No such thing as unready & uninspired

This quote, attributed to actor Hugh Laurie, has shown up on FB a lot recently.

Last week, I finished the #30PostsHathSept blog challenge.  My goal was to write fifteen blog posts in the month of September, and I did.  I approached the challenge somewhat haphazardly with no particular plan of what I would write about.  That's part of what's so great about a blog challenge.  I couldn't wait to be inspired or "ready" as the quote above says - I just had to write.

When I wrote my fifteenth post of the month last Wednesday, I thought I'd take a break for a few days.  I know how important momentum is when it comes to writing and blogging.  I wrote about that in my one year blog anniversary post:  "Momentum is key, as it is with so many habits.  The more frequently I blog, the more motivated I am to keep up with it.  It's very hard to get back to blogging after neglecting it for weeks or a month at a time."   

On the other hand, I convinced myself that I "deserved" a few days break after completing the challenge.  This is a common trick people use to convince ourselves not to do things.  You can read more about that in the excellent book The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal.  Well, a few days became a week.  And now it's been a week and a half since I've blogged.  During that time, I told myself that I was too busy, too tired and uninspired.  Let me examine those statements, which are all true but also false: 

1)  I'm too busy.  Yes, I am.  But I was about the same amount of busy - give or take - during the weeks I participated in the blog challenge.  Some of the busy is of my own choosing or because I'm not making conscious decisions about how I use my time.  Maybe I'm spending too much time checking email or news or Facebook.  Or maybe I'm letting my paid work seep into my entire day, rather than putting parameters around it.  Perhaps I'm saying yes to too many volunteer commitments.  Or am I spending too much time worrying about things I cannot control?

2)  I'm too tired.  Yes, I am.  But continuing to tell myself how tired I am, will only make me more tired.  And writing fuels and energizes me.

3)  I'm uninspired.  Sometimes.  But as we all know, inspiration isn't going to come if we don't sit down and do the work.  Every book or blog post or piece of advice about writing comes down to that.  I know there are some great quotes from writers on this topic, but I couldn't think of any off the top of my head.  Here's a good one from artist Chuck Close:

 Inspiration is for amateurs - the rest of us just show up and get to work.

And it's so true.  During the September blog challenge and during a similar challenge last year - when I committed to blogging regularly, inspiration came.  Revisiting old themes, cultivating new ideas, sharing life stories, sketching out humorous pieces, trying new formats, incorporating dreams...when I invested time in writing and made it a priority, the ideas came.  Some posts did flow easily; others were hammered out with difficulty.  The quality of the ideas and the writing varied widely, of course. 

On the other hand...

I can't find a source for this quote, but I love its good & simple wisdom.

So...no, I'm not ready.
I don't even think this post is quite ready to publish. 
But I'm going to do it anyway.

*****

Another good quote about being ready comes from Amy Poehler:

Also, check out this really great Zen Pencils cartoon of Amy Poehler's quote.  And if you haven't yet, be sure to check out the Zen Pencils website for lots of "cartoon quotes from inspirational folks."