How To Actually Move Through Writer's Block by Dr. Robin Barre at the Shiftless Wanderer

This article is reposted from the 'Digital Letters" email series for subscribers of The Shiftless Wanderer blog, by Dr. Robin Barre.

Hello friends,

It’s time for a (slightly delayed) digital note.

As usual, feel free to make a tea, settle in and meander with me for the next few moments.

It’s not often I get writer’s block.

As a writer, you’d think I’d always have a fresh stack of ideas. But I guess that’s why it’s called writer’s block.

Because even as writers, we’re not immune to it.

This month has involved travel, aiming to create new styles of content and some exciting book developments.

I think sometimes, especially when we have a lot going on in our lives, it can block how we move forward.

So, today, I thought I would share with you how I move through a block.

Whether that's through something like writer’s block, a creative block, or potentially moving through a client journey when you’ve used all the options you can think of.

☀️ Sometimes blocks in the road aren’t merely blocks.

They’re opportunities for us to pause. See what comes to mind. What emotions come to the surface. Is it essential we keep moving? Or is it okay for us to pause for a while? Normally, we realise the latter is a possibility we may not have considered before.

📌 Movement doesn’t have to be perfect.

If you’re facing a block around something, chances are it may hinge a lot around our own thoughts of perfection. What happens if you move without feeling like it has to be the perfect next step? What if you wrote without the pressure of it needing to be a word perfect piece? What if you spoke with your client without needing to solve the issue that day?

🌊 Do you need to stay on the motorway, or can you take a different road? Go in a direction you hadn’t even considered?

Life can sometimes begin to feel like a motorway. Everything is urgent. There is always more tarmac to travel. Speed is key. What would happen if you exited the motorway for a while? Went off the beaten path? I doubt the motorway would cease to exist.

If you’re facing a block in creativity, business, or a client journey, remember it doesn’t last forever.

Pausing, diversions, or moving messy are all valid responses. There’s always meaning to be made from that barrier in the road.

As I often say, it will all shake out in the end!

Speak soon,

Robin

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About the Author

Dr. Barre is unique in the field of adolescent psychology as she brings her perspective and understanding of adolescence as the most crucial transformative period in a person’s life, other than birth and death. She diligently honors her own lively adolescent energies, compassionately tends her Inner Teenager, while embracing her role as an elder in the lives of young people. Aside from the work she does through The Shiftless Wanderer to educate, support, and train organizations and caregivers, Robin maintains a private psychotherapy practice where she specializes in adolescent issues and complex trauma. She is currently completing a book on getting to know your Inner Adolescents.