Back from the Dead

 
   Some time after starting this blog, I entered a dead zone called writer's block.  I had never given writer's block much thought before then, believing that it was something that any writer could experience and get over in a relatively easy manner. Boy, was I wrong as evidenced by the two-year drought I experienced in regard to writing anything more creative than a grocery list.

   

   During that period, nothing I tried enabled me to write.  Re-reading what I had been working on, starting a new project, writing a short story, not a single thing would awaken even a glimmer of creative urge that would get me going again.

   

   I finally gave up and succumbed without further struggle to the pit of quicksand that sucked me into a very long dry spell.

   

   When asked, by anyone, "what are you working on?"  I would candidly reply, "Nothing right now.  I have writer's block."  This response, I quickly learned, was either a conversation killer or an opening for the person asking the question to try to help fix the unfixable problem.

   

   Furthermore, I learned that the more I dwelt on writer's block, or any problem for that matter, the bigger it became, basically feeding on itself and making it more impossible to surmount.  

   

   When well-meaning people (family really) would ask, "have you been able to get back to writing?"  It wasn't till I developed a blasé, "I'm working on it," response, which really meant, "I haven't thought about in months," that I started to accept that I would write again when I could and not a second sooner.

  

   Certainly, there were times when I feared that perhaps I never would be able to write again, but even that I learned to accept.  I let go of the reins, and rather than force it, I waited till one day I suddenly had an idea and that idea was actually a good enough one to motivate me to sit down and put the words to paper (ms word actually) and submit it for publishing.

  

   Now, I wait for the editor's response, which I happily add has not kept me from writing other stories, and aren't you lucky...this latest blog installment!

  

Thou Shalt Not Fear!

  So, this is the first blog post.  It falls under the sub-category of other things, and is either an observation or nonsense. I have found that at the top of every laundry list of reasons why I did not accomplish something is FEAR.  It took me a long time to understand this.  Too busy blaming this or that, there was no room to see clearly what had really stopped me.


  To a certain extent, I believe that success can be measured more not by how much money you make but by how well you've overcome fear.
  
  An example I'd like to share explains the video attached to this post.  I used to fear heights.  My fear kept me from doing some very cool things. One of which is depicted in the video. Another, is hiking to high places. The blog-photo here with my arms up in the air was taken the first time I was able to hike Runyon Canyon. That's me at the top looking over Hollywood!  And, though it's not my video, I recently did ride this zip line.


  While most of us aren't looking to experience crazy thrills, some of us, including myself are paralyzed by fear when it comes to accomplishing many other things, public speaking, job interviews, submitting manuscripts, writing blog posts.  You name it.


  One very good way to push through fear is to repeatedly do the thing you are afraid of doing.  What ever the problem, check out your options, keep yourself safe and by all means, "JUST DO IT."
         
  Here's to breaking through the fear and realizing all of our dreams!