I’ve been procrastinating-fingers numb, heart tingling, and palms sweating whenever I think about this subject. I’ve been postponing writing about it since I returned from Hawaii several weeks ago. But the fear has been holding me hostage. Inspiration has been drying up and all of a sudden I started wondering where did my passion go?
Did you ever see “Something’s Gotta Give?” Well if you haven’t seen it yet, I recommend you rent it (or wait for it on TV-TBS plays it like every few weeks). You aspiring writers out there will get a heart flutter or at least a good chuckle at Diane Keaton’s emotional vulnerability. I for one LOL every time I see it even though I’ve watched it at least 5 times.
The part that gets me is watching how she uses her passion (in this case her heartbreak from Jack Nicholson’s character) and throws it into her work like fuel to the fire. Believe me when I say it’s a beautiful thing to watch.
Her courage is her ability to let go and fully experience pain which is both heartbreaking and heartwarming because it is so indicative of what it means to be human. I admire that. And the result was that she was able to create her best written work yet.
Whenever we try to quell the flame by burying our pain via alcohol, drugs, food denial, (you name your addiction), or as Alanis Morissette said in her huge cult following song You Learn, “Swallow it down, what a jagged little pill,” we also kill inspiration, passion and our poor muse with it. Our desire to cover our fears by denying them also takes a toll on our dreams.
How do I know?
Well I’m sitting here typing away at 10 ’til 11 pm, no closer to writing the topic that I’m afraid of writing about let alone think about.
What’s the topic?
If I could write it, it would be written. It’s between me, my keyboard and my fear of experiencing what the story will do to me.
I know eventually I will get there-mostly because it has to be written. But I wonder how much of us sacrifice our life’s purpose because we are afraid of what that change will bring.
If you are feeling stuck like me, you might be wondering what’s up? Is it writer’s block? Mid-life crisis? It could be that your emotions are stuck. It’s kind of like playing a video game but getting stuck at the same level. You may need to experience something different, learn a lesson, feel your fears, have a good cry or find a new path to get unstuck to get yourself courageously on to the next level.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhv81QCDzLo]
