Face Your Cage

Today’s Song: The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most by Dashboard Confessional

Today I was hit with an incredible, unshakable desire to write in my English class today. I know that may not sound like a big deal, but for someone who’s had a strong writer’s block for 2 straight years, this was pretty incredible! The most frustrating part of this desire was the fact that I could feel the creativity stored up inside me, but something was damming it up. I couldn’t focus on one idea long enough to start writing anything. It was worse than straight up writer’s block. At least when you have writer’s block you have a good reason to not write. I have no excuse.

I figured it’s because I’m afraid to write again. As silly as that sounds, I’m afraid to start where I left off. Maybe it’s because the times in my life when I turned to writing were times I was struggling personally, and so maybe that has something to do with it? I’m not sure. Point is, I feel like I’m practically exploding with ideas, but I’m too afraid to set aside time to sort them out and work on them.  That’s why today’s song is The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most.  Sometimes we lock ourselves into "mental cages" on the thought that it’ll help us stay safe from something, when it’s best if we can be honest with ourselves and face our problems head on, things will be better. It cuts out all the worry and heartache that can happen in between.

Face Your Cage

This idea was cemented for me today when I worked with some of the pre-school aged children in the Child Care Center at my school today. Whenever a problem arose, the children resolved with each other quickly and within three minutes they had moved on and continued playing and learning together. Oh how I wish things were that easy again. Maybe this means I need to start acting like a smile child? Because I am a HUGE fan of that idea.

Don’t psych yourself out. Just face whatever’s bugging you. Maybe that can be the challenge for today? Find one thing that’s been bugging you for a while (a past argument with a friend that needs to be resolved, a term project you’ve been procrastinating, a personal habit you've been meaning to break), and fix it! Break out of your Cage. I promise you’ll feel better; even in the process is slightly painful.

Keep on Listening

Love, Lydia