A local wrestler wins the state title. In the beginning, odds were against him due to internal fears and flaws. The newscast chronicles his story with a thematic flair that it's not unusual for someone to binge on toxic food when faced with possible success. Wrestler's dad seemed also to serve as antagonist in someway personal to the family itself. Mom sends the boy on a journey to an exotic land. He trains at a wrestling camp, sheds his old beliefs, practices important new steps, returns home and wins the state title.
The newcaster's easy acceptance of our often compulsive and self-sabotaging behaviors when faced with possible success was refreshingly honest...
Isn't that what writer's block is all about? Self-sabotage. Isn't that why so many writers have never finished a story? Or if they have, it sits on a bottom shelf in the dust?
Moving forward, becoming conscious, finishing, showing up takes energy and trust, study and discipline.
Discipline... When did it become associated with punishment? "You'll be disciplined for that..." Only in the past decade or so have I come to understand the other side. Root word of discipline is disciple. A writer who writes and finishes serves as a disciple of the creative force.
It takes energy and discipline to achieve our goals in life and never more so than in a writers life.
How do you keep energetically strong?? What is your discipline???
2 Comments on Self-Sabotage and Success, last added: 4/6/2009
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When I was in college, one of my professors liked to say that what artists needed to learn is that discipline is freedom.
I have found this to be true over and over. Sticking to regular work habits, even when it is frustrating or inconvenient, is rewarding. Each day that I do this, I feel a fulfilling sense of accomplishment, and little by little my projects take shape and eventually become complete.
I'm working on this now! Real discipline *can't* be external punishment. It must come from within. And that's the hardest.