Let’s celebrate! We’re halfway through the dark! Winter starts today (for those of us in the northern hemisphere). Frigid winds will blow down from the arctic. The temps will drop. We’ll get snow and ice and more gloomy days than we wish. BUT, from this day forward, every day will be a little longer. The … More Bright Solstice!
If you’re surprised by how long it’s been since you spent time with your writing, you’ve fallen into the trap of unrecognized resistance. It’s an easy trap to fall into – you don’t write for a day or two, so you don’t track your writing for those days. Two days stretch into three or four … More Avoid the Trap of Unrecognized Writing Resistance: Tricks of Tracking #1
How could writer’s resistance steal your creativity without you knowing it? Doesn’t every writer who’s blocked know s/he is blocked? I’ll answer those questions with another: Have you ever gotten to the end of the week and suddenly realized you didn’t show up for Product Time (aka your writing), Self-Care or Process the way you … More Is Writer’s Resistance Secretly Stealing Your Creativity?
Yesterday I had food poisoning or 24-hour stomach flu and I didn’t even think about writing. I feel no guilt about that – the rule of thumb is that if you’d call in sick or take time off from a job where they pay you to show up, you skip Product Time for the day. … More Must. Show. Up. Must. Write. Something.
Have you ever been stood up? Or waited so long for someone to show up for a date or meeting that you feared you were being stood up? At first, we get irritated, “Why is he always late?” Then we get nervous, “What if something happened to her?” Then we go back to being mad, … More Stood Up!
Play invites us to pause the constant flurry of doing, which is so often a desperate search for meaning — and in that pausing, we remember our Being that is the true source of meaning. Play opens the door to beauty, joy, imagination and gratitude because it opens our hearts and our minds. Today is … More How to Play Today
Back when I first started this series on Self-Care, you might wondered why “creative play” was in the list of things writers need to do for Self-Care when I’ve always promoted play as Process. The great thing about Play is that it can be Process or Self-Care or even Product Time. When play is … More The Vital Work of Play
Save a goldfish – stop trying to multitask! You’ll preserve your creativity, too. Multitasking is the antithesis of focus. I’ve listed my previous posts on multitasking below in case you haven’t read them all or want a refresher. If you are tempted to try to multitask just this once or get so busy you accidentally … More Focus Saves Creativity… and Goldfish!
As a writer, what do you give thanks for? Your computer? Teachers who taught you to read and write? Writers who inspire you? Your vision and the flexibility of your fingers and brain? Can you see how resistance, even full-fledged block, might be something to be thankful for? When we feel resistance, we both want … More What Are You Thankful For?
I’ve often proclaimed the power of short, regular writing sessions (see previous posts on 15 Magic Minutes, 10 Reasons to Show Up,or Initial Inertia). A small commitment eliminates anxiety and is therefore easier to honor. You’ll probably find, as so many of my students and coaching clients do, that showing up for 15 minutes gets … More Focus and Fifteen Magic Minutes
Bane of Your Resistance 