Let's Get Diggin'
I’ve been in a bit of a writer’s rut recently and it hasn’t felt great. Up until the last two months, I’d been journaling religiously everyday and writing blog posts. Then poof…the creative juices disappeared out of thin air. I would sit with my hands on the keyboard, staring at the blank Word document, waiting for any letter(s) to show up on the screen. I would tap my fingers on the keyboard thinking this would help, but still nothing.
Then I would say to myself, “Ok, I will send that email and then come back to this.” Well, we all know what happened next. I would get distracted and never come back to the blank Word document. How is it that I could write a silly email in 30 seconds, but couldn’t get started writing something I deeply cared about?
Self compassion has been a focal point for me recently, so I decided not to get mad and shame myself, call myself stupid or a terrible writer and force myself to write. These are some of the VERY unhealthy things I used to say to myself, which will clearly not get the creative juices chuggin’ along. Plus, I feared that by talking to myself like this it would take the joy out of the actual practice of writing, which obviously only compounds the current predicament I was in.
Then as the days continued to pass, I realized I missed writing. Instead of pressuring myself to write blog posts, I started intuitive writing, which means I would sit down with a notebook and write 2-3 pages of whatever was on my mind. One minute I might be writing affirmations and then the next sentence was about what I had for breakfast. The next line I was writing about how I forgot to get an oil change for the 50th day in a row, and then the next thing I knew I was writing about a super deep and profound thought I had in that very moment.
Sometimes I would even end up writing out an actual conversation between myself and maybe my soul (?). Or God? I’ve never really totally been sure who the other voice is. But I will literally write a question and then whatever response immediately comes to mind.
You realize how your mind is like a pinball machine when you practice intuitive writing. Bouncing from one idea to the next in a matter of seconds.
I found so much joy in going back and reading what I was thinking about in those very moments. It would make me giggle when I’d realize how many hundreds of thoughts I had in a short 20 minute time span.
Then yesterday I was telling a friend about this writing “brain freeze” I was in and he suggested I start by writing out the alphabet and then random words (this is basically intuitive writing). And then as I was thinking about it, I said, “You know what? I’m going to write about my struggle to write. That could dig me out of this rut! Surely I’m not the only one that has felt like they were in a rut before.”
And whala...it worked! It really worked! Time to do a happy dance!
I sat down tonight and started writing and writing and writing, and before I knew it, I took what I wrote and made two blog posts out of it. OH-YEAHHH!
In order to make this post a little more exciting though, I figured I would share some of the things I learned while being on this writing “hiatus.”
So here are some of the lessons I’m reflecting on.
There is ALWAYS a way! Yes, believe it or not, there is always a solution and it doesn’t need to be some overcomplicated process. The solution today was simply saying, “It’s time. I’m ready to write,” and then actually doing it. Even if I had to start by writing out my ABC’s when there wasn’t a child around.
Sometimes we just need to set things aside. And this is A-OK. We all go in cycles, so welcome this time to do something different.
Only I had the power to get myself writing again. Yes, ME. It wasn’t anyone else’s fault that I wasn’t. And I could have listened to 20 motivational speeches, but ultimately that wouldn’t guarantee a finished product. I had to decide when it was time to begin again, and so I decided today was the day and that was that. Now of course I’m asking myself why I over complicated this situation and started googling “how to get out of a creative rut,” when all I had to do was say, “Ok soul, I miss writing, let's get to it.” Lesson learned: Don’t overthink. Keep it simple. Commit. Do.
There is always a divine reason. I realized today that I’ve actually been writing a lot for other projects I’m working on at the moment. Now this isn’t necessarily writing about what’s on my heart, but I’ve been creating, building and writing, just in different forms. Maybe my soul just needed to take a hiatus and practice a different type of writing for the time being? Who knows, but I trust there was a divine reason.
Always be gentle with yourself. There is absolutely no benefit to shaming yourself when things aren’t going as planned. Shame and negative self talk do more long term damage, so don’t even allow yourself to go there. Practice grace and ease and life will be so much more enjoyable.
Don’t take the joy out of the things you love to do otherwise they become a chore. I almost wonder if part of the lesson in this is that I was beginning to pressure myself to write. I felt a need to HAVE to publish new blog posts within a specified timeframe and this was taking the joy out of writing for me. I want to write because I have something on my heart I feel the need to share, not because I need to meet a specific number of posts every week.
As we wrap up this holiday season and head into the new year, take some time to think about the things that bring you joy. Maybe do a little intuitive writing on the matter. Ask yourself:
Am I making time for the things that light me up? What activities bring me joy that I haven’t been doing enough of recently?
If not, why is that?
What do I need to do to make space for more of these activities in my life?
Be gentle, kind and patient with yourself as you reflect. Then commit and do.
Now go get to diggin’ yourself out of any rut you might have accidentally fallen into. And don’t worry, it happens to the best of us.
Oh, and most importantly, know you don’t need to experience any blood, sweat or tears to do this. Keep it simple. Commit. Do.
And one more thing. Don’t forget to breathe. Yes, please don’t forget to breathe.
Much love today and always, my friends!