Writers sometimes move to LA or NYC and “give themselves a year” to see if this “writing thing” can work for them. And then what? They write and write (or try and try to write) and the year goes by... Is it time to quit? What about 10 or 15 years later?

What if you have a novel in the drawer, another one in 20+ docs on your computer and two books in your head? But none of it is going anywhere? When is it time to quit trying?

The easiest thing in the world is to not write.

~ William Goldman

But is that true? Can you quit?

Most writers write, or intend to write, their whole lives. It is in us. Like a little flame, on good days. And on others, like that ugly, green hunk of phlegm with a Bronx accent, on the Mucinex commercials. Either way, it lurks, lies in wait, burns within us.

Even if you don’t quit writing, could you quit “trying?”

I’m thinking lately about ways to relieve myself of the EFFORTING. Write regularly. Enjoy the conversations and characters and worlds I am creating and let the rest of it take care of itself.

Characters always need to be solving a problem or pursuing a goal. Real people do not. We can step back. Pause. Live uneventfully. Write calmly without drama.

How can you feel your way forward into more space? More leeway? How can you gain more perspective on your writing and writing career?

Let’s assume we need to write, want to write, will write. But let’s also quit trying to browbeat ourselves into writing. Here are some of the ways you might calm the efforting in your life. These thoughts might help you flow back into great writing, rather than force your way...

Walk through open doors - go where you’re valued and you value being

Be enough, as you are - don’t chase degrees, prizes, bylines for their own sake. Work toward radical self-love and acceptance.

Detach from outcome - as you write, be okay with a shitty first draft; As you promote reach for accolades, of course, but be whole whether or not you’re chosen for the distinction

I’m talking about Finding Time To Write in a free Webinar on Thursday May 12, at 4pm PT. We’ll be looking for your best way to create with the least effort. Register now: https://go.decodingcreativity.com/ft2w-oi

Be one with the goal - it is not something you must do, but something you are

Feel your way into presence - focus on your breath; feel your feet on the ground; relax your muscles one body part at a time - toes, arches, ankles, calves, knees and on up.

Find space around your tasks - don’t beat the wall with your head. Stand back and let other forces move the wall; wait for an easier way while you continue other work.

Be curious - don’t judge how and why you are overlooked, not performing up to your expectations. Ask Why? Ask What’s Stopping You?

Stay in Play Mode - if you’re stuck in your writing, try playing in a different creative mode. Play an instrument, ride a bike, cook, paint, walk. Each of these activities will release you from the kind of fretful efforts that can actually block resolution of the problem.

Invite your genius to revisit - just close your eyes and say “Show me ________________” (Insert whatever you wish to write and let your inner genius show it to you.)

Productivity is awesome when it happens. It can be a cruel taunt when it is not happening. Don’t chase it. Let it come back to you.

Writers face many mental blocks to creativity. What’s weird and disarming is that we each get blocked in different ways. So, here’s what happens to me. I get way too many ideas and have trouble focusing on one idea and finishing things. You might be someone who slugs away on one idea and finishes it, but feels uncertain that your ideas are original or whether your work is strong. We each compare ourselves to the other.

We get stuck. Trapped. Lost. And we look at our writer friends who don’t seem to get stuck the same way we do. We feel stupid. We feel it is our fault.

We each have different mental blocks - bec we think differently. I’m good at a couple of thinking styles, and weak in one or more. You might be opposite. Writer’s Block is all about getting stuck as you transition from a thinking strength to a struggle, or vice versa.

Whaaaaaaa.....?????? Did she just invent the idea of a “thinking struggle?” A little bit.

Yep. Writer’s Block is your own special mix of how you think creatively. And sometimes you’re brilliant, and sometimes not so much. We each have our own curse to bear.

• It is not always the blank page.

• It’s not always the muddy middle.

• It’s not always perfectionism.

This is precisely what I will illuminate in the upcoming FIND TIME TO WRITE (There’s Definitely an Easy Way) free webinar. During our hour together (Tuesday, May 12, 4pm PT) I will help you pinpoint precisely when in the creative process you feel energized and when you feel drained of energy.

So, I invite you to take an objective look at your creative thinking so you can really own your strengths and prop up your struggle spots. And move that writing project forward to the finish line.

