This message is for all you creatives out there. I'm working through book thirteen or so, and it's not getting any easier. But it's still as fun and rewarding as ever. I don't want to ever do anything else. (Except play in a rock n' roll band.)
It's 8 a.m., and I've already knocked out 3000 words. Sometimes they come out like water from a hose. And I'm so grateful for those days. Like Aaron Sorkin says, if I can just have some good sessions every once in a while, maybe I can do this for a living.
I had a stretch last week where I was pretty sure the well had dried up. I even considered what the hell I'd do if I wasn't writing fiction. It's nice to be reminded otherwise, that the well never dries up. Only the man trying to tap it.
What it really comes down to is being present and connected, releasing any expectations, breaking free from the chains of my ego. When I write with an open heart and allow myself to be tapped into all that's out there, then I feel like I'm realizing my potential. Otherwise, it's like trying to run with an anchor tied to my leg.
Actually, it's almost not my potential that I'm realizing. It's just that I'm becoming a vessel so that whatever is out there can pass through me. It's not even my writing, not my talent. Well, maybe my talent is occasionally being able to get out of my own way. When I write like I did today, the flow is so strong, I don't even realize I'm writing. It's the music of my fingers tapping the keys and the joy of seeing these imaginary characters bounce and sometimes crash into one another as they figure their way through their world. And then I snap back to my office here in Maine with chills running up my spine. That's when I know there's something else other than us out there.
Do that enough and you get a book that might be worth reading to some, might even fill a few hearts, plant some smiles.
Thanks for listening. And thank goodness I married a therapist and Reiki master. Without her, I'd be washed up and hiding somewhere in lake country.
