The Block

Heat Erodes plastic.

What is the barrier? The outer limit between thought action and execution.

Writer’s Block

The Block is back. The Block is black. Its presence is demanding. A void, a black hole. Any and all light ideas instantly become too heavy.

The block is Inescapable.

The block is gravitational, hungry, moving savagely, endlessly ravaging. It sits in the middle of a park. Unbothered, unforgiving, grounded. Feeding on anything that comes in its chomping range.

The unsuspecting block.

The people seen, studied and failed valiantly to try and move it. The block itself was not heavy, just the ideas within were. The block was intangible. completely nonexistent to physical touchin this reality, this dimension. Outside of the fact that things get lost within it and seem to never come back out, it’s merely a projection from another dimension. Like a shadow.

The scientist and government tried to contain it, but it always swallowed its containers. Eroding it like how pouring hot coffee into a plastic bottle would do. Cults and groups tried to worship it; people tried to fight it, destroy it. Yet it fed and it fed and it fed. Champions from all over, explorers’, adventurers, magic users, bridge makers tried to study it,  make maps of it, explore it but nothing came from it. They could not see in it or through it.

Over time, the inhabitants of the land eventually left it be, accepting it just like they would a tree, it was a thing that existed that only a few can really explain in full detail. Reverence from some, apathy from others. But there were always those few: murderers, intentional or otherwise who dumped their victims’ bodies in the block. Dramatic writers and artists who,  out of frustration, would throw their life’s work in. People dealing with loss, whether it be from death or of love. Grief must’ve knownthe corners of this block personally. Anticipation and anxiety were also close friends within it; when the weight of what could come weighs more than the individual, they’ll wrap it up and drag it to the block. Most times they would collapse under the weight and fall in with their baggage.

People would just be people. Fueled and governed by their silly fleeting thoughts and emotions. While the block was always just the block. An unsuspecting remedy of relief. Only if viewed as such.

Most artists and writers feared the block. As its favorite meals were hearty creative ideas with a side of motivation.

But there were those few exceptions. Those whose souls lived for lifetimes reincarnating on either side of the block, in and out, above and below, but never fully remembering what the opposite was like. But this faint memory was enough to seed, to observe the block from a distance with a more instinctive eye. Bravely inching forward and around the block just like how they would observe a tree with an artistic eye; another object in space, a shape existing as its own thing amongst the Everything. Finding beauty even in its disgusting parts.

The Block. A blockage of flow like one of a blood artery or vein or a dam in a river. Our perspective of the block determines what it becomes or what comes from it. The block is simply another object in space, another idea, another concept with a rich history to explore, fictional or otherwise.

The best way to get through the block is to avoid going within it. Don’t try to force your way to the other side. First just observe, the block from the outside from all sides with fresh eyes. It isn’t here to hinder you. It’s often here to redirect, shift your attention back to what you have been avoiding. It is here to transform you. But first you must be vulnerable and release control.

“When I’m having an art block it could possibly mean I don’t have everything/experienced enough to fully visualize exactly what I’m trying to get out. Usually when I’m blocked it’s a good time to write. My writing is usuuuually chocked with imagery because that’s the only way to paint a picture with words. Which leads to sharpening visualization in my head--- then poof. I can see what I needed in my art. Iron sharpens iron.

Reading has been helping A LOT with the art. Reading feels like it’s bringing me back to foundational stuff. Which is important because that’s where I am with the art. The past retrograde was perfectly tied into this too. In setting hard boundaries with people, forcing them to dissolve previous versions of me and bear witness to the new Tsu. Adjust or die. New Tsu is very “get down or lay down,” which is new. Typically, when I’m going through rebirths I bring people along with me. The new Tsu usually just adjusts. This time I didn’t adjust. Just healthy introductions and I leave it from there. Which is where I am with art. A reintroduction.”

I’ve been having a block. I’ve responded to it in multiple ways. Forcing through it, stepping away. Or this way, simply observing the block from a new lens. Forcing through it looks like “I don’t have anything to paint but I am going to at least get paint on the canvas. Lines shapes colors random chaos. Just do something.”  Stepping away meant just playing video games and focusing on other aspects of life. While playing video games Zelda Breath of the Wild, I gave myself a challenge within the game and said once I completed the challenge I’m going to paint a face. I instead painted a nude from my gallery. This way I wrote what the block looks and feels like. Not just describing it but creating a story for it.

Like Tsu mentioned, I was able to make the visualizations more concrete. I can already imagine a series of art with this Block. It’s no longer this scary abstract idea. It’s something tangible and moldable. If you’re having a block, write or draw about your block and explore where it takes you. It’s visiting the park, the location in your mind’s eye where the block is located and seeing it. Is it at a park or a restaurant? Then just explore. “Falling into the block” is fine as long as you’re okay with staying on the other side. The idea is to explore not dwell. “I’m having a block, woe is me, will I ever come out again” versus “where is this block taking me? Where is it challenging me? What am I afraid of? What am I avoiding?”

This was a fun exercise. And it allowed me to explore what might’ve caused the block to root to begin with. Which I was aware of and even mentioned in conversation yet still somehow avoided. Loss, grief, avoidance, fear, love, shame, anxiety. The block is a portal or a wormhole.  

How can we make move towards love, but not avoid fear at the same time.

Ms Pinkham says  “Hey I hope you win a lot of money”