Trekkers may be familiar with the word pfaffing (and I know that technically it is not an F word 
but it is acoustically an F word and I would know. And it can be spelt faffing.). You pfaff when you fiddle around with a task rather than actually DO it. Barry gives us a great definition here! In the trekking context, the pfaffer may well be the person in the tent next to yours who is noisily carrying out an activity that seems to be relocating all the items from one lot of plastic bags into another lot of plastic bags in his/ her back pack. This is often done just as you are trying to sleep. One who is annoyed by a pfaffer may well someone whose back pack is less organised.
The are periods of time, sometimes long periods, where I feel like I am permanently pfaffing. Sometimes I can get out of this phase and sometimes I just have to go with the flow (another F word). It is in these
often frustrating periods of pfaffing that I try to be grateful for furthering. The poet/ philosopher John O’Donohue refers to furthering in his Blessing on Waking. He talks about giving thanks each morning for the furthering that the new day will bring. Some days, when my activities don’t seem to have resulted in much finishing, I try to be grateful for furtherings!!
I am still faffing around with / furthering my textured discs that I wrote about here. Again I began with BTC 111 but this time systematically changed the amount of Magenta. I was reminded as I looked nervously at the raw discs, of Tory Hughes’ wise advice not to judge an 
outcome too soon. I was relieved that after the boot polish treatment, the discs hung together more. Well, to me they did. I mustn’t have been a sweet gelati mood! More of a distressed gelati frame of mind.
Here’s to pfaffing that furthers and even better, leads to flow!
Flippin’ heck that’s fabulous, no more faffing for me, I’m furthering from now on! Love those discs Wendy.
Hey Friend, Furthering pFaffing Forever eh?! We could take this Far! x
Well, as a career writer with uni degrees in English and Journalism, I have always considered myself a wordsmith. But ‘pfaffing’? That’s a new one for me… and I love it! I am surprised I hadn’t come across it before, given that I am rather good at pfaffing. I’m typically more organized and methodical with just about everything (which can be equally annoying sometimes). But this fiddling around, making little movements, dithering can be a delightful and rewarding approach to exploration, for sure. I would say, in developing BreakThroughColour, there was plenty of pfaffing indeed, and look where it got me! BTW, my spelling autocorrect keeps wanting to switch me to ‘faffing’ but I prefer this ‘f’ work with its cheeky silent ‘p’! Thanks for sharing your ever-lovely work and words.
I love the p too Tracy. Apparently there is a place called Pfaffing and my hunch is it is full of pfaffers! Pfaffers unite. Glad I could introduce you to a new word!!!
Great post……chuckled my way through it. I can actually see you saying this!!!
And I will try to NOT say some F words when we are together! I can’t imagine you faffing at all!!! Big hug WAW!
Pfhaffing and various other F words have been in high rotation in my world. Thanks for the lovely read. Kate
I am guessing you especially mean Fantastic, Fabulous and Funny?!