The choices for today were:
1. How have you experienced times when nothing creative happened? No garden. No cooking. No writing. Just the mundane of life happening over and over. Write where the mundane leads. Now write how you get out of this blocked time. What was it about really> what do you need to remind yourself if you find yourself blocked again?
2. Using listmaking, write down favorite childhood books or fairy tales. If you liked The Lame Little Prince, how did you feel crippled and how could that be a block how have you over come or not overcome this feeling? If you liked The Secret Garden, how did you or didn’t you create a secret life? How can these be blocks and how can they be undone? Explore in streaming and then write down some affirmations that you can tape up on your refrigerator, such as “I move freely.” “I can do what I want.” Or “I have a beautiful garden within me.:
3. Using gazing in to the waters, imagine a stream blocked until the rains come and wash away debris. Let your body feel the freeing and use this as an image for unblocking.
Lol – so this is too funny, because one of my clients came today for our spiritual journaling group and the image I had for her to reflect on was mud. I kept seeing lots of mud in her life and wanted her to think about the mud and what could be made out of the mud, whether she needed to stay in the mud, or how she could wash away the mud. Then I come to my own time to journal and I get to number 3, which basically asks me to do the same thing I asked her to do. For different reasons, but in some respects the same concepts.
I am really not sure I want to wash away the debris. I am so much more into reduce, reuse, and recycle. So what is the debris and then how can I reuse it in my life. How can I repurpose it and make it a blessing. Like if the debris is mud, then how can I use the mud to create something, which is inspiring, not blocking. I don’t think it is about letting it wash away.
But yes, there have been times when I have felt blocked. Perhaps the biggest blocker in my life is energy. Sometimes I would like to write but I am so tired. So tired, that I just want to sleep. So maybe this is where I need to listmake. Because I think it is important to be clear on what the issues are and how I move beyond them and unblock them.
|
Blockage |
Solution |
|
I am tired |
Lay down and take a nap. Make sure I get enough sleep Do not over schedule myself Eat healthier Drink plenty of fluid |
|
I don’t have time |
Do not over schedule myself. Claim the time. Make an appointment with myself to write and make it a priority |
|
I am frustrated |
Write about why I am frustrated Beat my drum Bake cookies Cook period because it reduces my stress Take a nap Take a shower. Roll in the mud – ok, not really because I would probably not get back out of it – somebody call 911 – snap – maybe I could get picked up by a swiffer wet jet. |
|
I ache |
Make sure I take my pain medication
|
|
I don’t have money |
What do you need money for? You can get books to read at the library Go to the bookstore and read books about writing Go to the used bookstore. Sell books I am no longer using and buy new used ones Get a part time job |
|
I am not confident |
Practice, practice, practice Write about why I can do this, not about why I can’t Stop saying anything negative about myself Stop taking things personally. Give myself permission to do my best. |
|
I feel trapped |
Make dates with friends during the week Go somewhere every day, even when it is the winter. Make plans to have people over at least one day per weekend. Have Zoë take me for a ride at least once a weekend to get me out of the house. |
|
I have nothing to say. |
Write about anything Write about how you have nothing to say. Write about how you hate writing Write about why you love writing Just write/ Write about a memory. Just write. Read, Go to a museum Listen to music Read a book. Talk to someone. |
Ok, so here is the thing. What I think I could do is make a list of all the things that keep me and others stuck and then find artwork, music, poetry, images, that illustrate them and then create a book on spiritual writing to get unstuck. Maybe salt-water taffy, caramel, cotton candy. Those things are sticky. What else is sticky or yucky – mud can be yucky. Grease, oil, butter, was those things make you slip and slide all over the place.
Or music like I am going to wash that man right out of my hair or splish splash I was taking a bath or slip sliding away. Rain rain go away –
I think what really helps me to get unblocked is to identify what the blockage is, and then envision myself unblocked and what I need to do get there. So maybe I need to add a second column to my list or maybe I have just combined lists two and three. Hmm. Something to think about more at some other point in time. But for now, I am not feeling blocked. I have actually been feeling pretty creative, especially with my cooking and baking. Trying to figure out how to make a cream cheese and lox brownie.