I'll be honest with you. I'm a little stuck with writer's block today.

It's been one long finals week and work week. I have a lot left to do before Christmas. This morning, I ate an actual meal for the first time since mid-last week. I haven't slept a solid night for a while now.

All of this has added up to a bit of lack when it comes to creative flow. I would love to be an effortless, brilliant artist and writer who never runs out of ideas and always has something clickable at hand. This, however, does not seem to be my path. Instead, I've got to take the long route of writing and rewriting but mostly just staring at a blinking cursor, waiting for an idea to stop me and say "Hey! Your brain's working today. Let's get crafty." That kind of beauty doesn't strike often.

A lot of the time, this ends up putting me in a mental hamster wheel, constantly grasping at loose ideas and concepts and ultimately just running in circles and getting nothing done. Eventually, of course, I find something that sticks and I'm free to do the kind of writing that I know I'm capable of. However, until that happens I'm at an impasse.

So what do we do when this happens and giving up isn't an option? I wish I knew. Even as someone who works best under pressure, I just end up worrying away anything that I had to begin with. I feel anxious about the content I produce: whether it's still relevant, where I can find good sources for my information, that sort of thing. The worst of all is the duo of questions that comes every single time.

"Can I still do this? Can I still be good?"

Nothing stops me in my tracks like self-doubt. Even when I know I've done well, there's still something inside me that makes me want to take it all back and start over. I worry so much that I lose my sense of self within the piece and just start picking apart the flaws. I don't focus on what I've done well; I only look at what I can change and make better. Sometimes this is good. Self criticism, as long as it's well based, is one of the best skills to develop. I know that it's something I'm glad to have, although it doesn't always have the best root when it comes to my own critical eye.

To sum all this up: I've got writer's block today. It doesn't make sense to me when it happens, and it seems silly later after the fact. I know that in a couple weeks, I'll read this again and feel completely differently. I might even be working on new writing already, something that seems like the easiest thing in the world to do. This kind of thing doesn't last forever. Any creative person could tell you that, and if you are one then you understand.

Hats off to you if you're creating something new today, and cheers and good luck to you if you're just as stuck as I am.