Go sign up, it’s free:

https://go.decodingcreativity.com/FT2W-OI

I’ll send you email reminders 1 hour and 24 hours in advance of the live class. Also, sign up even if you can’t attend live, bec you’ll get the recording, and access to webinar-exclusive bonuses (worth up to $200.)

I love helping people see their creativity clearly so they can power through their struggles, tap into their strengths and write the thing they dream of writing!

You’re writing along, and something gets hard. You push back from your desk. You feel bad.

Does this sound at all familiar? You feel bad.

Comfort… you quickly want to feel better. There’s chocolate. That’s a quick fix. TV?

Cheap Valorization… There’s so many things that need cleaning, organizing, making, baking – things you could be doing that would help you feel better, more valuable, more worthy.

Taking on others’ needs and requests… people need you right? It would be easy to shift the bad feeling about not writing to a bad feeling for not helping. So fixable, just stop and help them. You feel better and forget all about writing. You’re too busy, too in demand.

It is hard to feel deserving of the time and space you need to write. It is harder still to sit with bad feelings. They’re uncomfortable. They need “fixing.” But don’t weaken. Get yourself back into your work. (PS, it’ll feel good.)

Use a series of mantras to recenter on your work.

This is the CENTER tool from Dr. Eric Maisel in his book Coaching the Artist Within.

1. C – ome to a complete stop.

2. E – mpty yourself of expectation

3. N – ame your work

4. T – rust your resources

5. E – mbrace the Present Moment

6. R – eturn with Strength

When you push back from your desk and feel discouraged, try to CENTER again, using Mantras (below) that help you meet each of the actions listed above, and get you back to work, refreshed.

Each step has its mantra, said on a breath, in and out. Each mantra, brings you closer to being centered and refreshed. The words below are spoken to yourself on the inhale and exhale of your breath. I use parentheses to separate the sentences into the (inhale) and (exhale) parts of your breath.

1. inhale (I am completely) exhale (stopping)

2. (I expect) (nothing)

3. (I am writing) (…) name it

4. (I trust) (my resources)

5. (I embrace) (this moment)

6. (I return) (with strength)

You can do this even as you sit at your desk. It can be an intervention between when you push back, and before you stand up and leave your work. The simple assertion of what I am actually doing – inhale (I am writing) exhale (my novel) – brings me out of wandering and judgmental thoughts. My resolve returns.

Try this, breathing in on the first phrase and out on the second phrase. At the end of 6 deep breaths and a calming of your mind, you do, in fact, return with strength.

How’d that go? Let us know sometime later after you finish that piece you were writing.

So, the question is why create in times of uncertainty? There are many urgent reasons to do so. Creating, writing, can just help you feel better. And making something that helps others is an action you can take against uncertainty.

The obvious follow up question is… how to do it. How can we tamp down anxiety, distraction, fear, and the desire to disconnect and isolate? In the same breath, how can we find something joyful, helpful, educational or engaging to offer someone else.

It is all we have to give in these uncertain times. I have a blog. I have myself. I have my sense of humor, my company and my expertise to share - and hope it helps.

So, let’s look at some ways to soothe yourself and permit your ideas to percolate.

Soothe Yourself

A Meditation

Sita Chopra at www.sitachopra.com helped me this week with a loving kindness mediation. I put my right hand over my heart, and say the blessings:

• May I be safe

• May I be happy

• May I be healthy

• May I live with ease

Repetitive Hand Movement

Lynda Barry lived through what can only be called an uncertain and anxious childhood, which she references in Picture This and What It Is. Both are amazing works on how to access your creativity and write or draw from a deep and deeply personal place.

She recommends writing the alphabet, over and over again. Literally. Just move your hand across the page.

You can also draw a doodle and turn it into a drawing or a pattern. these very basic endeavors can bring you out of an anxious spin and help you move back toward creating.

Of course, the simplest way to push your hand across a page that might be satisfying is to color. Any coloring book. Any mandala. Any crayons. Find your own way to peace.

