I've been struggling with writing recently. I feel like my mind is going 1,000 miles an hour and actually focusing on anything is a struggle. I've had many obstacles come up in my personal life that are leading to anxiety, which is keeping my mind busy calculating all the ways everything could go terribly wrong.
When I can't write, I feel guilty.
I dislike the feeling of guilt, the feeling of anxiety. It's crippling, and the two mixed together will at times bring me to my knees. I think that's about the time my brain starts running through all possible situations and solutions at mach 10 and refuses to use it's powers for anything other than that task.
When this happens, I read articles on writing. I tell myself that if I am researching or learning new techniques, I am still progressing as a writer. Within a few clicks I tripped over this article by Rachel Scheller: Making Time For Your Writing. In this article I stopped when I read a sentence that really hit home for me:
"Muller credits Brother David Steindl-Rast for reminding us that the Chinese pictograph for busy is composed of two characters: heart and killing."
Busy. My brain is busy going mach 10 - and what is that doing to me? It's killing me. I can't write, I can't focus, I can't enjoy life because I'm too busy worrying about it.
Which reminds me that I need to stop, and slow down. Take one thing at a time, and focus on what I can control. I can't harness the creative flow if my mind is too busy running around to focus on it.
So my goal this week is to focus on slowing things down.
What about you? Do you run into these problems? What do you do to calm your mind?
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