The Writer's Block Virgin

Every writer has made the acquaintance or has at least heard of the oh-so-legendary 'Writer's block'. And just like many others, I suddenly found myself unwillingly hurled at a place that I didn't like and therefore a place I urgently needed to leave. Welcome to the journey of a Writer's block virgin.

1) JUST RELAX
The exit door leading straight to creative wonderland seemed at first logical if not to say easy: Relaxation. Therefore I took a deep breath with my eyes gently closed like in those generic yoga ads. I tried to relax for hours, days, weeks, even for months. Yet the durability of trying to relax combined with the nonexistence of any satisfying results whatsoever, made me add an extra effort to it, which on the other hand resulted in nothing but additional stress: the stress over not being able to relax. And there I was back to exactly where I had started: stiff, tense and wordless. Clearly I was running in circles - running far away from relaxation. But I had gained one thing: a special form of a slight passive aggression towards any remotely human being trying to be 'helpful' and asking me to 'just relax'. Even though it is certainly questionable whether or not this state of mind can be described as a 'gain' at all. But that's a different story.

2) BEAUTY IS EVERYWHERE
Plan B was to write about something beautiful. Beauty can be incredibly disgusting when you're forced to it. Nonetheless, I decided to intensely seek inspiration as at that point the nausea of looking at a blank piece of paper forced me to scale down my expectations from 600 words down to one single sentence. Talk about being desperate. I sat down over and over again, thinking of the past few months, my eyes still closed, seeing the incredible collection of breathtaking impressions and emotions I had been blessed with and that I had stored in my head. A wonderful place thus far far away from my fingertips. You would think that any writer would be able to fulfill the task of writing a single sentence. But nowadays more than ever a single sentence is under a constant serious life threat by being just one click away from trash and two clicks from forever gone.

3) ANY TOPIC IS A GOOD TOPIC
I ended up gazing shyly at good old Google, like a little girl who is well aware that she's not supposed to look at the soon to follow sex scene on TV but somehow can't help it. Google is naked knowledge combining the good, the evil and the idiotic and therefore it has an answer to almost every question I can possibly think of. I was looking for the famous advice of famous authors- famous as in folks who actually get paid for a sentence. I can tell you that any hint of possible embarrassment over myself googling 'Writer's block' vanished within 0,35 seconds. That's how long it took Google to give me more than 75 million results on this topic. Clearly I was not the only one and needless to say that I never made it past page 1 of my search results.  Now some of these famous authors suggest to write about something. Anything. Whatever.  Obviously I gave it a shot. Who wouldn't? Their financial life depends on writing so whatever advice they have to offer must work, right? Wrong. 

I found myself trying to write about the daily news, orphans in Syria, hope and death in Lampedusa, water on Mars, global warming and other serious topics. I quickly switched to fashion week, people, couples,weirdos or nerdos before getting to good food, bad food, a skirt, a plant, love, a piece of art - even dirt. I was  drifting from topic to abstract and steering from a state of being desperate towards madness. What was missing was my inner glue on which words would simply stick and the fun I used to feel when writing.

4)FUN
Ray Bradbury, what would I do without you? I found a video of the Sixth Annual Writer's Symposium by the Sea in 2001, where Ray talked about writing and simultaneously rocked my world. That's when he unknowingly became my writer friend. And here's an excerpt of smarty pants Ray:

“Well, it’s obvious you’re doing the wrong thing, aren’t you? Hm? You're in the middle of writing something, you go blank and your mind says: “No, that’s it.” Huh? Ok. You’re being warned, aren’t you? Your subconscious is saying “I don’t like you anymore. You’re writing about things I don’t give a damn for.” Huh? You’re being political or you’re being socially aware. You’re writing things that will benefit the world. To hell with that! Huh? I don’t write things to benefit the world. If it happens that they do, swell! I didn’t set out to do that. I set out to have a hell of a lot of fun. Huh? I’ve never worked a day in my life. I’ve NEVER worked a day in my life. The joy of writing has propelled me from day to day and year to year. I want you to envy me, my joy. Get out of here tonight and say: ‘Am I being joyful?’ And if you’ve got a Writer’s block, you can cure it this evening by stopping whatever you’re writing and doing something else. You picked the wrong subject.”

Cheers to you Ray.  May your wonderful soul rest in peace.





 

A Love Letter by Count Tolstoy

 

I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that 
which is eternal and ever precious - your heart, your soul. 
Beauty one could get to know and fall in love with in one hour 
and cease to love it as speedily; 
but the soul 
one must learn to know. 
Believe me, nothing on earth is given without labour, 
even love, 
the most beautiful and natural of feelings.

Favorite Quotes

 

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you learn to appreciate them when they're right. You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself...and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."

Marilyn Monroe

Patience 1

 

©Saman Giraud 

Notes from the Living Dead

Lin Yutang:

"I have done my best." That is about all the philosophy of living one needs.

Marie Curie:

Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.

Voltaire:

No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.

Albert Schweitzer:

I don´t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among

you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.

Emily Dickinson:

That it will never come again it what makes life so sweet .

Leo Tolstoy:

If you want to be happy - be.

Dorothy Thompson:

Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky:

The secret of man´s being is not only to live but to have something to live for.

Japanese Proverb:

Fall down seven times, get up eight.

Viktor Frankl:

Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather

he must recognize that it is he who is asked.

Einar Benediktsson:

How destitute is a heart that misses nothing.

George Sand:

There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.

Edith Piaf:

Don´t care what people say. Don´t give a damn about their laws.

Paulo Coehlo:

Happiness: there are a series of rules, and if you fail to follow them,

Your conscious mind will refuse to accept the idea that you´re happy.

Audrey Hepburn:

The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.

George Apollinaire:

Come to the edge, he said. They said: We are afraid. Come to the edge, he said.

They came. He pushed and they flew.

Home

I hold to no Religion or Creed,

Am neither Eastern nor Western,

Muslim or Infidel,

Zoroastrian, Christian, Jew or Gentile.

I come from neither Land nor Sea,

Am not related to those Above or Below,

Was not born Nearby or Far Away,

Do not live either in Paradise or on this Earth,

Claim descent not from Adam and Eve or the Angels above.

I transcend Body and Soul.

My home is beyond Place and Name.

It is with the Beloved, in a Space beyond Space.

I embrace All and am part of All.

By Jelaluddin Rumi

Oscar de la Renta

One Should Either Be A Work Of Art Or

Wear A Work Of Art.