Push Writing

Write. Just write. Julia Cameron describes morning pages in her many Artist’s Way books. Pushing your pen across three pages each morning can help you release the thoughts that are dominating your anxiety, and slowly work to correct or dismiss them. She calls this “creative recovery” and it is apt for these times, in which we can feel overwhelmed.

Numbing Greatly

May I say, I sometimes find I am numbing instead of feeling. (Who can blame me?) I used to do that with food. Instead of Daring Greatly, as Brene Brown exhorts us to do, I’m Numbing Greatly.

In the throes of uncertainty, I can have a cruel mind who asks: And who exactly do I think I am? How dare I try to be great? Do great things? You can’t do it. And even if you could, who cares?

I'm not sure I can bear it. These thoughts turn into doubt and shame and fear. Very quickly, my body can feel it, and my head is casting along the horizon for a way out. My breath is panicked. And before long I'm considering some snack or meal that will help me calm myself .

I seek (non-news) TV to relax and escape the “efforting.”

And that’s okay. Forgive yourself what you might need to bear uncertainty. Enjoy the numbing with as much presence as you can muster. If you’re eating a cookie (even if it’s one you “shouldn’t” have) enjoy it. Taste it. Slow down. And don’t worry - tell yourself - you have permission to eat another one if you want. Slowly. With pleasure.

Pleasure. Presence. Sensory awareness can go far to alleviating the anxiety, fear and doubt that can accompany uncertainty.

Uncertainty is like the weather. It is out of your control.

All you can do is prepare and celebrate small wins. Why else would anyone ever splash in puddles? Or build a snowman? It is to celebrate that which we cannot control, with pleasure and creativity.

This seems to help me. Uncertainty doesn’t go away or shorten its duration. Uncertainty is like a cold, you just have to live through it; there is no cure. But creativity can help you and your readers have a better day in the midst of uncertainty.

Ahhh... certainty, I await thee yet.

Wouldn’t you say yes to that opportunity? Even on short notice?

What was even funnier was that he had assembled a celebrity panel of namesakes - myself (Julia Roberts) another random guy (Matt Leblanc) and a woman whose name happened to be Amy Adams.

He asked, “Could you be a guest on my live podcast this Friday?”

I said, “sounds like fun.”

He fired back, “right answer.”

I liked him immediately.

Then came the bigger news. The live podcast was live in front of an audience at the quirky comedy venue, Dynasty Typewriter. (We love this theater and their lineups!)

Jacob Reed and Me on Apple podcasts. I’ll add our episode, when it’s live.

This was - as predicted - a fun night. They comped my husband and my daughter to be in the audience and we had a glamorous night out. I was feeling famous.

We each told funny stories about being a famous-named person, out in the regular world. Did we get better restaurant reservations? (No. Why does everyone ask that?) Do people get excited? Or disappointed when it’s just you? (Yes, and yes.)

Interestingly, Matt LeBlanc and I each told medical stories. It is most poignant to have a famous name that excites (and then disappoints) strangers when you are at your most vulnerable, and most need their help (and undivided) attention.

It was awe-inspiring to be part of a big production. There was a producer, and run of show chart. Jacob Reed had a writing partner. And they had just been at the Tribeca Film Festival and were now putting on an hour-long show at Dynasty Typewriter.

They had no sponsor, just themselves. They had a great product and were doing all the hustling and ideating by themselves. They had recruited 7 strangers to be on their show, live, from all around the country (though mostly local). Jacob Reed, the host, and three other Jacob Reeds had flown in to be part of the Jacob Reed band. On the “celebrity” panel, three of us were prepared to show up at 9:00 on a Friday night and share our charm and humor. Gladly.

It was impressive and inspiring to see what creativity can inspire and what energy it can gather and employ.

We all want to be part of something bigger. I’m not sure we all realize we can just create that bigger thing. And be at its center. I want to be Jacob Reed. But I’m just Julia Roberts.

One more thing to share, because it’s brilliant. Jacob Reed asks his famous named guests to share a testimonial about the show. And then he can use said testimonial with your famous name. He’s considering taking a billboard out with this quote:

I can’t help but love his ingenuity and hard work. Jacob Reed is a full fledged comedic and creative endeavor. I’m jealous and in awe. So, Jacob Reed (if any of you are reading this) here is my testimonial.

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• Do Nothing

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