Saturday, April 21, 2018

Wrestling with Writer's Block + How God Refills Our Gifts

Writer's Block


Standing at the corner of no-more-ideas avenue and memories-i-don't-want-to-revisit lane. The light is perpetually red and right turns aren't allowed. Wrong turns are always easier.

I watch as cars pass by. Lights flash, horns blow. The red hand blinks. I wait a few seconds for the "WALK" sign to show, and look both ways. Just as I step off the curb, a car comes straight at me out of nowhere, and I hop back out of harm's way by the skin of my teeth.

No wonder writers are always stuck between a rock and a hard place, the rock as solid comfort zone and the hard place where every room has an elephant in it that's impossible to ignore. The best poems come from the hard place. I should know. I've been around that block a time or two. I've also been under it, over it, and almost there but not quite.

Each time I find myself at this intersection, I'm reminded that the only way out is through. I'm taking it one word at a time.

A moment of honesty: I had decided I wasn't going to post today simply because I felt like I had run out of ideas, and I pride myself on putting out quality content. I needed inspiration, so I scrolled through my arsenal of previously-written poems and found the one above, written in 2016. When I wrote this poem, I was challenging myself to write a poem a day for 30 days, and it was one of the most frustratingly beautiful exercises I've ever done.

I've been writing since I was 8 years old, but for a long time, I just thought it was something I was good at. It wasn't until I saw how my writing impacted people that I realized it was a God-given gift. Now that I know I'm anointed to write, everything I release takes on a deeper meaning for me because I'm conscious of the fact that I'm doing it to glorify God. That's why I'm so fascinated by the idea of writer's block...because it doesn't exist in Him! Just when I think I've exhausted all of my best ideas, God gives me something new and fresh...or in this case, He breathes new life into an old thing. I said I would post two times a week this month, and God is holding me to that...even if that means writing about not having anything to write about. Each time I finish a poem or click "Publish" on a blog post, I'm in awe of the fact that He continues to use me as mouthpiece and pen. A word of encouragement: When you think you're all used up, all you have to do is ask God to refill you. He'll do it every time.

1 comment:

  1. Amen. Another excellent poem/blog that God has inspired you to write. Continue sharing your gift with us. You are impacting people's lives for the Glory of God.#kingdomwork #musicmessagemessiah.com

    ReplyDelete