The blank page. The blank canvas. The blank life. I’ve found that our inability to perform comes less from having nothing to say or do than from having the confidence to start and see it through to the end. Of course every time we sit down to write or create something we want what we produce to be brilliant, powerful, transformative. We want to grow, to do something better than we did last time around. And so we wait. We wait for inspiration to strike us. For the muses to bless us. For that moment when we feel like we can do it right the first time around. We try and order everything in our minds. To make sure all the pieces fit together. And so we sit and think. Think about the post.
In sports, a false start is a movement by an athlete before being permitted by the rules to begin. And like an athlete we wait for inspiration to strike us. For the muses to bless us with the creativity to do it right the first time around.
Without permission to fail we can never succeed. Because in order to succeed we must fail.
When I was a kid I’d sit in my parents car and try to turn the wheel. Of course the car wasn’t moving so it took great effort to turn that wheel.
Such a rule is in place to give all participates the same even chance. While the false start is not permitted in Sports I’ve found that its necessary in life. So often we play the game of life like it was like a race, waiting for the signal to start. But here life has already begun.
The blank page. The more I read about the writing process the more I find how much it scares every writer. What do I say? How do I say it. It stands there daring us to make our first move – to write our first word. But wait. Waiting for the moment of inspiration. Waiting to be blessed by muses. Waiting to say it perfectly the first time around. And so we wait.
That’s my problem. I like to say everything perfectly so I forever correct what I have just written and never quite move on to the next sentence. the next paragraph.
You have to start to change, to grow, to get better. You’re not going to be perfect the first time around. You’re not going to be perfect every time around.
You have to be moving to change direction, to adapt, to live.
I want everything I write and say to be brilliant, persuasive, powerful, and transformative.
