I catch myself sometimes still referring to what I do as "blogging." And sadly, I've been so absent around here -- this place where I've poured my heart out through parenting in weakness, transitions in ministry, celebrating my husband, and honesty about family relationships. One year, I posted a blog post every day for a year. It seems like a lifetime ago.
I've just entered my 9th year here since the first post on GraceLaced (I didn't even remember my blogiversary this year!), and so much has changed. We've added more boys to our family, we started a school, we've said goodbye to a church plant, I've learned to cook, the world of Instagram arrived, we endured a DIY kitchen remodel, I started speaking at conferences, launched GraceLaced Shoppe, moved to a new house, and have now hired a team with the massive growth of the business. You, my dear readers, have grown up with me in so many ways.
All this has amounted to a very full life, one I'm so grateful for. I've had to learn and relearn how to really rest in the midst of the busy and wild pursuits the Lord's placed on our hearts. And in the midst of all this...I've grown in having a stronger voice...and yet, at the same time, less ability to use it at times.
Here are just 3 reasons why I've had writer's block in this season:
1) You can't do it all. When I added my paintbrushes, my tools of language shifted in a way. Not permanently or even for the better. It just has, for this season. Running a thriving business with my art has definitely cut into my time to write. There are only 24 hours of the day. How we choose to use them often reveals what we feel we can't live without. Sometimes the mediums we use to express ourselves change from season to season...I'm learning not to be surprised when I can't use every medium, all the time.
2) Some say: IG (and social media apps) ate the blog. I love Instagram and find my groove there. But with all the daily practice, I now think in shorter sentences, I read shorter thoughts, and my attention is captured more quickly by the accessibility of relationships formed in the ever-changing world of micro-blogging that is Instagram. It still works for me...but I think we've lost something.
3) And, perhaps this is the most poignant for me in my current season, and relates to the former:
A full plate often robs me of the appetite for reading, learning, and meditation on those very thoughts and morsels of truth that makes for good writing...well thought out words...intentional storytelling.
There's very little to flesh out at length when what you take in is only skin deep. There's so much vying for our attention that we skim read, catch headlines, and entertain ourselves by simply scrolling. But those are only temporary boosts of information...like a cup of coffee that gives a surge of energy and alertness to what's around. But there's no shortcuts in the art of chewing, lingering, processing, rejecting, and receiving what's worthy of reading. There's simply no Cliff Notes to soulful thinking and richly digested content.
There is no creative freedom or flowing of the pen when the soul suffocates in the tyranny of busyness.
So to all my fellow bloggers, writers, thinkers, and creatives who wonder what's happened to their voice, their storytelling, their ability to think a thought worth wrapping 350 words around:
Perhaps you have little to say because you've no space to think. Perhaps you have no space to think because you're too busy digesting before you've tasted and savored. A lack of expression in writing has less to do with how many tools we have and more with how long we sit at the table....to dine.
And so I leave you with the familiar words of our friend, Jack:
“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
Rather than reading to stay up on the latest...rather than posting to satisfy a schedule...rather than creating to simply be heard...
...I'm convicted and committed to SAVORING MORE and letting what is written here overflow from a life well-watered and well-fed. I'm overcoming writer's block with a greater appetite.
I'd love for you to join me.
Because of grace,
I'm so honored that you are here. If you enjoy this blog and would like new posts to come directly to your inbox, I invite you to subscribe to GraceLaced by email.