How does that work, for writers? Fiction is easier, I suppose. One just re-enters the world created by the pen and continues where one left off. Work the problems out, write the happy ending.
Real life isn't so easy to escape. When bad things happen in clusters--even not-so-bad, just annoying and expensive--an overwhelming funk starts to creep in. I try to remind myself that these issues are first-world problems; my basic needs are more than well-met, anything else is icing on the cake, and I just need to stop the whining and move on.
The self-talk and gratitude journaling isn't working this week. I just want to run away to a retreat center and sleep and walk and meditate and pray and eat salads, then come home to a magically clean house with all my bills paid and everything is fixed and all deadlines are met.
Maybe escaping into fiction is exactly what I need.
I feel you. I love so many of your lines... I heard Pema Chödrön say that sometimes we need to breathe in and acknowledge the underlying fear to move past it. That stuck out for me because I have been trying to do the opposite...
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it resonated with you, too. Fear and depression, even temporary, are real and can't always be talked or written away in a day!
DeleteI can really relate to your post. I have similar talks with myself all the time. I know I have so much, but sometimes I feel like I'm walking around with my own little gloomy storm cloud over my head. If I find it annoying, how must it be for others! It's hard to shake it off, but I do find journaling (for my eyes only!) and reading help. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI can relate to the dilemma you wrote about here: "When you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all."
ReplyDeleteHow does that work, for writers?"
I was struggling with writing this morning too and had to think about my audience - they don't want to hear about my pettiness or complaints, but I didn't have much else to write. Yes, its a real struggle. No answer, just empathy.
Could the retreat include chocolate along with the salads? Sometimes we really do get hit with a string of setbacks. We could have a writing retreat involving the reworking of endings! Ha! Write those stories you want to have in the world!
ReplyDeleteMy Mom used to say that all the time - "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." I find that it bleeds into this slicing - I search for the "nice" story, and it can be so hard to write when I am in a funk. You wrote through the funk and you did a beautiful post! Thanks for sharing - and I hope you feel better, too.
ReplyDelete