Aspiring Writer's Block

   Writing is one of the few things that has the capability of bringing me clarity. And if it doesn't bring me clarity, it at least allows me to process all the thoughts that are constantly whizzing around in my brain. Unfortunately though, for the past month I have hardly been able to write anything. I would refer to this as what is most commonly known as "writer's block." However, I do not feel qualified enough to self identify myself as a writer... yet hopefully. Regardless of what you would like to call it, I have been struggling.

    I've been writing for as long as I can remember. When I was five years old I wrote my first poem. I scratched it down on a little white scrap of paper in hot pink gel pen... the poem was about butterflies. I still have that little scrap of paper to look at and remind myself why I write. Because when I was five, I wasn't writing so that the whole world would applaud me. And I wasn't writing to make a political statement or to protest an idea. I wrote,
                                                                  Butterflies are yours
                                                                  Butterflies are mine
                                                                  God made butterflies
                                                                  of all different kinds
                                              (There's more but I will spare you the rest.)
because I apparently enjoyed butterflies and I just felt like writing that. Revolutionary right? Well, not really. Actually it's just simple. And simplicity is something that is important.
    A few things that have been refreshed in my mind during my "writer's block."
One: Remember the reason that I write, which is because it's something I love to do, not because I need the world's recognition.
Two: Not doing something because you think you aren't good at it does not help you get any better. Desiring to get better at something is great as long as it doesn't take the enjoyment away from you. But I'm not reluctant to say that everyone has a desire to be good at whatever it is they love to do. I mean that's obvious. If you love to paint, then you want to be good at it. If you want to be a dancer, then you probably want to be a great one. And if you're like me and you love to write, I'm sure you want to continuously learn to write better. Which bring me to the third thing that that was refreshed in my mind: if you want to get better at writing then here is the most important thing you must do...yes, you know, WRITE. When you can't think of anything to say, write. When you're sad, write. When you're happy, write. When you're indifferent, write. And even when you're frustrated about how you can't write, yes again, write.
    The good thing about those refreshers is that you can most likely apply them to just about anything. As in, if you want to get better at anything, you're starting place is always to just do it. (Nike was genius for coining that phrase.) And so I think I'll just end it on that.