I don’t remember adding stress, frustration, and exhaustion to this week’s schedule, but they arrived anyway. We should be accustomed to the unexpected events by now, desensitized to surprises, immune to feeling. But they design roller coasters to elicit intense reactions, and those feelings can’t be suppressed — they must be recognized, felt, and expressed. The biggest attraction at any amusement park runs on big, scary, height-defying, G-Force inducing tracks. You know, the one it is impossible to miss. It draws everyone’s attention from the screams, hoots and hollers, and the laughter. They say you can board, white knuckle the safety bar, and wail in terror, or you can enjoy the ride.

I recognize the feelings and search for ways to express them. Sometimes, I work them out with bouts of cleaning, long walks or deep breathing, and yoga. Some situations demand I sing. It will be out of tune when I confidently belt out words at the top of my lungs, despite having forgotten everything except the chorus. On the days when I feel like crying, I dig deeper, find a fresh perspective, and I laugh.

Have you laughed today?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Being an introvert, I am predisposed. I don’t really enjoy interacting with people. It ranks as one of my least favorite activities and generates never-wracking, exhausting, annoying, and stress-inducing feelings. Humans are fallible, error-prone, imperfect beings. We make mistakes, experience lapses in judgment, and space out when we should be concentrating. That leaves ample opportunities to offend others because of our bone-headed moves. When we increase our number of daily interactions, we multiply the odds of someone making us angry.

It would be easy to obsess over their ineptitudes, rage against their thoughtless behaviors, hold grudges, and look for ways to get even. But that requires vast amounts of emotional energy. It is precious energy I could use in more productive endeavors. The choice is mine, and I choose to let those feelings wash over me, pass through me, and I release them. I take a deep breath, gather the pieces of stress and anger into a ball, and on my exhale, I push the goopy, ugly mess out of my body. With the next inhale, I imagine every wonderful and positive trait I want in my life. With the negative vibes gone, I concentrate on directing my energy to more important things.

How do you start your day?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

How many times have you heard someone lament they want to be free? What does that mean to you? Is it the ability to do whatever you what whenever your heart desires? Do you wish to act or change without constraint? The reality is so much more. Every action, each decision, has consequences, and any blame falls on our shoulders.

There is a secret to realizing the autonomy you seek. It involves taking responsibility and holding yourself accountable. Those two elements are inseparable and contradictory opposites, like Yin and Yang, darkness and light, young and old. Holding one requires you to maintain a balance with the other and attaining true freedom means exercising control. The powers that be do not automatically grant us our desires, but they are easy enough for us to take. We must use them with virtue, knowledge, and compassion. If we are lucky, those qualities transform into wisdom, and we can truly fly.

What will you do with your freedom?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

We writers are great procrastinators. Few events remind us of urgent tasks and motivate us to finish trivial chores like a scheduled writing session. Suddenly we remember emails we must send, laundry that needs our attention, and the far reaches of the refrigerator cries for sorting, cleaning, and organizing. How have we missed the dust bunny under the back corner of the couch? There are text messages, file folders to comb through, and only twenty more levels until we reach the end of the Candy Crush path.

But words don’t write themselves, and the stories living in your head are difficult to share. The day dawns, and we realize it is time for a decision. The choice is to continue along the familiar rut of wishful thinking and ingenious avoidance tactics or to honor the promises we have made to ourselves. The smart course of action is to unplug, disable notifications, silence your phone, dismiss the voices trying to distract you and write. Some writers create a ritual to set the mood. They light a candle, put on their fuzzy slipper socks, pour a hot cup of coffee, lock the door, and discover the words to convey our grand tale.

What are your writing rituals?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

So far this year, I have struggled to locate my desk and fought for time to write. The universe laughs at my measly plans and throws one obstacle after another at me to test my resolve. But those challenges won’t deter me, and I will keep my dreams alive. I discover precious minutes lumped in tiny pockets, a random chair, and realized my writing session is now.

Balancing my laptop on my knees or using the notes app on my phone, I ignore distractions and set work. My surroundings fade from my field of vision, I concentrate on my screen, and I hear the story in my head and hurry to transcribe every word. I work frantically until my window of opportunity expires.

Waiting for my muse to arrive proves to be a luxury I can’t afford, yet I still create inspiration from the chaos raging around me. I scrape together fragments of discipline and compose despite the circumstances. It does not matter if my writing is good. I have done my best to meet my daily obligation and the promise I made to myself.

How do you overcome your writing obstacles?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer