I’ve been contemplating on starting to blog again, but haven’t been sure what to blog about. Lately, what’s become important to me is exercise. In particular, the connection between what I feel about myself as a writer and what I feel about myself as someone who works out. It’s kind of fascinating to me.
Being a smallish man most of my life, I have all of these voices in my head before a workout that say things like, “You’re being foolish, you’ll just fail!”, “Everyone will laugh at you, don’t be ridiculous!”, and my personal favourite, “Everyone else does it better than you!” For all of you writers out there, does any of this seem familiar?
Since September last year, I’ve made some pretty significant changes in my life. I went back to school to become a library tech, left a job that I was employed at for 12 years, took a six-month contract to teach creative writing workshops and revitalize an elementary school library, and I pushed myself to work out consistently.
I think this blog, if I ever get brave enough to press the “publish” button, will be about the similarities between working out and writing. The crazy makers, the shadow artists, and the internal censor. For those of you who have read The Artist’s Way, this blog will be kind of like that – but with weights and treadmills. A building of the self-esteem both in word and in body.