There are days when we need a good swift kick in the pants. We need someone to tell us to get our butt into the chair and WRITE. Usually, that “someone” has to be ourselves.
Then there are days when we need to be–should be–kinder to ourselves. Days of illness, our own or the ones we love. Days of tragedy or unexpected, unfathomable hardship such as the recent flooding devastation in Baton Rouge. Days when, despite our intentions, we simply cannot write.
Sometimes the distinction between days when we need a kick and those when we need kindness are glaring and blaring. Oftentimes, the difference is far more subtle. Self-doubt and fear wrap disguise themselves as external crisis.
At times when you aren’t writing, are you able to step back and objectively make the distinction about which kind of day you are having? whether you need a kick or kindness from yourself? Have you noticed how differently these two needs feel inside?
Sometimes the distinction between days when we need a kick and those when we need kindness are glaring and blaring. Oftentimes, the difference is far more subtle. Self-doubt and fear wrap disguise themselves as external crisis.
At times when you aren’t writing, are you able to step back and objectively make the distinction about which kind of day you are having? whether you need a kick or kindness from yourself? Have you noticed how differently these two needs feel inside?
Gina Edwards is a retreat leader, a certified creativity coach, and a book editor. She is also a writer, so she’s intimately familiar with the challenges and elation that come with being one.
She supports all writers—published and aspiring—who want to write as an act of courageous and necessary self-expression.
Walking the writer’s path hand-in-hand with her clients and students, she helps them establish a writing practice and define a creative life on their own terms.
Loved getting this…and will enjoy being a part of your group.
So happy to have you with us around the table, Gayle!
As a teacher of art I noticed that often those who were in the most difficult emotional circumstances, like caring for a dying spouse, were at their most productive in the studio. Sometimes art in any of its forms is the escape from a disaster unfolding in real life.
It is something to keep in mind when life gets really hard. Writing can be too much to handle on top of everything else, but it can also be an escape hatch, a much needed dose of sunshine.
Thank you for this dose of sunshine, Adrian. If self-doubt, anxiety, and fear are bound up in the writing already, the added dimension of stressful circumstances can make it “too much.” But when we approach writing as an escape, a salve for a rough spot, or a welcome reprieve, it can become something we are drawn to rather than away from when times are tough.
My problem wasn’t due to illness or tragedy. It was self-doubt! I wasted a lot of energy beating myself up.
Several months ago a very wise editor told me to be kind to myself. Today, I find I’m capable of not only admitting my weaknesses but acknowledging my strengths. It’s a good place to be.