When You're Feeling Stuck

Over the past few months I've been quietly learning something new:

The art of songwriting.

And...it's going well! I'm leaning into the "lyricist" side of things and am grateful to have a very experienced teacher who knows how to explain this nebulous creative process in ways my brain can understand.

It feels both fulfilling and somewhat old-school to be reconnecting with the writing skills I honed way back in high school English class (that writing style was a bit more descriptive/flowery/artsy than the more precise/concise media writing style I had to switch to in college for my public relations degree).

But, as with any artform--especially a "new-to-you" one--sometimes creativity stalls. I found myself late for a homework deadline due to the dreaded "writer's block."

I emailed my teacher and asked if he had any words of wisdom.

Thankfully, he did:

"A lot of times you need to fool your adult and embrace your child. It doesn't matter if what you're writing is good or bad. Just do it. Make it fun. Bad is a good place to start."

As soon as I read those words, I smiled, knowing exactly what he meant.
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Because a couple days earlier, 30 minutes of boring chores to me--watering the plants--unexpectedly turned into 30 minutes of pure bliss for my son, Ethan, who decided to chase the hose, play in ALL the puddles, and have the time of his life just getting soaked while I worked.

I drew a line at letting him drink the mud, but he happily shrieked around the yard so much that he was completely wiped out by bedtime a couple hours later.
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"Fool your adult and embrace your child."

Ethan certainly fooled me that day into thinking a mundane (to me) chore could be fun.

May we each find a way to fool our adult and embrace our child this week.

With gratitude,

Ashley