My blogging journey so far has led me to discover a bunch of facts about myself. I have realized how I tend to observe people and their behavior without realizing that I'm observing them, how writing is the best kind of therapy for me and a few other things. I have also discovered that inspiration to write articles strikes me at the most unlikely, unexpected and random moments. I've been on summer vacation for 68 days now and all that I have contributed towards this blog or towards writing in general has been ONE blog post. On the contrary, while classes are in session and it is one of those monstrous weeks that require me to study for three midterms, finish two programming projects AND write a term paper, inspiration strikes me from nowhere. It is during one of those weeks that words can't stop flowing, ideas won't stop coming in and time to put those ideas into writing is also pretty much non existent. However, one has to be practical and realize that time to blog is easy to come by, but ideas and words have to be bottled up and saved whenever they graciously appear in your head. It is during those weeks that I find myself at my productive best. I use up all my free time to put my ideas into writing. I write in the bus, while having lunch, in those precious few minutes I save between each class by running from one building to another,... you get the idea. Contradicting all the plans I had for the summer (the plan was to publish a blog post every fortnight), this break has been a dry spell so far. In between gardening, traveling, looking at graduation pictures on Facebook, meeting up with friends I haven't met in years, falling sick, lazy hours in front of the TV, reading a few interesting books, sightseeing and fasting in Ramadan (the Islamic month during which Muslims fast from dawn to dusk); ideas, inspiration and time to blog have all evaded me.
So, let me continue the little story I had going on there. At some point this summer, I began to wonder if I were suffering from what is commonly known as "writer's block". Writer's block is officially defined as "the condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing." I began to think that I'm going through writer's block and in a few days' time, I'd be ready to write again. However, only time seemed to pass, not writer's block. It was then that in a moment of defiance, I told myself that I would not let something so mainstream as writer's block obstruct my path towards following my passion for writing. In that moment of adrenaline rush, I began to write about the first thing that crossed my mind. That post was coming along pretty well when I decided to not continue with it. It just didn't feel like the kind of thing I'd write about. It felt too forced, too unnatural. Writing is my passion and to force myself to put down words felt like I was doing injustice to myself. I abandoned the post right there.
Earlier today, after an exciting weekend of walking around New York city like I've always wanted to, I suddenly had the urge to write again. This time, I knew just what I'd write about. I knew that I'd write about the very thing that has been keeping me away from writing. I decided to write about my "summer of not being able to write at all". I'm surprised that it took me so long to have actually thought about it. This is my "success story" of overcoming writer's block by writing about the thing itself, of using the obstacle in my path to lay down the road ahead of me. So, in keeping with tradition of leaving you all with something to think about, I'm sharing with you what my experience this summer has taught me. Before this whole incident, whenever someone said "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade", it never made much sense to me. Now I know what they meant. No situation is too hard to make sense of, no problem too hard to solve. When things seem to be getting too hard and you feel like there are only closed doors ahead of you, maybe the problem itself could open a door for you. I've always felt that the biggest life lessons come to you in the form of trivial every day problems. This time, going through writer's block has made me realize that every problem has a solution and sometimes, the problem itself is the solution. The next time life gives you sour lemons, add some sugar to them and make lemonade!
So, let me continue the little story I had going on there. At some point this summer, I began to wonder if I were suffering from what is commonly known as "writer's block". Writer's block is officially defined as "the condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing." I began to think that I'm going through writer's block and in a few days' time, I'd be ready to write again. However, only time seemed to pass, not writer's block. It was then that in a moment of defiance, I told myself that I would not let something so mainstream as writer's block obstruct my path towards following my passion for writing. In that moment of adrenaline rush, I began to write about the first thing that crossed my mind. That post was coming along pretty well when I decided to not continue with it. It just didn't feel like the kind of thing I'd write about. It felt too forced, too unnatural. Writing is my passion and to force myself to put down words felt like I was doing injustice to myself. I abandoned the post right there.
Earlier today, after an exciting weekend of walking around New York city like I've always wanted to, I suddenly had the urge to write again. This time, I knew just what I'd write about. I knew that I'd write about the very thing that has been keeping me away from writing. I decided to write about my "summer of not being able to write at all". I'm surprised that it took me so long to have actually thought about it. This is my "success story" of overcoming writer's block by writing about the thing itself, of using the obstacle in my path to lay down the road ahead of me. So, in keeping with tradition of leaving you all with something to think about, I'm sharing with you what my experience this summer has taught me. Before this whole incident, whenever someone said "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade", it never made much sense to me. Now I know what they meant. No situation is too hard to make sense of, no problem too hard to solve. When things seem to be getting too hard and you feel like there are only closed doors ahead of you, maybe the problem itself could open a door for you. I've always felt that the biggest life lessons come to you in the form of trivial every day problems. This time, going through writer's block has made me realize that every problem has a solution and sometimes, the problem itself is the solution. The next time life gives you sour lemons, add some sugar to them and make lemonade!
