Last week, I got a text from a friend:
“Would you like to come over tomorrow, have coffee/wine, and put together the LEGO flowers?”
My response:
YES PLEASE!
For a little context, my friend’s mom passed away in October. I’d delivered the LEGO flower kit as an alternative to the real deal knowing that when my dad died, I often needed a distraction but one that didn’t require me to make decisions or interact with anyone. Plus, the real things require a vase and water and clean up when they start to shed their petals and all of that can suddenly feel like too much work when you’re just trying to keep your sh*t together at work and for when your kids get home from school.
The invitation to build the kit with my friend was a total bonus.
Our afternoon chatting over coffee while building the LEGO flower set was joyful and soul affirming. We talked about everything and nothing. I was forced to use my brain in a different way. And in the end, we created something beautiful.
It was so freeing to just play for a few hours. To do something completely frivolous and fun for no other purpose than just that: Fun.
I started to think of all the times I’ve felt stuck. Stuck in my manuscript or my business or simply my mindset.
I’d felt stuck last week.
It was my first week where my schedule was once again my own. And yet, the act of sitting down with the freedom to finally work on my manuscript revision didn’t result in the instant flow state I had been hoping for.
Anyone else hunger for that moment when you can finally focus on the projects you want to and then you sit down and the muse and all your motivation have left the building? Just me?
In the past, I may have taken a break from the project with a different one or gone for a walk or even forced myself to keep working. Butt in chair mentality and all that.
It’s advice I’ve taken and given in the past. Advice that often works.
But my LEGO play date showed me the benefits of taking a break with fun.
To have fun doing something just for the sake of doing it.
It reminded me how I love puzzles and watching the picture take shape. And messing around with water colors despite being no good at it. And the nearly finished cross-stitch project I was working on earlier this summer I abandoned when I couldn’t see straight during COVID.
All of these pursuits allow me to explore color and shape. To physically touch a thing and create something visible.
As writers, we’re often unable to clearly show off what we’ve done that day.
Sure, you could share that paragraph you wrestled into submission or the place where you unlocked your plot hole to your partner, but it’s not as tangible and universally understood as witnessing the 1,000 piece puzzle on the dining room table coming together.
Sometimes we need the satisfaction of seeing something done. Having it be three dimensional and tactile. Why do you think we’re so moved by opening that first box of printed copies of our books (or watching others open those boxes on Instagram)? Our words are finally “real” when they become an object.
So the next time you are feeling stuck, perhaps you need to get out of your head and into something real.
Create something that is tangible.
Knit, paint, plant, build, color, bake, or assemble a LEGO kit.
While your fingers are occupied with the making of something, your creative brain will be engaged in a problem that isn’t your manuscript. Allowing your story mind time to rest.
It’s tough being an adult in general and the current state of our world can feel extra heavy. Allow yourself time to have a little fun.
Have a playdate with yourself or with a friend. Maybe have a day where your writer’s group goes to a paint-your-own-pottery place instead of trading pages or you create collage poems with cut up magazines or bake a cake that represents your book.
Or add this beauty to your holiday wish list.
Tell me in the comments below, what are your favorite ways to have a little creative fun that aren’t writing?
Need more help getting unstuck than a play date? Check out my services page–maybe I can help.