Well, I’m reporting on the second day from the third morning. I didn’t write last night because I didn’t have the heart, or the energy. Chinatown is fun and I’m having a nice little vacation-with-dog. They’re easygoing about dogs around here and people don’t seem to mind having Forbes in their stores, so the environmental inspiration is top-notch. But I’m still blocked. I want the book to be so real, so honest, and so helpful that I think I expect to write the Bible. I need to be okay with just writing something from me to the reader. Maybe it will set the world on fire, maybe not. But it will be out there to help somebody.
So, yesterday Forbes and I walked to Soho and had breakfast at a place with dog-friendly outdoor seating. Then I wrote — on three different proposals. Maybe I need to accept that I’m writing three books.
At midday we went to the Lower East Side, looked for shoes at Mooshoes (they’re having a huge sale on Saturday if you’re nearby), and had strawberry shortcake for lunch at Babycakes. A little more writing, then a break for the radio show, which was really wonderful — a client of mine who went from couch potato to marathon runner, then Jinjee Talifero, a raw-food mother of five, and finally Sid Garza-Hillman, author of Approaching the Natural: A Health Manifesto. It all worked. It felt great. And I didn’t know any more what to write about afterwards than before.
So I walked Forbes again and picked up broccoli with black mushrooms and brown rice from Vegetarian Dim Sum House for dinner. Shortly thereafter I was asleep — no construction noise last night like there was the night before — and woke up refreshed, but still blocked.
I headed out this morning at 7:15, an inspirational podcast coming through my earphones, and trekked through the Lower East Side with Forbes. Someone on the podcast said “Depression can’t get to you when you’re moving,” which was an uplifting thought: I’m down here attempting to write book #12; I get an A for action. And he also talked about not deflecting ideas of others when they could be helpful. I haven’t talked with a lot of people about this book, but I’ve gotten a lot of ideas from my Higher Power and I think I’m deflecting those. I need to just pick one and write it. Even if it’s not perfect. Even if it doesn’t make the New York Times Bestseller List. Even if it’s just one more book out of many that reaches a few people and changes a few lives. That takes willingness. And humility.
When the podcast ended, I found myself in front of the Juice Press
shop on Rivington Street and felt this was an invitation to go in and get provisions for the day: Fountain of Youth Smoothie (c’mon, who could resist?), raw falafel salad, green juice, and cacao balls. Good food for good thoughts.
This process of actions and thought sounds very familiar to me. It’s helpful to know that others who create do the same. Thanks for sharing. This could be your next book – how to write a book.