Walking in This World Week #7

Yes, I have been a bad person, totally procrastinating in writing this review. The reason is because I had trouble understanding this week until I met with my friend who is travelling this journey with me. She explained a few things to me and I took notes from her.

And yes, this week has to deal with procrastination. Ironic, isn’t it?

“We see the shape of things to come, but that doesn’t mean they are there yet.” This is what my friend needed to explain to me. I know the story is finished; I know what changes need to be done, but I’m not in a place to actually do it.  But I must take some small steps or the ideas will remain jammed up and the creative pressure behind the jam will continue to escalate. There are always ideas. Good ideas. Workable ideas. The trick is to gently access them and allow them to flow.

Why am I not there yet? I have written down the ideas. I have even written a scene which I could type out and re-work. I also know I need to re-read my story from beginning to end to see where these new ideas can be inserted. Unfortunately health problems plague me and my eyes and mind and are just too tired to do the work. But that’s my excuse, not yours.

There was a lot of attention paid to “strobe-light clarity” in this chapter. This is where I became confused. I think it has to do with receiving flashing glimpses of ideas. Since these are not complete ideas the “I’m not there yet” is the result. An idea hits you like a flash and you think, “What was that?” or “Can I really do that?” The idea is to act on those flashes of ideas and not ignore them. Follow through. Keep the momentum going.

I do get flashes of ideas for other works but I just can’t bring myself to starting something new when I haven’t finished my other projects. That is really important – finishing what you started. This goes for all things in life. Cleaning that room can look pretty overwhelming and once we start we get on a roll. But, we either finish the job or we get distracted and go off in another direction and the job just doesn’t get done. I said in The Artist’s Way that I needed to de-clutter my work space. Have I done it yet? No. I’ve cleaned up some stuff but there is just so much stuff and I don’t know what to do with it. I’m not going to throw away perfectly good binders or the like.

Well, I am totally disappointing myself and all of you who are following this journey. I can’t even finish Walking in this World. Yes, I have read Week #8 and started an incredibly long Week #9. But I’ve stopped. My friend who was taking this journey with me, who I met on a weekly basis to talk about the chapters, had to take a full-time job. It is only supposed to be temporary but our weekly meets came to a halt. I don’t know whether I will be able to finish this journey. Fatigue with my eyes makes reading difficult at times.

I have read reviews from other readers who said they liked Walking in this World better than The Artist’s Way. I do not feel the same way. I got a lot out of The Artist’s Way, which you probably read about in my previous reports. I was also held more accountable by meeting with a group every week. Now, I have no one to push me and I don’t know whether I can continue on my own. I will try but I keep telling myself that getting back to my novel is more important to me, and it is. But I can’t seem to get to that either. By the time everything important is done I am too tired to read anything. Something’s got to change and when I figure that out I will do it.