Stepping out of the world…

I love to write. Primarily, I write fiction. I also have quite a number of papers that I must write in school at any given moment, my various journals, poetry, and of course, contributing to surrealmuse.com. I generally write anywhere upwards of about 10,000 words a day. Yup, I like to write as much as I like to talk. Any of you that have met me in person know that’s quite a bit.

For the last few weeks, however, I have found myself writing the bare minimum. I am at somewhat of a block in the creative process for my latest fiction endeavor. A crossroads in the story arch, and I am thinking about throwing away a few chapters and rewriting in some new characters.

Throw that in with the fact that I have the travel bug, and you have some major writer’s block. I have had this absolutely insane urge to travel. Since starting school last year, along with the obligations of owning a home, it can be very easy to get bogged down with routines, chores, and daily tasks that aren’t particularly conducive to the creative process.

But sometimes, you just have to wipe the schedule clean and make an artist date. And that’s what we did this weekend.

We have quite a number of things we wanted to get accomplished this weekend. There is always the never-ending battle with a Florida lawn, and laundry, and homework, and blah blah blah etc…

But we woke up on Saturday, and decided to just wipe the schedule clean, and do anything but the routine. It wasn’t long before we found ourselves on St. Pete Beach with friends, swimming, sunning, and just enjoying a darn near perfect day.

We roamed the beach and St. Pete, with no particular destination. We walked through parks we had never seen before, hit little beach dives and sampled foods, and made a few friends.

We left the beach around sunset, and yes, it was a gorgeous, picture perfect sunset…

Afterwards, we decided to go hit the Art Walk in downtown St. Pete. We went club hopping, and just did our best to avoid the clock. We mingled, talked, and just did anything but go home, until much later in the evening.

Of course, this morning, the chores are still waiting for us. But that’s okay… Sometimes, it pays to forget about many of the near-meaningless busy work and tasks that we assign to ourselves from week to week, and simply enjoy life for the moment, or the moment after that, but not much more beyond that. Sometimes, it pays to step outside of “the real world” for a bit and simply exist in a state of quiet enjoyment at your surroundings, the company you are keeping, and the simple pleasure of fried bar food.

And, when I awoke this morning, my writer’s block had been miraculously solved.

I’d like to offer you a challenge. When you feel most overwhelmed by the mundane every tasks of the world, make it a point to try to grab a weekend in your own backyard. Visit parts of your town that you’ve never been to. Just grab a loved one, get in the car, and DRIVE.

Don’t have a particular plan, and just get out there in the world, and enjoy being in the moment. Sometimes, we need to step outside of the real world for a little bit. It will always be waiting for you when you care to come back.