The hardest thing to do as writer’s, often, is to simply begin writing. Especially when you don’t really have something in mind but know that there is something that you should be saying still. May it be some unnamable idea or perspective in the ever escaping void of your mind, having an obligation to fulfill or just knowing that you should be productive in some form, it can be very difficult to start writing.

In response to this, I could mimic my writing professors, and say to just free-write, which I believe can be very effective. Just go in and write whatever comes to mind, don’t overthink anything and just put something on the blank page. Turn that empty abyss on the page in front of you into a set series of symbols that come together and hold various meanings and both spoken and unspoken implications. It doesn’t have to be award winning or even very intelligible, because the purpose of this is to just get the brain and fingers moving.

I could also say, to just think about anything that you’re invested in at the moment and talk about it to yourself. For example, I’m very much enjoying Avatar: The Last Airbender recently. I didn’t enjoy it as a kid, which I am somewhat grateful for, as now I’m able to experience it freshly and appreciate how amazing of a work it really is. The writers do so much and they do it so well, it’s remarkable, especially for a kids show. The duality of man is very present and profound in this show, and I’m beyond impressed with it. I could also talk about another, more recent show that I’ve been enjoying, Midnight Gospel, which is basically a psychedelic, philosophical podcast with choppy, mind blowing and overwhelming animations to go along with it that truly expand your mind and make you want to watch the episode again, because it’s almost impossible to keep track of the 2 different stories going on through the dialogue and the visuals in the absurd world, in which each episode is unique. Or, I could just talk about how this band I’ve recently discovered, The Pat Metheny Group, is very majestic and exciting and create wonderful landscapes and paths for me to go down and appreciate the dynamics of the world around and inside me. I could do all of these things, and each discussion has brought different ideas and inspirations to my mind and if I chose to, could delve deeper into them and appreciate what they offer me even further, while sharpening my observation and documentation skills.

However, rather than settling with the two above recommendations, I will push forward a third. I recommend, you just for a walk.

Right now, I’m blessed to be taking retreat in a very beautiful environment with little hills, which fosters my walking patterns. And not everyone lives in a safe, easy on the eyes or knees environment, nor are they perhaps at liberty to leave the house for an extended amount of time. However, I truly believe that going for a walk with some ear buds on (or off) and just looking at and thinking about the world around you, is one of the absolute best ways to encourage creativity and a healthy perspective. I know a lot of people are familiar with their neighborhood, and walking through it might not spark the same curiosity and excitement as it once did, but that does not mean that there is no benefit to gain from observing the world around you.

As I’ve mentioned several times, we are documenters of the world around us. We can document whatever abstractions we form in our minds and are settled into our homes, but looking at and pondering on the separate worlds around us, simply just in our neighborhood, can do a very fantastic job of broadening our perspective and opening ourselves to something interesting, that as writers, we should try to document and make sense of in our own specific and unique ways, as each of us experience the universe in our own ways.

In conclusion. Go on a walk and try to smile at things. The world is better if you do.