This morning I wrote my morning pages, and then went for a walk. The usual to-do list floated through my mind.. but I tried to focus on breathing the crisp morning air and feel the sun on my face. I spend too much time at the computer, writing music, writing poetry, surfing the net…. Or at the other keyboard… writing music or helping students. I remind myself that life is more than work. In my Zen book it says be like a tree… just be… not thinking, not defining things, not creating that busyness of mind that takes us away from the now… I confess I find it hard to ‘be’ like that. My mind is always creating plans of action and reminding me of what I haven’t done, should do, am neglecting, didn’t do well, should be better at, etc etc.

How does one find a balance between the persistence required to have a successful creative life – actively doing creative things… and finding solitude and peace… letting go of the outcome. My best friend and I talked about this the other day. We said our job is to put it out there… after that… it’s out of our hands. Our job is to produce it and let it go. And learn from our missteps of course. But also to take joy in the moment, just breathing and walking, reading a good book, having a great cup of coffee in our favourite cafĂ©, waking up in the middle of the night safe and warm.

I forget sometimes to remind myself how lucky I am to have the problem of writer’s block while others struggle to simply survive. I am grateful for my friends, and I am grateful for the emails and notes and posts of those who read this. I marvel at the technology that allows us to reach out and communicate with each other like this.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I spell my name Vikki also! yay!

Str8 Diva said...

Writers block sucks but sometimes you can look at a tree and it does give you inspiration.

Renee Winter said...

Just stumbled on your blog - I completely relate to this post! Hope today finds you well. :)

The Songbird Project said...

Are the morning pages you mention from The Artist's Way? I found that book very helpful.

Thanks,

Ben

www.thesongbirdproject.com

Tim said...

I have had a writers block towards the good things in life for a long time, but have recently been feeling more inclined to write happier sounding music. It could be due to the new presence in my life (my beautiful baby girl). I have been able to finally express it in my guitar playing, but am still having trouble expressing it in my lyrical writing. Maybe taking a more zen-like approach to life could help me in my music as well. :-)

Unknown said...

Hi Vikki.

I really like your blog - it's honest, brave and seems to come from a really good place.

Personally I've never liked the term 'writer's block'. I don't even like referring to it because I feel like acknowledging it's presence gives it some sort of power.

What works for me is that if I'm stuck on something, I just put it down, move onto something else, or think about it from a different angle, take a different approach.

I mean, at any one time I've always got a large number of unfinished songs or raw ideas I haven't looked at yet that the idea of wondering what to do creatively is one of abundant choice rather than scarcity.

But I agree with the importance of being thankful for what you've got. It helps put our woes into perspective.

Regards

Gideon