Emotional Constipation and Using Brute Force to Write Again
When life gets in the way…
Have you ever had a string of life experiences that knocked the wind right out of you? You’re left dumbstruck. Speechless. Artistically and creatively stunned? It feels like life has you in a chock-hold and as you beat the floor to relent, you snatch flickers of what life ought to be only to be left reeling from more “life” — more than you experienced before?
I wish I could say, “Not me!” Unfortunately, I know this first hand. As I was about to write this article, I checked when I last wrote here on Medium. August 18, 2023. Somehow, I wasn’t surprised that it’s been that long. I haven’t written poetry for slightly longer than that. Nor have I painted, performed on stage or written my own books. Yet, the weird thing is, that my life has been far from uneventful. A part of me feels as though I’m in a state of “catching my breath”.
For over two months I’ve been trying to get myself to start writing again daily. “I’ll start on the first of February” — became “I’ll start on the first of March”, then June and July. In fact, my last missed deadline for returning to writing on Medium was yesterday. If I hit “Publish”, I will consider it a huge success. I know, I know — the bar is so low in my little corner. However, I guess sometimes, when you are trying to get back to doing something you used to, you need to consider even crawling as success — before you can run the distance.
Have you ever lost your ability to creatively express yourself? What helped you get back to it? Please feel free to share your thoughts below.
