Energy
There’s a certain amount of trust that goes along with putting your art in front of the public. You have to trust is that people will accept the work as your own truth and appreciate your candor, even if they don’t get it. You also have to trust yourself to weather criticism. You have to feel safe in your writing space and in your community and between your ears.
It also takes a certain amount of energy to trust. Trusting is something you can decide to do. You can create pockets of trust within an unsafe environment, if you have enough energy. I’ve been able to do this in the past, but I’m currently undergoing a massive restructuring that I can see now has been going on for a couple of years. Call it a mid-life crisis, or depression or whatever, but both physical and mental energy has been low, and the little I have is going toward figuring out more important stuff. Life stuff.
At the moment I have more energy than I have in a very long time, and I’m shocked to realize how small an amount it is.
However, even that small amount more will make it possible to start allotting a little more energy toward recreating the pocket of trust around writing. It will be a slow build, but I think I can do it. I would at least like to try.
I expect this will be the last post in this series. I figured it out. There’s always been fear and distrust and a reluctance to begin and self-sabotage, but the difference in my production has been the energy. I push and push myself, thinking I have something to prove or someone who’ll be disappointed, and when I don’t produce what I’ve decided I should, I beat myself about the face and neck and call myself a lazy slut. Yeah, that’ll motivate a person. Geez.
You can’t get blood from a turnip, and you can’t use more energy than you are producing. At least I know now that the problem is not with writing itself. That’s a relief. Instead of being angry with myself for failing, I can be compassionate and gentle, conserve my energy, redirect it from worry and concentrate on ways to make my life less stressful. I think that’s pretty good advice for just about any situation.
Hopefully pretty soon I’ll be able to blog about why I can write.
Great post, Sherri. It's clear that you're really working through the crap that was keeping you down! I'm optimistic that your breakthough is coming soon, and hopefully you won't have TIME to write that blog post about why you can write, because you'll just be too darn busy writing.
ReplyDeleteI can really relate to this post Sherri- having coped with CFS for the last decade or so, I've (slowly) learned to recognize that while it can seem as if indifference or depression are the core issues, once even an iota of energy returns then my sense of hope and creativity do as well. It all depends on one simple fact- how charged is my life-battery. Simple problem, no easy solutions. I'm glad you are continuing to find your way.
ReplyDeleteDamn straight, Tony. :)
ReplyDeleteNow that the lightbulb has finally gone on, I hope I can remember this in the future. It would save me a lot of guilt.
ReplyDeleteEnergy is hard to come by. Stress, relationships, even diet, can be huge energy drains. I'm sure you'll figure out how to minimize it for yourself and find that creative spark you've been searching for. :)
ReplyDeleteI think so. I'll keep you posted.
ReplyDeleteKeep writing.
ReplyDeleteThrough all the crap and nonsense and pain and everything we can think of--keep writing.