Hi, All
So, my little holiday lasted a bit longer than expected….lol.
In actuality, I have been detained by another significant project. For many years I have had a book percolating inside me. In fact, I’ve had a couple. But until now, they have not seen the light of day. Why is that, you might ask?
My primary business is called Procrastenough Coaching & Learning and the main reason for procrastination, I have learned, is FEAR. So if we wish to uncover the reasons behind our procrastination, we must peel back the layers of the onion and ask ourselves what it is we truly fear about a task. With my gestating book, I asked this question routinely. Why won’t it come out? What am I afraid of? It got to a point where I reconciled any notions of “failure” as I realized that the book had a life of its own and simply wanted to be. It wasn’t about money or notoriety or an impressive book review – though all are useful concepts, as they promote greater freedom and opportunity — no, it was about giving birth to a creative entity that had been taking up residence in my mind and psyche for far too long.
I have spoken with many artists, writers and creative people, and they all have an innate understanding of this. Unborn creative projects will not be held down. They have a life of their own, not unlike a baby that must eventually leave the womb. The longer we hold our creative babies in, the more painful it becomes. I find this a suitable analogy. And yet, I persisted to keep the book baby inside, unable to unravel the underlying fear suppressing it.
Until very recently when an epiphany occured.
After years of asking myself why I just couldn’t start writing, another fully-formed book was suddenly dropped into my mind! Quite literally. All chapters outlined in 15 minutes, concepts flooding into my consciousness so fast that they were banging into one another simply to be noticed. It was truly amazing. What I learned in that instant was that the other book didn’t come because it wasn’t ready. I don’t know how long the other book was waiting there, crouching in the darkenss behind the grandeur of the other subject matter, but I suppose it doesn’t matter. The point is that I had to surrender to it and remove the flood gates.
They say it’s sometimes hard to see the forest for the trees, and perhaps the same is true of this writing project. Its subject matter I know like the back of my hand, using it daily in my counseling practice. The words spill off my tongue effortlessly to the degree that I no longer notice them. The book had been hiding in plain sight all this time.
I am banding together with another writer to share progress, receive peer review, and to support one another through what is turning out to be one of the most exciting, terrifying, and enriching experiences of my life. A big part of this process has been letting go of expectations — external and internal. If the book is an entity unto itself, then it knows how it wants to live. I simply have to get out of its way to facilitate its purest expression.
Well, in the immortal words of Forrest Gump, “That’s all I have to say about that.”
It is not lost on me that the emergence of my blog coincided with a need to dust off my writing skills and get my creative juices flowing. For that reason, I am grateful for its existence — and for the growing number of people who are popping in to read my posts. I have every intention of continuing with The Thought Therapist, and will post advice request letters as well as existential meanderings/articles in addition to my “day job” at Procrastenough and work on the book. I do hope you will continue to visit.
Well, back to work. And, keep sending me your letters!
T.T. xox
