Oh, also a relevant note - whenever writing feels like I have words-constipation I think of this quote:
“When you're chasing a big goal, you're supposed to feel good a third of the time, okay a third of the time, and crappy a third of the time...and if the ratio is roughly in that range, then you're doing fine.”
"Why is it that whenever I can’t write it feels like there’s nothing good to read?" is such a illuminating quote in the middle of all that 'stuckness'. The haystack may be thicker, but you still find words that pierce :)
“Being in it for the long haul means doubting your capacity for the work and bending yourself to it anyway.” Amen! It also helps to know that no one knows anything.
As I wrote: “This took me many years to learn: No one knows what they’re doing.
There are no adults. We’re all just scared kids trying to figure it out and making it up as they go along.
Realizing that everyone is “Just Some Guy or Girl” is life-changing. In this awareness is tremendous power because it unlocks both empathy and possibility.
Understanding that each person is doing the best that he/she can with limited knowledge in the face of an infinitely-complex future leaves room for the grace, patience, and empathy so lacking in our modern times.
More, the realization that “successful” people are human beings made of flesh and blood—not mythic, untouchable deities—allows men and women the world over to ask Why not me? in the face of the tremendous opportunities life offers.”
lol sometimes I just write random words on a page when I really do not want to write and I watch them mix and dance and float around, occasionally forming a snippet of meaning between two randomly selected words and then maybe a scene plays out from just those two words and then I’ll have something to write about. Maybe all we need to do is type gibberish like the monkeys on a keyboard trying to write out the complete works of Shakespeare and some meaning will pop up and maybe that could be the spark that ignites up that lazy beast within us to write something.
Oh, also a relevant note - whenever writing feels like I have words-constipation I think of this quote:
“When you're chasing a big goal, you're supposed to feel good a third of the time, okay a third of the time, and crappy a third of the time...and if the ratio is roughly in that range, then you're doing fine.”
-Olympic Athlete Alexi Pappas
Stuckness is something you're supposed to feel
We’re nothing but pawns on a chessboard, and pawns can’t know where the player will move them next.
——And Quiet Flows the Don (written by Mikhail Sholokhov)
"Why is it that whenever I can’t write it feels like there’s nothing good to read?" is such a illuminating quote in the middle of all that 'stuckness'. The haystack may be thicker, but you still find words that pierce :)
“Being in it for the long haul means doubting your capacity for the work and bending yourself to it anyway.” Amen! It also helps to know that no one knows anything.
As I wrote: “This took me many years to learn: No one knows what they’re doing.
There are no adults. We’re all just scared kids trying to figure it out and making it up as they go along.
Realizing that everyone is “Just Some Guy or Girl” is life-changing. In this awareness is tremendous power because it unlocks both empathy and possibility.
Understanding that each person is doing the best that he/she can with limited knowledge in the face of an infinitely-complex future leaves room for the grace, patience, and empathy so lacking in our modern times.
More, the realization that “successful” people are human beings made of flesh and blood—not mythic, untouchable deities—allows men and women the world over to ask Why not me? in the face of the tremendous opportunities life offers.”
More here: https://www.whitenoise.email/p/nobody-knows-anything
Relatable, hilarious, and most importantly you got in a Czesław Miłosz reference! Big fan (of both of you)
Extremely reassuring, thank you!! <3
Wow! I am so glad you wrote this.
lol sometimes I just write random words on a page when I really do not want to write and I watch them mix and dance and float around, occasionally forming a snippet of meaning between two randomly selected words and then maybe a scene plays out from just those two words and then I’ll have something to write about. Maybe all we need to do is type gibberish like the monkeys on a keyboard trying to write out the complete works of Shakespeare and some meaning will pop up and maybe that could be the spark that ignites up that lazy beast within us to write something.