A Blog About Nothing… Or Maybe Something… But In Any Case, A Blog Posting

I have absolutely no idea what I want to write about in this blog post.  I am at an absolute loss for finding a topic.  Sitting here, staring at my cursor wondering when it’s going to start to fly across the page with the brilliance of the words I conjure to explain some as-yet unidentified topic.  Miraculously, this is going to be the blog post that goes viral and becomes the launch-pad for a new career direction I had never thought of before.  And yet, here I sit.  Still staring at the cursor, waiting for the words to come along with the topic to write about.  And I sit.  And sit some more.  Because there is no topic that is coming.  I could find a prompt somewhere that could launch me, but I don’t feel the energy to do that.  There’s no motivation to do much of anything other than sit here, and stare at the cursor blinking maddeningly in the same exact spot because there are no words coming and I still have no idea what topic to write about for this post.  The deadline is looming and I’m feeling pressured to make this one because I missed the last two deadlines for digital marketing tasks this month.  I’m feeling my marketing plan come crashing down around me and all because this stupid cursor is still staying in the same spot on the page.  No words.  No topics.  No ideas.  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  I’ve made a cup of my favorite tea, I’m sitting up straight at my desk in my office.  Teddy is quiet and appears to have fallen asleep so there are unlikely to be any interruptions.  Meaning, this is the perfect time for me to be able to come up with something.  And still, nothing comes.  I’m beginning to feel anxious because this has to get done and it has to get done now.  If it doesn’t get done now I don’t know how I am going to fit it into the rest of my day because the rest of my day is absolutely packed.  There are phone calls to return and emails that have to be answered.  I have animals to care for.  It’s Friday and I don’t want to be thinking about work all weekend, even though I likely will be doing work all weekend because there is never enough time during the week to get everything done.  It’s supposed to be sunny tomorrow and I intend to spend as much of the day outside as I can but this cursor is just sitting in that same spot, taunting me.  I have to find a way to force the words.  They have to come.  So much is riding on this one blog post now.  So very much.  Come on words, come on out and play!  We have work to do.  We have to find a way to change the entire world with this one blog post, this one remarkably written collection of thoughts and ideas compiled together with words woven from gold.  And yet, there is that stupid cursor.  Just sitting there, blinking, in the same exact spot.  Nothing is coming.  Can I write about nothing?

Well, yes.  In fact I can and I just did.  I did actually sit down today to write my blog post that is scheduled to post in a couple of days after I write it and I did have no idea what I was going to write about.  There was no planned topic and no ideas were coming as I turned the computer on and opened the word document I would use to draft it.  So, I started to write the stream of consciousness that sometimes comes when I’m trying to do something but my brain doesn’t seem to be up to the task.  In my work, I often hear these types of refrains from people.  There’s a deadline or a due date, a task that needs to get done, the thought of “I’m going to do this now,” and then… nothing.  And in that nothing starts to grow this fear-based anxiety reaction.  If allowed, it will grow and grow and grow and grow until it seems like if the task is not completed, the entire world is going to stop turning and we will all be catapulted into outer space.  In actuality, this is not going to happen.  That pressure is coming straight from anxiety.  And so the most effective thing to do becomes taking a pause, breathing a moment, and then trying again in a different way.  It really is all about how you think about it.  If you sit and think the consciousness stream (or something like it) that appeared at the beginning of this blog post, the pressure is going to mount and the block is going to get bigger.  The task in that moment really does become insurmountable because your brain is simply blocked from accessing the areas within itself that would be able to help you problem solve and develop a solution for the situation.  Today, I sat down and had no idea where to begin.  So, I started typing.  And continued typing.  And somewhere within the first couple of lines, the idea began to form and the block that had initially prevented me from doing anything was blown out of the water.  Had I really just sat and stared at the cursor (something I have admittedly done before), I would still be sitting here sipping my tea and staring at the cursor as the fear mounted and built into frustration and anger because while these emotions are equally as uncomfortable, they feel power-full instead of the powerless feelings of anxiety and fear.  But all of these emotions would serve to strengthen the block.  By trying to complete the task but in a different way, I was able to trigger calm and from a place of calm, all manner of things can flow.  Sometimes the best thing that we can do when we are stuck is to stop, take a break, and look at the situation from a different perspective. 

I want to emphasize a key element of that last sentence for a moment.  People are often afraid to take a break because they are worried that is going to turn into procrastination.  Procrastination is by definition putting something off, but it often has a bad rep as something people can control and are simply choosing not to do something.  This is inaccurate.  Yes, there are instances where someone does choose to put off doing something.  There are, however, other instances where procrastination is a symptom of anxiety and has grown out of a defense mechanism.  If this is the case, then it’s not simply about creating organizational charts or making ourselves do something but is more about figuring out what the anxiety is about and what we can do to manage it.  Then we are able to cope effectively and do not need the procrastination behavior to protect us.  A break, by definition, has an ending point at which time we return to the task.  Breaks have been proven to increase efficiency and effectiveness in task completion.  Taking a break, engaging in a calming or energy releasing activity, and then coming back to the task is not procrastination but is an effective way of coping.

We started this blog post with nothing.  A cursor blinking and the stream of thoughts that came along with it.  We have arrived at our ending for today and I hope that along the way you have picked up some ideas or thoughts of how you may be able to handle blocks.  I wish you and your blinking cursor (or hovering paintbrush, or poised knitting needles, or pile of objects in need of a home, or paused idea generating device) all the best in your next creative endeavor!