I haven’t really been on WordPress, which means I have fallen behind on the wonderful blogs I follow – I have missed reading peoples work, thoughts and seeing their creative endeavors. Other peoples creativity is inspiring.
Anyway … tonight I report back to Janet and Shabs on my attempts to counter my writers block. I was tasked to undertake something new. I really struggled with this. I felt like I should do something massive, perhaps bungee jumping or skydiving. But lets face it, those things are not me.
So I started with mindfulness. Again something that isn’t me. Like many people I have a racing mind and I struggle just to be. So I set off to Dr Neil’s Garden which is close to my house and is often pretty quiet. I found myself a bench with a view over Duddingston Loch, put a ten minute timer on my phone then hid in my bag.
It was a drab day, but the view made up for that. It took me a while to settle, but I did in the end. Its such a peaceful spot, not even ruined by the hum of cars in the distance. I loved watching a heron flying past (I associate herons with my dad) and I enjoyed the wren who was hopping around. When my timer went off I was surprised by how quickly the ten minutes had gone by.
I headed home, made a cup of tea and actually cracked on with some writing, adding another couple of thousand words to a longer piece I have on the go.
So mindfulness gets a thumbs up from me, though I think in reality I would struggle to do this regularly … especially with the colder months setting in. But who knows!
Next I allowed myself to do what I wanted … not to force myself to sit at the desk, but to just go with my mood. This was a far less successful strategy and it turned out to be expensive. On the plus side I made a cute ghost, got lots of lovely new books to read, finally had tasty food from Toast & Tea at 63 Holyrood Road **total yum alert** and I got a betta fish. I loved setting up his tank, filling it with plants and I’ve always wanted one, so Wren joined the family. For the sake of my bank account … this is not the go to strategy for me, I have little self control.
My third attempt was by far the most successful. This week the Scottish weather decided to give us all a break from the endless grey! So I abandoned my desk and just enjoyed some much needed vitamin D. Running has always been a great way for me to overcome a writing hurdle, it clears my mind. Walking also works wonders, with and without my dogs. I took them out into the woods and fields near us, we sat in the meadow just enjoying the sunshine. Then I went walking without them, wandering through the Edinburgh Old Town, before sitting at the parliament and listening to music. It was blissful. I felt much better in myself just for taking some downtime, I came back to my writing in a much better state of mind.
I can’t say I definitively found a method to cure my writers block. However I think just taking a break from berating myself about my lack of creativity, allowing myself to enjoy simple things like the sun and being less harsh on myself helped. I am keen to find out how Janet and Shabs fared!!
A Year of Time 
Congrats. I wonder what would happen for you if you did mindfulness/meditation on a regular basis. It certainly gives me a different perspective when I feel “stuck”.
I wish I’d had more time when I was in Old Town. But my host only allowed for a couple of hours and I was jetlagged. Much more interesting than the club scene he took me to later in the evening. 🙂
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I will try to do a bit more of the mindfulness, it really doesn’t come naturally to me though! It is good to hear it helps you when you’re feeling ‘stuck’. That gives me incentive!
I love the old town, there is so much to see and I feel so privileged having such easy access to it.
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It doesn’t come easy for most people and it takes practice — like strengthening a muscle. Some people say you need to think of nothing, but I subscribe to the other school: instead of emptying your mind, just let the thoughts pass through and don’t cling to them for however long they linger. Take it like an “open house” and they are guests that just stopping for a visit (but not staying).
I often just do it at home, so I don’t need to make a special trip. I just sit on the edge of my bed or in a chair for a spell — five minutes or thirty.
Good luck, it’s interesting to read about your journey 🙂
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That’s really interesting, I have always thought you had to empty your mined, which results in what I can only describe as me ‘sweeping’ or ‘chasing down’ my muddled thoughts and trying to silence the many annoying voices. But yes, letting them pass on through or giving them less authority could work. Thank you, you have given me lots to think about.
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I want to say it was Alan Watts that may have started getting me to think of it differently, but it might have been someone else. It works better when you are not stressing about getting rid of things that don’t want to leave. And, who knows, some of those ideas might actually be good to write about…
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