This Is the Writing Life; That’s Resistance! Part 2

Research or resistance?

When the research books and printouts pile up and your notes and drafts are getting so thick you can’t find your desk, that’s the writing life. When you have so many other appointments, projects and priorities, you can’t find your way to your desk for weeks, that’s resistance.

When you’ve put in your writing time and it seems that all you did all day was shovel dreck, but you tell yourself tomorrow is another day, that’s the writing life. When you can scarcely bear to show up for your writing because the Inner Critic (what I call the Saboteur) is so loud and vicious even the Bush Administration would call it torture, that’s resistance.        

When your house is spotless, your spices are labeled and sorted alphabetically, your socks are sorted by color and function and this is normal for you, you’re channeling the spirit of Monica Geller and need therapy (or an exorcist). (Or your name is Martha Stewart and you’re made an empire out of being anal-retentive, in which case I’m deeply honored that you’re reading my blog!) But when your house is spotless, you’ve started ironing the sheets and your partner comes home and says, “Who are you and what have you done with my partner?” that’s resistance.

When you have a medical procedure that requires mild anesthesia and you don’t write that day, that’s life. (When you’re able to write about the discomforts of said procedure in a way that makes people laugh out loud, you’re Dave Berry. Check out Dave’s article at http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/dave-barry/story/427603-p3.html  But when a routine appointment with your oral hygienist means you don’t write for three days, that’s resistance.

When you’re written your blog entry and can’t figure out exactly how to end it, but you do your best and post it anyway, that’s the writing life. When your blog hasn’t seen a new post for months because you refuse to post anything that’s less than perfect, that’s resistance.