03/18/2022
By Kate Stone Lombardi
I’m in this weird state where I’m having lots of things published, but I don’t feel like writing.
I always feel like writing, to the point where I have long been contemptuous of the idea of “writer’s block.” “Nothing like a deadline to help you get over writer’s block,” was my arrogant go-to take on the concept. It’s not that I don’t have ideas. It’s not that I don’t feel the words coming. It’s…well, if I had to put it in a word, I guess I feel lazy. Unmotivated. (Okay, that’s two words.)
Perhaps it’s because re-entering the world (now that Covid is on the wane) is so tiring. I seem to be able to do one or two things a day now, where my days used to be packed. One social event wears me out for days. I feel out of emotional shape – I no longer have the stamina to pack my days full of activities or people.
Hopefully, this will pass. The funny thing is I wrote all through Covid. For now, here is a piece I just published in an AARP newsletter about being a Grandma School Graduate. Yes, grandparent classes are a thing. Here’s one on dealing with my stuff – physical stuff, that is, though of course it’s connected to our emotional stuff. I have another one coming out next week in Good Housekeeping on intergenerational conflict over posting family photos on social media.
But all those were written weeks ago. And now my inner editor is asking, “Yeah, but what have you done for me lately?”
She’s a tyrant, that inner editor.
Wishing everyone a great – if not productive – week!