My writer’s block

It is just past midnight and I have 20 minutes left on my battery laptop. It’s Thursday 4th June 2021.

I’m watching Bridesmaids whilst having a packet of crisps and a coke. I have gone back in time to 2010 when I was at Wilson House Halls of residence as a student. Why I choose to stay up this late is beyond me.

I have repeatedly delayed the inevitable for the last two weeks and that is my writing. My blog that I have envisioned for about 4 years but never got round to doing as I thought it wouldn’t be good enough. Warning – it may not be good even now.

I read Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic (yes the author of Eat, Pray,Love –also tres bien and quintessential strong woman (and man) reading) on how to unleash creativity and put it your creativity out the world for people to see. There are moments in your life when you read or see something that just makes sense and ignites you to think about purpose. This among many other books along the way ignited a search for joy and purpose.

I have written drips and drabs over the years, most of which I have lost. Catch me in airports, hotels lobbies and in bed writing all sorts chanelling my Carrie Bradshaw without the dating stories.

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So why are we all afraid of putting something out there?

Why are we afraid to publish/post/try a new sport/new haircut/new hobby/cook new meals?

We know that this can be for a variety of reasons some of which can be financial limitations/not the right time/ not feeling confident about making a new move but it can also go much deeper than this . By doing new things and making change puts the spot light on us. When the spot light is on us , we are the target of negative or positive comments. We are the target of questions “ why are you doing this ? “ “ Do you get paid for this ?”, “ IS this your way of getting fit?”, “ You are far too old to do that”, “ Does this mean you are leaving your main job ?” Urggh the questions. This is the type of unwanted attraction we may fear. On the otherhand, how do you feel when you receive positive comments or praise from others?

And on top of this, we then convince ourselves we are not good enough and we start comparing to other people in the same arena. If they can do it, it means you can also do

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Does this ring bells ?

I have been listening to Brene Brown on Super Soul Sundays with Oprah (get your notebook out for these podcasts) and they talk about being brave and afraid at the same time. More importantly, Brene says:

“ I want to be in the arena. I want to be brave with my life. And when we make the choice to dare greatly, we sign up to get our asses kicked. We can choose courage or we can choose comfort but we can’t have both. Not at the same time “

“ If you’re not in the arena also getting your ass kicked, I’m not interested in your feedback”

Bea-u-tiful!

So dare to live a life that is for you. Forget being perfect. Forget timelines. Start to enjoy imperfections, a messy house, a missed gym session for time on the couch, not removing your make up at the end of the day, ordering a takeout when you really need one. Normalise it. Make sure your family, friends and kids see this as well. They will see you living real life not the photo-shopped version.