writing in the time of coronavirus

It's definitely a strange time to be a creative person. Most of the creative folk I know are struggling to find the same meaning in their work as they did before—and I’m in the same boat.

During this time, I've found that it's pretty much impossible to approach my writing with the idea of "achieving goals," so instead I've been focusing on the act of writing as an essential form of self-care. 

These few things have all helped me reframe some of my assumptions and practices around writing:

• getting a new perspective on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

• posting a reminder of Zen things up on my wall

• reading Rebecca Makkai's essay "The World’s on Fire. Can We Still Talk About Books?"

• returning to this Philip Pullman quote: 

  • “After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” 

And when I turn to the page now, my goal is not productivity but pleasure in the rare act of turning inward and stepping into my imagination, taking a mental retreat from the everyday stress that is life in 2020.