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Writer’s Block
“It is six A.M., and I am working. I am absentminded, reckless, heedless of social obligations, etc. It is as it must be. The tire goes flat, the tooth falls out, there will be a hundred meals without mustard. The poem gets written. I have wrestled with the angel and I am stained with light and I have no shame. Neither do I have guilt. My responsibility is not to the ordinary, or the timely. It does not include mustard, or teeth. It does not extend to the lost button, or the beans in the pot. My loyalty is to the inner vision, whenever and howsoever it may arrive. If I have a meeting with you at three o’clock, rejoice if I am late. Rejoice even more if I do not arrive at all.
“There is no other way work of artistic worth can be done. And the occasional success, to the striver, is worth everything. The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.”
From Upstream: Selected Essays. Copyright 2016 Mary Oliver.
From time to time someone in the Medium community posts a cry for help with writer’s block. I don’t think there is one solution that could help a writer in this position. If I were discussing the issue with someone, I would ask a lot of questions. I would want to know when they feel a kick of energy writing and when they don’t. I’d be…
