I used to do a lot of sports and afterwards I would have a Slurpee. When you get a Slurpee, it's cold. It's full. I always flip the straw so that the spoon is down because it's sharp and stick it into the cup that way. At first the liquid flows easily. The straw is full. It's a flavor explosion. The cold is so intense that you get this pain that starts in your throat and becomes a headache if you take too much too quickly. (Drink luke warm water between each sip. Solves it instantly.) This is the best part. After a while you reach this point where you aren't getting liquid. So you stir the beverage, slosh it around and kind of get it to all settle down again. For a while longer you are still on constant sugar-high street. But finally it starts getting dry. You've drained most of the liquid. You can either wait for it to melt or you can dig at it and mechanically break it up so it's able to be sucked up the straw. You can even start spooning it into your mouth. Now you reach the dregs. It's mostly ice at this point. Even the color has become faded or white. Some people might walk away at this point but I had to finish the thing. You could wait and let it melt and drink what would basically be water at this point. Otherwise you dig at it and try to get it to come lose, tip the cup up and try to get the last little bits to slide down into your mouth. Now the cup is empty. You need to refill the Slurpee cup, or buy a new one or whatever.
This is how ideas work.
I refill by going to the theater, or finding a task or job that completely occupies and constrains my thoughts to a single or limited number of activities, forcing me to stay away from the previous processes for a while to get a break. It feels like a reboot when I do it. I think refilling the Slurpee cup is different for everyone though. I can't tell you how to refill it but perhaps this will help let you recognize when it's empty. Days can pass while you bang that hollow cup on the desk, frustrated, not realizing either that it's empty or how you need to refill it. Sometimes it's like you are in the cup, lost, and unable to even think about finding the corner store to get a refill. That's the worst. I do hope everyone sorts their own writer's block.
Mark Charke
This is how ideas work.
I refill by going to the theater, or finding a task or job that completely occupies and constrains my thoughts to a single or limited number of activities, forcing me to stay away from the previous processes for a while to get a break. It feels like a reboot when I do it. I think refilling the Slurpee cup is different for everyone though. I can't tell you how to refill it but perhaps this will help let you recognize when it's empty. Days can pass while you bang that hollow cup on the desk, frustrated, not realizing either that it's empty or how you need to refill it. Sometimes it's like you are in the cup, lost, and unable to even think about finding the corner store to get a refill. That's the worst. I do hope everyone sorts their own writer's block.
Mark Charke