Breaking non writing

In the last two years I have written somehow regularly on this blog. Writing is a masochist act. I want to do it, I love having it done, I find doing it extremely painful. But the most surprising aspect of writing is how quickly it can dry up. Every once in a while there are days when I simply cannot do it. Days of non-writing.

Cat chasing its tail. I get caught up in many other, mostly practical, tasks, the flow of ideas and reflections slows down, the blinking cursor on the empty screen gets intimidating. Stop.

I know what a good friend would say. This is not about inspiration, just sit down and write about something. Well, isn’t it what I am doing now?

I woke up early with the best intentions. I have a list of topics I’d like to know what I think about. That’s why I write. They are all difficult. I have no answer ready made. I am not here to teach something, to share an experience. I am here to figure it out.

Long awaiting topics:

  • Technology at the periphery
  • Experience, sentiment, explanation
  • Longing for adventures, and if adventures are commodities is no-adventure and adventure?
  • Tradition and modernity

New idea:

  • Doing tough stuff (see below)

And then there is that project: the Italian constitution, the value of work. I will get to that too. One foot in front of the other.

How many words now? 238. No, 240. I could actually go on like this and reach 500. Isn’t it 500 the magic number? 257. 258. Progress, how wonderful. 261.

I cheated. Got a message, answered, moved to another site, found something interesting, bookmarked, got even an idea for a new post: “doing tough stuff”. No, it wasn’t this. It sounded better before. Anyway, I’ll get to that one as well. I can add it above, done. I invented a time machine, and a circular reference. Maybe.

7.54, time to go. Must accelerate. I have a doubt now: that “anyways” above, I am not sure it’s right. ’s’ or no ’s’? Probably not. But if I look it up I’ll lose another 5 minutes, guaranteed. I hate grammar, I mean I hate doing it wrong. That’s probably not even grammar, it’s spelling. No, both words exist so it’s not spelling, it must be syntax. That’s for sure wrong, syntax is: “the set of rules, principles, and processes that govern the structure of sentences”. Not that. Yes, I looked it up: no ’s’. Something about the correct way and the slang way. I don’t buy that, but I buy this: “Furthermore, since “anyway” is an adverb and it is impossible for adverbs to be plural”. That’s it, it’s IMPOSSIBLE. Point. I could change it now, then this paragraph would make no sense. Done. Now I am smiling, this was fun. I have to do it again.

New, to-write, post:

  • stream of consciousness to break non writing

Academic title, too academic maybe? Is there another way to say it? Also, that has been done before. If you do something that was done before but it is not done so much because it was done already before does it get new again? Like, doing something “the old way” when everybody is doing “the new way” is actually doing something even newer. Need to include this in “tradition and modernity”. When I get to it. 570 571. Amazing, even strikethrough counts.