I am faced with a nasty case of writer’s block. To me writer’s block is like heartburn, it’s something I didn’t think existed until I got it.
Pregnancy + nachos = heartburn. You people weren’t making that up and I am sorry I ever thought you were. It’s no fun.
And now I must apologize to all those writer’s who I thought were making up a block. I am sorry, writer’s block is real and it freaking sucks. I’m blaming an obnoxious overly pessimistic inner editor.
Here’s how the diagnosis went down-
Last week I spent some time loading up Peace, Love and Muesli’s archives to our new site (launching March 5th, mark your calendars) and as I edited and catalogued the posts it became very apparent that I use to have more fun blogging. The “It made me laugh” thought process of writing has become “No one wants to read that drivel”.
Obviously I am super nice to myself. The whole point of Kristin’s Glas was to write with abandon, to write like no one’s reading. I think I’ve missed the point.
As I mulled over these deep and meaningful thoughts for a few days my mind brought me to the wisdom of the good Dr. Seuss. Which I think makes sense, if you need a diagnosis you need a doctor.
When I am confronted with a challenge, especially house keeping related ones, my first thought is
…this mess is so big and so deep and so tall, we can not pick it up, there is no way at all!
I tell myself that I can’t do it, even before I’ve started. If my life was The Cat in the Hat, I am the fish.
THE FISH. No one likes the fish all he says is NO, no, No, NOOOO and no.
I don’t want to be the fish. I want to be the cat. I want to lead the charge of mess and chaos and optimism and play. And have a fancy machine to tidy up after me, of course. I want to put that miserable fish in the damn pot and put the lid on.
How do you shut up your fish?
>You just became the cat by writing that post.
>To shut the fish up you have to allow yourself to be vulnerable. To be vulnerable can be challenging; you have to let go. Its hard. You can do it though.
>I read other cats, like you, to get inspiration to shut my fish up.
Plus you're starting a site. Give yourself a break.
>these days I am not very good at shutting up my fish.
>I agree with Samantha. It takes a willingness to be vulnerable. Watch that Brene Brown TED talk again. I also agree with Kristin Z. Give yourself a break.
I also think this is a great post. Enjoy the moment.
>How do I shut up my fish? I large paring knife.
Lately, my writer's block has been through a lack of time, not necessarily a lack of motivation . . . but it sucks nonetheless.
But, to get out of it – I write what I want . . . small bits here & there. I read from a variety of sources. I find the one thing that I can always write about.
Soon enough, I'm writing again.
>I agree with Sharon.
I also quite literally put my fish down the drain
Or tell my friends about the pesky fish, like you're doing, and let them take care of it!
>Balance! You have to keep the fish and the cat happy. Be a little bit of both – it will likely take effort in the beginning, everything new struggles a bit – but then you'll realize that carefree, willy-nilly and responsible nay-sayer can live in harmony…usually!