Writing creates a bridge for your thoughts. Here’s how to build it.

Use this bridge to empty your mind and bring your thoughts into something a bit more tangible.

Overthinking gets tiring after a while. It usually starts around 6PM, when I’m losing will-power to work and get shit done. Some days I can work around it and continue to push through the barrage of thoughts coming in, other days like today, I can’t. So I sit down and simply stare at a blank canvas. Then perfectionism kicks in. The perfect article with the best ideas must be written. If he wins, the writing stops, and so perfectionism brings in his best friend, procrastinator. He convinces me there will be a better time for writing, a time when I’m more “inspired” and have my creative juices flowing. It’s a muscle you have to learn to work, just like hitting a grueling workout. You won’t like it at first, it’ll be very, very uncomfortable. The next gang member rolls up, impostor syndrome. “Who the fuck is this guy thinking he can write? Look at him, he’s got no credentials!” And so I’m in the ring getting a fucking beatdown by these fellows, but luckily I have my trustworthy coach with me. He’s called Light. With Light I’ve learned to take on hit after hit without getting KO’d. I might be bruised, bloodied and weaker than I was at the start of the fight, but these guys actually believe they will win.

When you realize you’re the creator of your own reality, it’s hard to get knocked down. Although there may be many things out of my control, there’s one I always have the chance to adjust, action. You always have the decision to take some sort of action, and not taking it is also action, so you might as well fucking do it. Might as well just start writing because I feel like it, and Every. Single. Time. I realize it was just a matter of getting into flow state after writing a couple of lines. Sometimes flow is so deep that I can literally just close my eyes and visualize my fingers typing across the keyboard. Some sort of payoff had to be earned from all my teenage years playing videos games. Spending hours on chat with my friends brutally typing away while we slashed monsters away at 4 AM. I seldom miss those times, the nostalgia is so real. Eventually real life started to kick in and I realized I didn’t enjoy playing video games…