Well this one really hit home. I am currently taking a 2 week writing retreat with a friend and every day I think I have nothing in here. Avoidance and the total joy of being here and having this time. You totally nailed it. Thanks!
Ada Limone says that sometimes when we are stuck it is not because we have nothing to write about. It’s because we have too much. Where is your retreat? I would like to do something like that at some point in the near future.
I often feel that I have too much and needed this quiet to get to it. I'm at my own home/ cottage on Cape Cod, but I've done retreats at a few good places I could tell you about.
Danusha, I’m so glad that you worked through all of this and wrote something to share with us. I love your writing so much. I listened to your interview with Eric Zimmer on The One You Feed, and it was one of the most poignant conversations I have heard in a really long time. My friend and I keep coming back to what you said about letting the sun do the lifting. Capitalism tricks us into thinking quantity is desired. Rather, it is the richness and depth in every word. Thank you for the gift of your writing.
(it's Rosemerry, not Christie, but substack only knows me this way;)
yes to "developing the ability to sit with the discomfort, even horror," and yes to doing just about anything else but write, and yes to negative capability and yes to the fear and yes to you, friend ...
Danusha, I am so happy to see you back with another post. I am 73 years old, and after a long, long detour into other things, I write poetry every day. Every single day without fail, and this month I am starting year #3. This piece is exactly what I needed to hear this morning. Last night, I thought, am I writing the same 10 poems over and over and over? The answer was YES, I am. Poetry has been therapy, but really? Thank you for putting into words what I was grappling with last night.
Thank you for putting into words how I feel. I am such a Writing Avoidance Artist, but once I finally sit down, I don't want to leave and hours melt away around me.
I loved this so much that I subscribed so I could comment. THANK YOU. I had a current running through me around 2021 - poems coming out, wordplay, consonance and assonance and alliteration and images..and it stopped. Right now I feel so clenched, and like it just is not worth unclenching. If I unclench, someone might see me - can't have that! And this is after 15 years of meditation practice, time with therapists...can't be seen, oh no. So - good to see it isn't just me at times, and I appreciate your ideas to make it less horrifying. Thank you.
So glad even if it helped a little. Those roots around not wanting to be seen run deep. And yet....we also do! Human stuff. The contradiction is real!!!
I enjoyed this so much. I know I’ll come back to it over and over—especially when I’m feeling like this is futile. But you got it so right! We love it but it terrifies us. And it also fascinates, enthralls, addicts us, this working through poems. I saw you on Poets Corner recently and enjoyed your poems and conversation so much. I grew up in Northern California too, in the hills above the Napa Valley. Spent time along the Russian River and going out to Jenner-by-the-Sea. I live in Maryland now, but Northern California is embedded in my heart and my writing.
Thank you... that picture reminds me of a cute alpaca. I sometimes send one poem or story to a friend. It's comforting to know it's being read by someone, and just one person, even if they don't have an immediate response or something to say about it. I sometimes get a really formal text back about something unrelated. It's kind of cute.
What a gift! Thank you so much for writing this. All the places I don't want to return to, yet at the same time somehow need or want to. I just did the ten minute timer writing and found a revisited dark moment full of light. Who knew?
Well this one really hit home. I am currently taking a 2 week writing retreat with a friend and every day I think I have nothing in here. Avoidance and the total joy of being here and having this time. You totally nailed it. Thanks!
So glad to hear that! it’s Ok for it to be hard sometimes. And then sometimes it’s easy….😌
Ada Limone says that sometimes when we are stuck it is not because we have nothing to write about. It’s because we have too much. Where is your retreat? I would like to do something like that at some point in the near future.
I often feel that I have too much and needed this quiet to get to it. I'm at my own home/ cottage on Cape Cod, but I've done retreats at a few good places I could tell you about.
Danusha, I’m so glad that you worked through all of this and wrote something to share with us. I love your writing so much. I listened to your interview with Eric Zimmer on The One You Feed, and it was one of the most poignant conversations I have heard in a really long time. My friend and I keep coming back to what you said about letting the sun do the lifting. Capitalism tricks us into thinking quantity is desired. Rather, it is the richness and depth in every word. Thank you for the gift of your writing.
Oh! Thank you. Yes. Let the beauty of life lift some of the heaviness for us. 💜💜💜💜💜🙏🏽
Meant lift! 😄
Well said (and felt)
Danusha, yes!! Endless supply….❤️😳
(it's Rosemerry, not Christie, but substack only knows me this way;)
yes to "developing the ability to sit with the discomfort, even horror," and yes to doing just about anything else but write, and yes to negative capability and yes to the fear and yes to you, friend ...
Hi Not Christie! 😉Thank you for this. I know we both know!!!
Thank you.
Thank you, Danusha!
Wow, you’ve really nailed this emotion and experience. I feel validated, encouraged and connected. 🙏🏻❤️
Hi Elizabeth! Glad to hear it. 🙏🏽❤️
Danusha, I am so happy to see you back with another post. I am 73 years old, and after a long, long detour into other things, I write poetry every day. Every single day without fail, and this month I am starting year #3. This piece is exactly what I needed to hear this morning. Last night, I thought, am I writing the same 10 poems over and over and over? The answer was YES, I am. Poetry has been therapy, but really? Thank you for putting into words what I was grappling with last night.
Yes to this! We are all moons cycling around our same planet for life. It’s called having material. 😉🌸
Thank you for putting into words how I feel. I am such a Writing Avoidance Artist, but once I finally sit down, I don't want to leave and hours melt away around me.
Haha. I like that avoidance can be an art!! It IS part of the creative process.
I loved this so much that I subscribed so I could comment. THANK YOU. I had a current running through me around 2021 - poems coming out, wordplay, consonance and assonance and alliteration and images..and it stopped. Right now I feel so clenched, and like it just is not worth unclenching. If I unclench, someone might see me - can't have that! And this is after 15 years of meditation practice, time with therapists...can't be seen, oh no. So - good to see it isn't just me at times, and I appreciate your ideas to make it less horrifying. Thank you.
So glad even if it helped a little. Those roots around not wanting to be seen run deep. And yet....we also do! Human stuff. The contradiction is real!!!
I enjoyed this so much. I know I’ll come back to it over and over—especially when I’m feeling like this is futile. But you got it so right! We love it but it terrifies us. And it also fascinates, enthralls, addicts us, this working through poems. I saw you on Poets Corner recently and enjoyed your poems and conversation so much. I grew up in Northern California too, in the hills above the Napa Valley. Spent time along the Russian River and going out to Jenner-by-the-Sea. I live in Maryland now, but Northern California is embedded in my heart and my writing.
I felt every word of this, especially the parts about putting private thoughts and experiences in full view. Thank you for writing it.
Thank you... that picture reminds me of a cute alpaca. I sometimes send one poem or story to a friend. It's comforting to know it's being read by someone, and just one person, even if they don't have an immediate response or something to say about it. I sometimes get a really formal text back about something unrelated. It's kind of cute.
This spoke to me in a way I can’t explain.
What a gift! Thank you so much for writing this. All the places I don't want to return to, yet at the same time somehow need or want to. I just did the ten minute timer writing and found a revisited dark moment full of light. Who knew?