Writer’s Block – The Evasive Judgement Machine

I sit with writer’s block and the inability to manifest creation. I sit spinning my internal wheels with no traction and begin to amass more and more self doubt. The thoughts enter my mind with perceived little value and leave my mind with a cowardly substance.

• What to do?
• Where do turn to get my inspiration?
• Does the judgement placed upon these thoughts make them ‘good’ or ‘bad’ or are they actually worthy of review?
• Who am I to judge these thoughts anyways. It is creativity that I am after anyways?

Confusion sprinkles over any significant ingenuity and the byproduct is _______. An empty canvas, a blank screen, a wasted hour in frustration that slowly turns into two. Where does inspiration and creation come from when we are in flow? Some weeks I sit at the helm of my macbook and allow the ideas to storm through my finger tips onto the screen and passion is transformed into words. Today, I arrive home from my travels and my mind lacks relevance to anything of importance.

The Way Out

The trick here is not to allow yourself to criticize and debate, but to write. The judgement will come but it doesn’t have to stick. Words can simply land on the screen as they fall from your mind, and the paragraphs slowly act as a sorting facility of ideas. The brain slowly unwinds from the over burdened stimulus of foreign places and faces. Allow yourself to return to a certain mental homeostasis after stretching the senses in the unfamiliar. Placing judgement or criticizing yourself will only allow for more distance between your work and accomplishment.

“Can creation come from a place of lacking” you ask! Absolutely it can!

As you allow for expression in the form of word to compile into sentences it creates a new vision of your current circumstances that you would have not realized if you didn’t just let the thoughts flow in the first place. The trick is to ignore the internal habitual doctrine that tells you “that is a stupid idea, or that has already be done before, or what is the point anyways”. You let those thoughts arise, you say hello briefly to them in acknowledgement and you continue writing and slowly you emancipate yourself to something of substance.

Writing your way through writer’s block creates insight and a new path to follow on your creative journey. Don’t judge the material, but allow the ideas to flow. Who knows where one idea might lead you to.

Your options are few and far between. The pride filled ego sets you out on the path for perfection in your work, but this judgement is an illusion. We only make our way to brilliance through refined practice. You could just sit and allow more time to pass, but we both know the guilt of not writing will be more destructive to you than creating something you feel is of little value. Unload whatever thought that comes, whatever emotional dump that is needed and whatever silly perspective. Release yourself from the frustration of stagnancy and keep moving forward by writing more.

Counter-intuitive I know, but highly effective!