Writing | Inspiration

Will Today be the Day I Don’t Write?

If you write about not wanting to write, haven’t you still written?

I feel like it is imminent. After around 100 days (not really counting but end of April-ish) of writing something for every day and publishing, on average 1.5 stories per day, I think the streak might end soon.

I didn’t really have a goal in mind. I didn’t set a 100 day, or year mark, but I generally committed to publishing at least an article a day for the unforeseen future. I guess we must be near the unforeseen future, because my inspiration to do an article a day has tapered off considerably.

To be completely and technically accurate, I didn’t write every day. If I knew we were going to be out of town, or otherwise engaged, I would write stories ahead of time and schedule them to publish. That is why I italicized “for” above. I didn’t write every day, but I wrote a story for everyday — at least; and often more. In July I published over 60 pieces.

Suddenly, like a light switch, my motivation to keep up that (or any) pace has evaporated. Gosh how I do love to mix metaphors though… Maybe that will see me through?

There is a bit of a correlation in that just a few weeks ago I had a run-in with a rather nasty and toxic person on the platform. I can’t deny that took a bit of wind out of my sails. The attack came almost out of nowhere and it was exponentially out of proportion to a rather inconsequential comment I made.

It was a full-barreled, “you are the worst person on the face of the earth” attack that came in a personal message. To be honest, I wasn’t completely caught off guard. I am aware that this person is a hot mess of swirling noxious hatred, but apparently, I did not keep a large enough distance around the individual’s territory, and therefore warranted attack.

But really, that person is completely irrelevant to anything. I am confident they lead an empty and lonely existence, and what was said didn’t really bother me specifically all that much. I think it was just one of those “last straw” things on top of what is a perpetual low to medium-level stressful time for everyone on the planet.

I am certainly not immune to that any more than anyone else, and that low-level stress can add up substantially over time.

And, I can’t blame my motivational dip completely on that, for it actually spurred a bit of inspiration for several stories, two of which were unexpectedly curated. (I suppose “unexpected” is actually implied in curation, because who can predict that really?) Here is one of them:

As to my motivation level, there are definitely other forces at play here. Perhaps I am just weary, or maybe distracted. I haven’t met a squirrel that couldn’t capture my attention for at least a few seconds.

I know I am restless. I am ready to hit the road on a semi-permanent basis, but even if the world wasn’t in perpetual lockdown, we don’t quite have all of our ducks fully hatched yet to dive into that plan.

So here I am.

Clearly, I have answered my own question with this article of self-musing. Today is not the day when I don’t write at least something (never said it was going to be good either).

Tomorrow starts my wife’s work week, and consequently mine. While she is toiling away at legitimate and essential tasks there really isn’t any reason for me to not crank out some sort of story.

But, next Friday and Saturday; those are a different animal. We are going to stay in a little hotel on the water for my wife’s birthday, and if I haven’t pre-written two pieces for those days, then that is the end of the streak.

But if it is, then so be it. I can always start a new streak.

Thanks for reading.

If you like this, you might like some of my other writing:

Timothy Key spent over 26 years in the fire service as a firefighter/paramedic and various fire chief management roles. He firmly believes that bad managers destroy more than companies, and good managers create a passion that is contagious. Compassion, grace and gratitude drive the world; or at least they should. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and join the mail list.