2nd, 2010)

On the topic of empty calories

Some time ago in a radio broadcast, I heard the Danish term "pædagogsandwich" (in English, it would be something like a "teacher sandwich") in connection to the topic of feedback - on how to deliver a message, which in this context was described as negative, between two positive things; in the same manner as in a sandwich, the meaty part which is to give energy comes between the two pieces of soft, sweet bread. As the slight sneering term suggests, it's not necessarily something that should be covered with positive connotations - because it so easily becomes a mechanical construction, where the person giving the feedback frantically searches for parts to obey this sandwich construction.
Not much later than I had heard about the teacher sandwich, one of my sons returned from scouting to tell about "Grandma's Law" - on how to make evaluations with a set of three good things and then a proposal for improvement. It seems better to me - also because there can easily be found room for further development, so the 3 + 1 thing can be followed more or less strictly.
But the bottom line must be that the feedback works best when both parties, the giving and the receiving one, acknowledge that there are two types of feedback; affirmative (what should be maintained) and developmental (what can be improved) feedback - there is no such thing as positive and negative criticism; and in fact the developmental feedback is the one with the greatest potential to be positive, because it is the feedback one can learn the most from. If I am told in the right way, I get so much more from knowing in which areas I can improve myself, than to knowing where I am "good enough".
(Translated from Noget om tomme kalorier, originally published August 10, 2014)