Writing Through Stressful and Anxious Times
Stress Can Cause Our Creativity to Decline
The last few weeks have been a pretty wild ride. In a time when everyone's feeling uncertain, it can be hard to sit down and write.
We’re entering another week of the “new normal,” and it’s feeling anything but. I hope you have found some peace and space for yourself during these wild times. I have been enjoying hearing about all the ways this crisis has sparked the imagination of my clients, driving them to finally tell a story that’s sat too long in their hearts or building a new world out of the strangeness of this one.
How Grief and Stress Impact Us
My own author journey was thanks to being thrown into a strange world I’d never imagined – losing a child and having her sister clinging to life in the hospital was never something I’d thought I’d experience until it happened. Writing became my way out of the darkest moments of grief, pain and confusion in the time that came after. I’ve been thinking about that period of my life a lot lately – I’d never imagined any world like this, either. This time reminds me a lot of that time – being stuck in a hospital bed, not allowed to go outside, not knowing HOW LONG this would last or what the outcome would be.
I am sitting with grief and anxiety once again. I bet you have too. Whether you realize it or not, we're all grieving right now. Grieving what could have been, should have been. Grieving the loss of jobs or freedom or even a trip you'd planned for – for months. And when we grieve, it's hard to focus and make progress. I decided it's time to dust off some of my old coping skills and share them with all of you.
Coping Skills for Reducing Stress, Anxiety, and Increasing Productivity
If this is a topic you feel you need some help with as well, or just want some general coping skills for anxiety, I encourage you to watch the replay of a webinar I did recently on this very topic.
Watch here!
You can also grab a free copy of Ditch the Fear and Just Write It! now! I talk a LOT about mindset and moving past our fears.
We'd love to hear from you if you have other tips for things that are helping you cope through this time.
