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Episode 494 – Writer’s Block

• This weekend was the first weekend in a long time that the weather interfered with my plans
• The cold season is knocking and it caught me by surprise
• All my stuff was already packed for my first ever backpacking trip in Yosemite
• I had agreed to a new challenge – to hiking with a 50-60lb pack and spending the night somewhere in the middle of nowhere
• It is an easy 3 mile hike, at high elevation though, but I was ready
  • I have hiked longer than that
  • I have hiked steeper and at higher elevation
  • I have hiked with climbing gear and a rope on my back
• But I always came back to a tent or a car
• I never had to carry sleeping gear and food
• But I realized – backpacking is part of training
• As I am climbing more strenuous alpine routes as I have this year
  • With long hikes in and out
• And as I dream more and more about Big Wall climbs, where you spend a night or more on the side of a mountain
• I need to get comfortable with the idea of carrying everything I need with me
  • Not just for a day
  • But for several days
• A new challenge
• And as you will learn if you listen regularly to this podcast
  • This is how we grow
• Sure, we can learn by taking classes and reading books and listening to podcasts
• I have learned a lot like this
• I call this – safe learning
• At home, in your comfortable chair
• With the heater on – like I have right now, because the cold front that moved in this weekend and that cancelled my first ever backpacking trip,
  • not because of the 30% chance of snow the weather forecast was predicting at 8000 ft of elevation
  • but because of road closures in Yosemite
  • and without a road, its hard to get to and from places
• I had plenty of warm clothes packed and I was ready for a windy and cold night
• But alas, someone thought it might not be my weekend
• So here I am
• At home,
• I woke up and instead of getting up, I read
• I read in the book that I have been carrying with me all summer
• A short book
• Not hard to read
• It came on every overnight climbing trip because surely, I thought, and mistakenly every single time
• That when I end my climbing day around 6, hop in a lake or river somewhere to shower, eat something and then lay down between 8-9pm because once it gets dark there isn’t much else to do
• I figured I have plenty of time to read
• Well, you can tell how this worked out based on the fact that I am still reading a 237 page book
• My library already sent me an overdue notice so tomorrow morning I will turn it
• Of course, after I finish it
• But as I read this morning, cozy and lazy in my bed from 7-8
  • Instead of being outside somewhere in the cold, trying to heat water for tea
• I read a chapter that I want to share with you
• I have shared from this book before
• In episode 472 – titled Your terrible first effort – I shared an excerpt from Anne Lamott’s book called Bird by Bird
• A book about writing, but even more so, on good advice for life
• I am not an aspiring book writer
  • But I write my podcast episodes
• My climbing partner has a blog
• You probably have a social media account
• We all write at some point
• Even if its just a sentence underneath our pretty IG shot
• And even if you are not writing, you are possibly creating other content
  • Maybe you garden, or do pottery, or jewelry, like I used to do
• Writers block – todays topic – doesn’t just affect writers
• Sometimes we are just stuck in our lives
• We want to do more
• We have aspirations and ideas and we want to implement them
• But we somehow cant find a way to get started
• I specifically thought of my climbing partner when I read this chapter
• We have taken so many wonderful trips together all summer and he took tons of pictures on each one
• But he hasn’t written about any of them on his blog
• When I asked him about it a while back – the answer was the usually answer we all give
• The one 4 letter word that comes easiest to use
• TIME
• We blame time for everything
• TIME, and probably money right after
• But then I asked again last week and he said something I didn’t expect
• Writers block
• Hmmm – I thought to myself
• And I didn’t respond because sometimes it takes me a while to percolate an appropriate answer
• Well – the answer came to me today in bed
• When I read the chapter on writers block, where Lamott says:

• It begins with acceptance
• You see, I think we lose a lot of valuable time with our creative endeavors because we ignore our so called writers block
• But when we ignore something, or resist it, or refuse to acknowledge it, it gets pushed in the background and it never gets addressed
• If we have a desire to create, then we have to keep it present in our minds
• And if creating becomes challenging, then we face the situation as it is
• Last weekend I struggled climbing
• We climbed routes that were rated as easy, yet it was hard for me to finish them
• This week at the gym, I still carried my frustration from the weekend and I honestly didn’t feel like climbing
• But I did and I started with very easy routes
• I faced my fear, my failure, and I eased it by getting on easy stuff
• Lamott continues:

