One of the least helpful people in my life said something very helpful to me once:
"Would you stop thinking it to death already?" Or, there's a saying (Confucian, Taoist, something or other - been a long time since I encountered the source) that goes something like, you can't catch a butterfly, but if you just relax and go about your business one may land one you anyway.
You've got a lot of stress-makin' stuff going on - unemployment stuff, which probably pings on the financial radar in an annoying way; no-fun-job stuff, which whammies the spirit; basic family stuff, which is not bad but is time- and thought-consuming. Regardless of whether or not you've experienced stress during other creatively dry spells, this may be one of those times when thinking about something else that's not going the way you want will simply result in spinning your tires.
Maybe it would help if you sort of let go of the writerly frustration. Not ignore it - the moment you try to ignore something, that's when it decides to camp out on your front lawn with a hundred of it's noisiest friends. But, at least shelve the part that's giving you trouble right now, i.e. the Writing issue. Instead of wondering why you are having trouble Writing, and thus making Writing a really not fun thing, maybe just be content with Scribbling. Like, Scribbling in your LJ, Scribbling your 'morning pages.' If nothing else, it may simply give your psyche a rest. I know I always deal with things better when I'm well-rested.
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Maybe...
Date: 2002-05-23 05:24 am (UTC)"Would you stop thinking it to death already?" Or, there's a saying (Confucian, Taoist, something or other - been a long time since I encountered the source) that goes something like, you can't catch a butterfly, but if you just relax and go about your business one may land one you anyway.
You've got a lot of stress-makin' stuff going on - unemployment stuff, which probably pings on the financial radar in an annoying way; no-fun-job stuff, which whammies the spirit; basic family stuff, which is not bad but is time- and thought-consuming. Regardless of whether or not you've experienced stress during other creatively dry spells, this may be one of those times when thinking about something else that's not going the way you want will simply result in spinning your tires.
Maybe it would help if you sort of let go of the writerly frustration. Not ignore it - the moment you try to ignore something, that's when it decides to camp out on your front lawn with a hundred of it's noisiest friends. But, at least shelve the part that's giving you trouble right now, i.e. the Writing issue. Instead of wondering why you are having trouble Writing, and thus making Writing a really not fun thing, maybe just be content with Scribbling. Like, Scribbling in your LJ, Scribbling your 'morning pages.' If nothing else, it may simply give your psyche a rest. I know I always deal with things better when I'm well-rested.
:) Alternatively, feel free to ignore me