As a girl, I was in Girl Scouts. Early in my time as a Girl Scout, each girl was required to create a poster and present it to all the parents and grandparents who came to watch each girl do the same.  As my turn was approaching, I felt myself starting to panic at the thought of being in front of that room full of people (maybe 30 in all, but it may as well have been 3000).

As I walked to the front with my poster in front of me, I felt my throat tightening up and when I tried to start my speech, I literally could not get a sound out.  I hid my face momentarily behind my poster to try to get a grip.  After a few seconds of literally hiding behind the poster in front of everyone, I lowered it again to give my speech another attempt.  Again, not a single word would come out of my mouth.

At this point, I was so embarrassed.  So embarrassed that all I could do was to start laughing!  And laugh I did…hysterically.  I laughed so hard for so long that I finally had to be escorted off of the little stage!

I’ve had many embarrassing moments in my life, but that one stands out in my memory as one of the worst. It’s ironic that now a large part of what I do in life involves speaking in front of others!

Anyways, all of that to say that but for a few exceptions, we rarely get talkers block. (I had it bad that day.)  But it’s because we talk every day.  It’s just what we do.  We do it naturally and without a lot of thought.

What Is Writer’s Block?

Writer’s block seems to keep millions of people who would like to be writing from writing.  But what is it really that makes us think we can’t write?  Maybe writer’s block is nothing more than not getting in the hang of writing every single day, and thus becoming as natural as talking or anything else we do with regular frequency.

Writing daily is me pushing myself against the natural tendency towards writer’s block.

So how about you… what is something you are deliberately doing every day, or at least on a regular basis,  because it matters to you?  Keep going, keep showing up.  Eventually it may become second nature to you, and you will likely learn how to push through and grow beyond whatever *block* may stand in your way!

Photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash