Nels Lindahl — Functional Journal

A weblog created by Dr. Nels Lindahl featuring writings and thoughts…

Sometimes the words will not flow

Today did not get off to the best possible start. My thoughts are a little clouded and I’m wondering how this writing session got off to such a false start. That happens from time to time I guess. Sometimes the words will not flow. From time to time I can be centered and focused on the moment, but the words do not arrive at the point of typing. It is sort of like staring at the blank page and wondering if it has the ability to stare right back. Ascribing powers to inanimate objects like a blank page is something that is easy to do when the spark of creativity becomes illusive. Generally the two shots of espresso at the start of the day help kickstart the entire process. Sharing perspective on things and reacting to the world is normally the next bell to ring along the way. Right now none of that seems to be helping at all. I’m going to open the blinds on my window and hope a little bit of sunlight helps start the writing process in earnest today. 

Let’s start where I see the root of my problem at the moment. I’m going to kick the tires on the notion of being better prepared. Using something like the Google Keep application on my Google Pixel 4 XL smartphone to keep notes throughout the day is something that I need to get back to using more actively. Sure a simple notebook would work, but the smartphone is always with me. Writing down or recording topics throughout the day is a great way to have a solid list of things that could receive coverage when the spark of creativity is hiding. That is where my thoughts are right now. They are on a list that does not exist. I’m thinking about all the lists of things that could have been compiled. Instead of thinking about the path to a perfect possible future my thoughts are stuck back on what could have been related to a few lists of ideas. Sure being prepared and keeping track of ideas can help fuel a writing routine, but having that glidepath ready is not necessary. It is not the key element included in making the whole thing work. That is simple enough to figure out. The element that is critical to writing is taking the time to engage in the act of writing. Maybe that is overly simplistic, but I’m going to go with it this morning. Sometimes the simple act of putting words on the page can go from false start to a rewarding experience. 

Today my Pandora internet radio streaming played two different video advertisements at the start of my writing session. That is a stark reminder that I allowed the premium subscription to expire. Later today I may look around at what other subscriptions I could let expire. That is part of my plan to stop subscribing to things not being used. It seems like a reasonable plan, but it has to be executed more often than you would expect to  make it work correctly. Observing things and patterns like that is one of the things that I have become very interested in recently. Within the patchwork of interactions we have with others some things happen like the consistency of a river flowing. We have a lot of things around us that will just keep happening if we take no action at all. We are aware of those things and only have to check back in on them from time to time. That is an interesting part of life. Things are constantly changing and some things are ongoing. We understand them well enough to accept that they keep moving even if we elect not to directly observe those things in motion. All of the things that just keep moving along are the interesting layer of life that I have been very curious about. That is probably the topic that this whole exploration should have started with assuming I was better prepared at the start of the day. Looking back now it seems like the obvious place to start, but it was not available as a starting point at the time and now here we are at the end of this writing session.


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