Frustration
“But
I remember thinking that learning how to endure your disappointment and frustration
is part of the job of a creative person…Frustration is not an interruption of
your process; frustration is the process. The fun part…is when you’re
actually creating something wonderful, and everything is going great, and
everyone loves it, and you’re flying high. But such instants are rare.”
Elizabeth
Gilbert (Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, p.149; “Persistence,” Riverbend
Books, 2015)
No one
loves to be frustrated. The one thing that can make me into a maniac in a nano
second is having the computer do one of it’s “black-hole” impersonations and
gobble everything up. I lose it. But in the creative process, one is always in
a state of minor frustration. “What comes next?” is often asked. And you wait,
and you try things and try some more things, and nothing works, and so you wait
some more…until it works in its own sweet time. In writing, one of the
frustrations, at least for me, is trying to “hold it in the road,” so to speak.
Trying to stay positive when all-hell is breaking loose and I just want to
scream.
With
any work, and with any relationship, and in any life, period, frustration is
the name of the game. Don’t ever get behind me in a grocery store check-out
line, because I am always in the one where the person in front of me gets a
debit card rejection, then goes through five more card rejections while arguing with the cashier, then checks
to see how much cash she has and then starts taking away items until she can
cover the cost of the others. It seems to be a little joke played on me by some
very sadistic gods. I’ve even been known to make up the difference in the cash, just to get things moving—especially since this particular shopper always
has a little child with her who’s screaming its head off. You’ve been there, right?
Frustration in all caps.
Life is
filled with frustrating moments, so it’s a good idea to take yourself in hand and
manage your response to it. In other words, don’t be like me—don’t scream so
loud the dog runs under the bed to hide. And don’t slam doors or punch walls or
other people. Instead, step away, take ten deep breaths and maybe do a little
bit of stretching. If it’s possible, do something else for a while. Take a
walk, plant some flowers, fold the laundry, sweep the floor—anything to get
your body moving. Make peace with your muse by saying some very nice things to her
and about her. Then try again. If all else fails, call somebody who knows what
they’re doing. In my case, the Geek Squad.
I hope
today will not be frustrating for you. But if it is, know that you are not
alone. I’m somewhere smashing things and cursing like a bandit.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
No comments:
Post a Comment