My blog was to be a practice in finishing, a commitment once a week to put some words down on the page regardless of whether I thought it was good, bad or indifferent. It has been a long week, extra busy with work, physical work that leaves this 59 year old actually tired. So, when it came time to write my blog, I was stuck and have been for 3 days.

I have been writing the daily baseball blog about the Detroit Tigers. They stink so it is a bit of a challenge to stay positive and not wallow in their misfortunes. It is something I do enjoy but it takes energy and time. And it is every day for the most part.

So what do you do when the words are few? There are endless stories about writer’s block. Maya Angelou explained in the book Writers Dreaming:

“I suppose I do get ‘blocked’ sometimes but I don’t like to call it that. That seems to give it more power than I want it to have. What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks ‘the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat,’ you know. And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m serious and says, ‘Okay. Okay. I’ll come.’”

Toni Morrison observes. I was talking to a writer who described something she did whenever she moved to her writing table. I don’t remember exactly what the gesture was — there is something on her desk that she touches before she hits the computer keyboard — but we began to talk about little rituals that one goes through before beginning to write.

I, at first, thought I didn’t have a ritual, but then I remembered that I always get up and make a cup of coffee while it is still dark — it must be dark — and then I drink the coffee and watch the light come. And she said, Well, that’s a ritual. And I realized that for me this ritual comprises my preparation to enter a space that I can only call nonsecular…

I tell my students one of the most important things they need to know is when they are their best, creatively. They need to ask themselves, What does the ideal room look like? Is there music? Is there silence? Is there chaos outside or is there serenity outside? What do I need in order to release my imagination?”

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not comparing myself to these fabulous writers or any writer who makes their living being a wordsmith. I am merely a human with a desire to communicate and use my words to help me understand my world. So here’s hoping the words come in abundance and with grace.