Getting into the groove
Stop feeling like you can’t and give it what you can
I’m starting to feel that I’m in flow with my own chaos. Writing chaos that is. Two months ago I wrote about the way chaos seems like a constant in all aspects of my life. So much so that I got it tattooed on my arm. Not sure about the rest of it, but the chaos of my drafts, my notes and my ideas are becoming more manageable. Nearly 6 months down the line on my Substack (eek!), I am in the groove.
Someone asked me the other day if I struggle to think of things to write on Substack and I don’t anymore. For the first couple of weeks, I felt gripped by fear of having nothing to say. Words escaping me entirely as I sat down to write my next newsletter. But now I trust the words will come. I have a kind of blind faith in it. I still have drafts. Snippets. Sentences. Beginnings of ideas. Littered everywhere in journals, iPhone notes and Google Docs. Now they seem to thread and come together, melting into something tangible just at the right time.
I’m trying to fan the flame of this confidence I have in my writing at the moment and even more so, my ability simply to keep showing up. My only enemy right now is time. I’m struggling to dedicate enough hours in the day to writing. In The Offcuts this week I mentioned that my reading had slowed down because I’ve been so busy recently. I want to fall deeply into a wormhole of curiosity and would love nothing more than to be able to write away to my heart’s content. It’s hard to strike the right balance between everything.
’s Hyphen featured a guest column with Paula Cocozza a few days ago that focused exactly on how to lean into creativity when you have no time. I found it useful and a bit of a reality check. Play to your strengths and celebrate taking small steps forward. That I can do.
I’m subscribed to quite a lot of different newsletters on Substack, some I read more religiously than others, but all are great in their own unique ways. I love seeing what other people are writing about and learning about the ways they approach their writing as well.
talks a lot about their creative practice, including some often harsh truths. Making it clear things aren’t all rainbows and butterflies.Marlee talked about ‘looking for the in between’ a couple of months ago. I made notes when reading it to come back to later.
I am devoted to trusting the in between time. The time between launching one thing and inventing another. The time between going to a friend’s house and going for a walk. The time between waking up and making my coffee. The time between writing books. The time between teaching classes.
The in between time is where everything actually lives. The gathering of data, the rest the body needs, the little sparks of inspiration.
This articulates much better than I’ve tried to about what I feel right now, when I say I’m in flow with my own chaos and trust I’ll always find something to write about. Even if I’m strapped for time, I’m eagle-eyed now. Reading between the lines. Finding something to say without sitting, waiting and willing for it to come. Squeezing in moments to write, even if it’s only a few hundred words sporadically throughout the week. The in between everything is where this Substack is happening. Right in the eye of my chaotic life storm.
In just under 3 weeks’ time, Drafting will be six months old! Where does the time go? I would LOVE to see just how many subscribers I can reach between now and then. If you enjoy reading Drafting, I would so appreciate it if you can subscribe or share this newsletter with friends and people in your network who you think would shrug and say ‘yeah, it’s alright’ and maybe sign up as well. BIG THANKS!