What do you do when you’ve been away from something for a while – and when I say something, what I really mean is – writing?
‘Cos you see – I’ve been writing this playlist for over four years now, and while in the first three years I was averaging around 40 posts a year, last year I think I posted 19 times and this year it’s been 4!
And it’s not like I don’t want to publish or that I’m not listening to all the music I get sent – it’s just that I found I had nothing in the tank when it came to sitting down and writing – and no matter what kind of “life hack” I used – nothing worked.
And yet – here I am – merrily typing away – happy to be here and happy to be productive again and I’m just looking back and thinking – well – what happened? I’m sure it’s different for everybody – and most definitely different for people who have to write for a living – but for me – I had to put it down for a while – walk away – not impose the pressure of having to publish – and just be OK with letting it sit.
But precisely because I’ve invested so much time into the playlist – I knew there would come a point when I’d be eager to get back to it. The only question in my mind was – what track would finally get me back in the groove? Would it be some uptempo beat track or perhaps a stirring orchestral soundtrack, would it be a delicate piano solo or even a prog rock symphony?
But no – it turned out that a track I’ve had on my round three listening list since February of this year was the one that got me back in the game! Oddly enough – because I had kinda thought I’d require some kind of energetic kick to start writing again – it turns out that what I needed was a quiet, mellow, contemplative piece – complete with soothing Owl hoots – that wrapped my psyche in a warm acoustic blanket and gave me the gentle encouragement I needed.
If you’re stuck in a rut and don’t jibe with the drill instructor kind of approach to encouragement – maybe come and hang out with Maggie for a while – put her on repeat and give yourself time to think, to float, to reflect and then, just maybe, to write…