Just Keep Swimming (Archived)

I dreamt I was swimming across a dark lake that was thick with water weeds. The swim was not going well. The water was dense with weeds that stole the momentum of every stroke. Whenever I stopped swimming, they coiled around my legs. The shore seemed impossibly far away, draining strength and hope.

Writing, or any creative pursuit, feels a lot like that dark lake tangled with invisible weeds. We can often see the shoreline, but the drag of hopelessness and rejection and self-doubt pulls us low in the water. It’s very easy to focus on the weeds and tangles rather than that far shore. It’s very easy to focus on the sensation of being pulled down rather than stroke our way forward.

When you’re in the middle of a dark lake tangled with weeds the best strategy is to keep your head above water and keep moving towards the bank. Remaining in place complaining about the weeds is probably not going to improve the situation. Not is whining that it’s not fair the weeds are there in the first place, or pointing out that other people don’t seem to have as many weeds.

Often, the bravest thing a person can do is to keep moving forward. To rise above the tangle and focus on that shoreline, to take patient stroke after patient stroke.

In our creative worlds, there will be more weeds and upsets then victories. There will be slow days, and days when nothing seems to work. There will be missed deadlines and unkind words and times when we trip and fall and skin our knees. The measure of our character is not how many times we fall, but how many times we pick ourselves back up.

I need to focus on the shoreline. Focusing on the sensation of those weeds or trying to work out how long exactly this slow pace will get me to the shoreline fills me with doubt. I need to reach for the next challenge, the next stroke. I need to take it one stroke at a time. The weeds are outside my control. The shoreline is outside my control. What is in my control is that next stroke.

What’s next for you in your creative journey? Do you have a challenge in sight? It could be a personal challenge, or an external opportunity. Focusing on that challenge or opportunity rather then the shoreline keeps your energy on something you have control over.

It’s vital we keep reaching and trying — otherwise we could end up (sometimes quite literally) dead in the water. We have to believe that every strong, patient, purposeful stroke is getting us closer to that shoreline, even if the angle of our swim obscures our perspective.

As a very wise fish once said: “just keep swimming.”

Do you spend more time fighting the weeds then swimming? Is it time to review your strategy? Where would a few strong, clean, confident strokes bring you in your creative journey?

(Posted 11 Jun 2020. Follow me at: https://nicolewalshauthor.com/)