I’ve been in the blah blah blah zone… it swamps me every few months… a day or two into my period, I go blank. Dumb.  Depressed isn’t the right word, at least it doesn’t describe this state well enough for me.  Under rock, peering up. Inside Jesus’ tomb only he’s gone and I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.  I can’t remember why I thought I could make art or finish my novel.  Raw.

Years of witnessing the blahs have taught me it is really not a rock or a cave but an ocean and a big bed of kelp.. swaying, full of light and fascinating ever shifting patterns and if I navigate with self-care and kind self-talk and rest and walks- for rushing about only gets me tangled in the long strands of suddenly menacing kelp, I lessen my suffering and hey, it even starts to feel good here, in the blah place.  It is both blah and not blah, light and dark, creative and not creative.

Which, above all this month, means soothing the tick tock of my novel clock (I have declared I will finish a first draft by November 30th, my birthday). I booked a cabin for myself on eight acres over in Happy Valley- about an hour and half from here out on the Peninsula. I’ll drive over the day after Thanksgiving and spend five days alone, well, me and my little dog Luna, finishing the epic.  I’d like to write 10 or 15 pages before I go but right now, the blahs are bearing their teeth at that idea. 

So maybe it is time for Elizabeth’s idea! Sunday afternoon, I had friends over to make art and Elizabeth, a gifted therapist who is experiencing a similar art Renaissance to mine only in the form of making small mandalas every morning, taught us all a fab unsticking exercise.  Get a couple of colors of tempera paint and several big sheets of newsprint and a big fat brush.  Cover the paper with one letter of the alphabet.  Fill the sheet, repeating the letter over and over again, let the letter become abstract if you wish, just keep your hand gently moving while keeping lightly in your mind whatever you are feeling stuck or unclear about.  Repeat a few times and even a few days in a row.  It feels amazing!

Oh yes, for those of you dear ones who called in to the show and couldn’t get through? That was the Sirius people’s issue… so do try to call again…

Times and dates and topics for upcoming radio shows:

Creating Sane Holidays with Mary Elizabeth Willams
This Sunday November 20th 8:10-9:00 am Pacific / 11:10 to 12:00 Eastern
Right afterwards, from 9:10 to 10:00 am Pacific / 12:10 to 1:00 Eastern the same day I’m taping a show with the amazing Cheri Huber on how to really, finally, once and for all accept yourself!  This would be a great show to call in on with questions and for coaching.
The number to call, and it will work this time, I pray, is 1-866-675-6675