• The key word here is presence
• Staying present with our goal is important
• When it gets ignored, excused with things like “Oh I have writers block” it also moves down on the list of priorities
• Don’t let that happen
• Its harder to do when your livelihood depends on it, like it does for full time authors
• But its much easier to do for most of us, who have full lives and then we want to squeeze something else in, like a podcast, a blog, training for a marathon or whatever your goal may be
• I have considered giving climbing up
• I love it, but I am also not that great at it
• To get really good, which I want, which would give me motivation to continue, I need to climb more frequently than I can
• But I decided that I will focus on the small improvements I can make every time I climb
• Instead of hoping that from one weekend to the next I can suddenly zip through chimneys and climb over huge roofs, I focus on the small steps
• Like my footwork, my balance, climbing efficiently, without expending so much energy
• I am staying present with my task
• If you feel you are stuck, stay with it
• Figure out what you can learn from this
• In the previous section Lamott shared how she encourages her students to write about being stuck and what it feels like
• This is staying present
  • I climbed easy routes on Thursday
  • On days where absolutely no topic comes to mind for a podcast episode, I share other peoples work
• stay with your goal
• When we create something of our own – we need a lot of energy
• I like to call it fuel
  • Writers need ideas to put on paper
  • Athletes need strength to push through their workouts
  • Photographers and other artists require inspiration, material, the right conditions
• Sometimes the fuel is not there
• Writers block
• Accept it
• But don’t give up
• Don’t push it away, don’t excuse it
• Stay with it
• It is just a need for more fuel
• If this is your calling – your goal, your passion, your dream
• Then you will find fuel
• The question she poses- What if today was your last day? – is a way to fuel you
• It makes you priotize that which you are most passionate about at the moment
• This morning I wanted to go run,
• But the 10 mile hike tired me out so I read
• Do what resonates with you at the moment, and it may be the opposite of whatever your craft is
• But my encouragement here is this:
• Don’t use it as an excape
• Use it as fuel
• Its easy to get lost in weekend after weekend of going away, climbing hiking, and then returning to work – getting through the week – and then getting out as quickly as possible
• I feel often that this is me
• I then have to catch myself and remind myself of my main purpose
• To create
• To write and record content
• To craft speeches that inspire others
• And to make time for that
•  
• Lamott suggest ways you can find fuel in the section I just read
  • Read, go to the beach, or simply participate in your ordinary life
• I did all 3 this weekend
  • I hiked along the beach at Point Reyes yesterday since the backpacking trip was cancelled
  • I read this morning
  • And I did ordinary stuff like making my bed, bringing my apartment back into order, cooking dinner, doing laundry
• All 3 things together inspired me to sit down and write this episode
• How do you think I come up with so much content?
• I allow life to fill me back up
• Do the same
• If you are stuck – find activities that inspire you
• But be careful not to get distracted
• Stay present with your goal
• Yesterday on my hike I thought very deliberately about next steps for my speaking career
• Keep your goals in the back of your mind and when you are refreshed and ready to roll, ideas will come out of you
• My trips near and far always inspire me
• They give me content for my episodes, for my speeches and for next steps
• But I have to make the time for it
• Writers block is temporary
• Don’t hide behind it
• Accept it and stay present with it like a sick relative
• And one last tip -that is not in the book
• This always helps me get back to my quest
• And that is when I remember my audience
• I think of all the people that may find help, encouragement and motivation in my epsiodes
• I focus on them instead of on myself
• I think about how much they might need to hear from me
• How just a few of my tips might make a difference in their lives
• And this then brings me back to my laptop because I feel inspired to continue
• Think about the difference your work could make in someone’s life
• How it might help others on their journey
• And let that dissolve your writers block
• Because in the end, the purpose we create is really – to improve the lives of others
• I want to end with a few more lines from this chapter:

• Don’t forget to share this episode with someone close to you

Much love my friends