Twenty-five years ago I read an account of the Press Expedition, a group of hearty explorers who ventured into the dense thickets of salal and ferns, the phenomenal redcedar, hemlock and spruce trees dominating the temperate rainforest of the Olympic Mountains; they did so during one of the worst winters in history. My reading of this arduous journey was long before any of my own writing had been published, and early into the development of my ecological understandings. But as I was preparing this newsletter about barriers to writing, I remembered the toiling labors, not always fruitful, of the men who had to figure out how to survive in that nearly impossible to traverse landscape. They sawed, hacked, tramped, forded and fought their way through all manner of impenetrable forest and riparian landscape in order to complete their mission. Sometimes we engage life in much the same way - fiercely tugging, yanking, and cutting our way through the brambles. But we don't have to forcibly pound through our day, our writing, or our inner landscape; I pass along to my clients this ease-filled way. So the focus for this month's newsletter is "brambles & breakthroughs." 

TEALarbor stories' newsletters offer inspiration, encouragement, and 

Some common impediments to the smooth flow of written expression include:

 

* logistics - time, economics...

* emotional factors - insecurity, perfectionism, fear, the inner critic...

* mental constructs - lack of knowledge or skills, required research,         conceptual problems with our subject...

 

The first step for dealing with writing barriers is to acknowledge their existence and identify those which are particularly challenging for us.

 

Next, we learn to accept both the truth and the fiction in how we perceive those brambly patches: yes, there are spikes on the vines, but in due time the berries will grow, ripen and feed us. 

 

Finally, we devise a working plan for writing in spite of those aspects that loom a little too heavily for our comfort.

 

Postlethwaite's poem says it best:

 

"Do not try to save the whole world or do anything grandiose.

Instead, create a clearing in the dense forest of your life and wait there

patiently, until the song that is your life falls into your own cupped

hands and you recognize and greet it. Only then will you know how to give yourself to this world, so worthy of rescue."

 

We start with what we know. We make space. We listen for guidance. We receive. We recognize. We proceed.

 

To learn how TEALarbor stories can help you move forward with ease in your writing, please send an email to: tealarborstories@gmail.com.

TEALarbor stories is now on Twitter! 

Offering mentorship, editing, story & nature guiding ©, tutoring, workshops and more...