Wordless

This entire month the pandemic and its mandated lockdown have dragged on, and to be honest, it’s got me down. I really don’t feel like writing about writing. I don’t’ feel like writing AT ALL. Even getting up and dressed each morning is becoming a chore. Sure, there are some hopeful signs that this terrible cloud will lift soon — in Charleston, South Carolina people are starting to hold Yard Sales again, and restaurants are allowing diners to eat inside, although the tables are far fewer than pre-Covid. Churches are resuming Sunday services for anyone brave enough to venture out. But still, life right now seems incredibly dull and bland despite the fact that the summer season is upon us.

 

So all I have to post for May 2020 is: it’s okay sometimes to stay silent, to have nothing to say or to write or even to think. There are days when you’ll have a thousand thoughts racing through your mind but will be unable to pinpoint any single one. Other times, you’ll float through the day on autopilot, proceeding from task to task without any deliberate thought of any kind. And that’s fine. Don’t put pressure on yourself to ‘get something done’ when you’re running on empty. Give yourself permission to NOT be productive, to let your brain rest every once in a while. Everybody needs that respite.

 

Just make sure that a brief break from intellectual endeavors doesn’t become a long-term vacation. Or worse, the ‘new normal.’ Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned from the Corona Pandemic, it’s that a little bit of ‘nothing happening’ is a nice change, but too much can be a soul-crushing, energy-sapping, misery-inducing black hole of gloom. And that’s nothing to write about.

 

Fingers crossed June is way, WAAAAAY better for everyone!