Writer's Block

Advice from a Friend-Release the Shackles

I was sharing with a group of teachers that I have been suffering terribly through my self imposed writing drought.  I have had some iteration of writer's block.  My type of writer's block came from my own desire to be perfect.  Suffering from placing myself in a dark and dreary box, I arrived at the crossroads. I believed that whatever I wrote had to be only about education.  Quite naturally this myopic thinking deterred the creative juices from flowing here and there.  I became a juice box  full of high fructose corn syrup.  My system was on overdrive and I was suddenly moving at a standstill.   I don't do well with boxes or high fructose corn syrup. I locked myself in my own prison and lost the key.  My instincts, as writer and thinker, suffered tremendously. My creativity and passion for writing atrophied in the worst way. When I thought about writing, I felt tension.  It wasn't pleasurable anymore. The stress hormone cortisol ruled and so I could not even think too much about writing. It was flight or fight.  I chose to take flight from my keyboard and this blog. 

Something happened on Tuesday.  Something snapped. There was a breakthrough of sorts. I ran to my blog and just started letting my thoughts rip from my brain and flood the page in front of me.  The floodgates had been compromised and boy did that river flow and inundate everything.  The words, images and everything within me flew out of my brain and onto the screen!  FREE AT LAST!  FREE AT LAST!

The next day, I wanted to share the work of my creativity.  Opportunity presented itself.  I was able to share my blog and the most recent post from the night before.  Sweet serenity reigned me in and I was peace.
That pivotal day, I was able to share my poem  Making Lemons.  Wow!  I finally was able to share my poetry with a larger group.  I was so excited to do so.  I read my poem aloud with such pride.  That was a true blessing.  Then the teachers and I analyzed my poem using the analysis pyramid. That was an invigorating literary conversation.  Not only did we get to see and experience the analysis pyramid in action, but I was also able to see and feel how my poetry affected others.  That was huge for me.  The teachers actually liked it and I don't think they were just being polite.  Many people approached me afterward as a poet and as an educator. Loved it! Loved it cubed!  It made my day, week and quite possibly year!

The next day I was talking to a dear friend.  She mentioned to me on Face Book that I truly shouldn't have writer's block. She said, "You have so much to write about, from the many stories about your daughter and how she is growing up.  You could write about her kinder graduation, her eighth grade graduation and now her graduation into driving and adulthood."  She also mentioned that I could be writing about my healthy life style changes.  I took what she said into serious consideration.  It made sense.  I have been placing myself in writing exile because I foolishly thought that I had to write only about certain things.  I have been doing tons of writing on social media.  I needed to transfer those thoughts into writing.  No more perfection and boxing for me.  When I don't put  pressure on me, I find that my writing is smooth and then I can fly! I would like to soar above these silly restrictions that place upon myself.

Now I am going to promise  that I will soar above and allow my ideas to fly out of my head, through my keyboard and onto the page!  I need this...need to do this.  No diggity...no doubt!

What I have learned, through this writer's Siberia, is that I need to return to me.  Return to be true to myself. Now is the perfect time to let my ideas flow once again!  I am thinking that I can soar if I just allow myself to take off the shackles that bind.  Many of these shackles exist from within than without. I need to do me and not worry about the rest. Time to move onto greater horizons!
No diggity, no doubt!