There is nothing, and I mean nothing, so disconcerting and so discomforting and so downright difficult for a writer as staring at the blank page (or screen, as the case may be) with the desire to put pen or keyboard to work and work on words and ideas and sentences that make sense, only to find that that “something” – spark or muse or flow or whatever – is not there.

You do what you can, of course. Drafts are produced and then scrapped and you begin again never really knowing when – or even if – the muse will return or the flow will ever flow again.

Mostly, this is how we live. Mostly we are looking for inspiration or the spark or the idea that will again let us know that yes, we have got a handle on this life-thing, this writing-thing or this music-thing or this mother-or-fatherhood-thing or this friend-thing or this laundry-thing or this work-thing.

The real truth about it all, about life, is that it’s just awesome and wonderful that you did this or that or whatever yesterday, but – ahem – what are you going to do today?

A performer once put it this way (and I’m paraphrasing here, just so you know):

Today’s audience doesn’t really care how well you played (or sang or acted or danced or whatever you did) yesterday. They care about how well you do it today.

And so, we try. We suit up, buckle up, buck up, and try. Again. And again.

And, hopefully, give it all we’ve got. Whatever we’ve got and whatever we’ve got to do.

We try again.

Whether the words flow smooth and easy or have to be pulled like they’ve been impacted for five years. Whether the dinner comes together easy with every ingredient at the ready, or we ready ourselves to make do with whatever we can find handy. Whether the conversation is a hard one, or an easy one. We try again.

~

That’s really all we can do.

When you really think about it, that really is all we can do.

So today? Whether it’s easy or downright difficult, please try again.

We both know that eventually the spark, or muse, or flow will show up.

If you do.

~xo,
LuAnne

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“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” (~Samuel Beckett)