Got a Block? How to Penetrate Resistance

Take 5 minutes to cut through the crap that gets in your own way

Hey, Brave Reader. We’re here to show up for our creative impulses. If you’re a highly skilled procrastinator like me, your dreams can languish. May today’s 5-minute imagination game (below) open up a clear path ahead. First, hear the Suquamish Canoe Family sing as they cut across the Salish Sea. Near Seattle? Chief Seattle Days is this weekend, August 16-18.

Resistance is hell. And it steals your precious Life Force Energy.

We all do it. For some of us, avoiding our chores - and our callings - is a high art. I’d rather chew my toenails in public than clean a toilet or face my taxes. Deadlines help.

But if you really wanna create something, but something else often gets in your way, it’s so demoralizing, right? Persistent Resistance is deeply rooted in the Monkeys of Fear, masquerading as distractions of all kinds:

Fundamentally, writer’s block occurs when an element of our psychology makes writing fearful or unpleasant.¹

All Brave Creative work has stuff we don’t like to do, and fears we prefer not to face. It’s Brave to acknowledge our inner blocks: avoidance, lack of will, ADHD, trauma, amygdala hijacks, and a million mysterious neurobiological sources. When willpower doesn’t work, let’s find our way through the blocks and into the joyful flow of making.

Peter Dinklage goes underwater in “She Came to Me.”

I just saw a great rom-com on Writer’s Block. In “She Came to Me,” Peter Dinklage plays a composer who gets his (cute, short) butt in the chair to work. But his new opera won’t flow, despite deadline pressures. His resolution lay in taking a walk, following his instincts, and making a new, dangerous friend.² Each of these tiny acts felt Brave.

What do you hate, avoid, or procrastinate?

‘Blank page’ beginnings? Refining/editing? Or sharing? I’m great at diving into new ideas, but I struggle to consistently promote share on social media and shape my work for publishing. I want to bravely tell my stories, even if my highly sensitive Monkeys feel rejected, critiqued, or ignored. PS: I need your help! See you in the comments 💗

What helps us to be brave, and meet our resistance? Support.

We all face Monkeys of Fear when we share our brave, creative voices. 🙉🙊🙈 Mostly Brave supports you as we expand our courage, compassion, and creativity. We can all be braver in a private (e.g. paid) space. Will you help us grow this community devoted to playful, deep, sharing? Only $7.20 for an annual subscription.

What needs to go, so you can get on with it?

Try today’s tool. Let’s bring our brave stories to light 💗

Today’s 5-minute exercise: The Knife

Take 5 minutes to cut through resistance with this Knife.³ In this video, my ridiculous alter-ego Queen Poopicina shares a mini-tour of our ‘Holy Sh*t’ 💩 hoarder house (what happens if we can’t let sh*t go?); the potty-mouth version of the Knife (2:38), and her spontaneous songs. Or, read the steps below.

The Knife: Can I cut through my inner resistance?

• BREATHE deeply, and RECALL a time when you resisted or procrastinated something that really matters to you, or simply had to be done.

• IMAGINE this sensation as a thing that’s physically blocking your way. It looks like…

• VISUALIZE unsheathing a knife that’s made to cut through that kind of resistance. Notice its weight, texture, color.

• EXTEND your arm, knife out. FEEL the best way to move through your resistance. Then, make a bold decisive slash in the air. Repeat as needed.

• STEP into the opening. Notice any body sensations. Is the path open? Keep moving.

• REFLECT when done: “Now, I can...”

Creative Prompts to Move Through Resistance

• EXPLORE: Journal about your experience with the Knife, or offer it to someone who suffers from procrastination.

• CREATE: Stand up and show how the Knife cuts through blockages. Add your voice. Or make a drawing.

• MANIFEST: This week, use the Knife to help you act on something you’ve long avoided. Celebrate!

🗣️ Step on up to the Mic…

1. What chores do you hate, avoid, or procrastinate?

2. Do you have hoarder tendencies? Or know somebody?

3. What’s the shape or form of your creative blocks? How do you melt or face them?

Thanks for cutting through your holy crap so you can show up. 💝 When you click like, comment, or share this post with a fellow procrastinator, you’re helping more of us be more Brave in a world running on fear. Big Love to my Brave Subscribers! 🥰

Despite my Monkeys of Fear, my work has appeared in Time Magazine, feature films and television, newspapers, YA fantasy novels, and on stages. My creative tool decks are used in therapy offices and bathrooms across the USA 💩 More at HeartsQuest.com.💗

More to come,

1. “Writer’s Block: What Causes Writer’s Block, and How to Overcome It” Excellent exploration of the research and findings on Writer’s Block.

2. More helpful tools for melting blocks: Door to Nature, Inner Compass, Bouncy Ball.

3. The Knife was inspired by “The Subtle Knife,” a YA fantasy novel and tool for cutting through worlds, created by Philip Pullman; and Tijax (tee-hosh), an obsidian mirror knife from the Mayan cosmology that cuts away what is not needed.