Writer's Block.

When a songwriter endures tumultuous relationships and stress, you'd think they'd have more ideas for songwriting, right?

Not the case here.

Not only am I having trouble formulating ideas clear enough for mere blog posts, I haven't written a new song for over three years. I guess I have a severe case of Writer's Block. My brain is filled with self-help, counselling and research, and day-to-day stress. New metaphors and hooks just aren't coming.

So what to do about it? Here are some options.

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1. Attend a songwriting retreat with other songwriters.

"Come in through the side door." #podcast #songcraft #writing Seriously..., Steve Earle's #Songwriting Bootcamp https://t.co/Nd9ITWe1z6

— Jeffrey Nordstrom (@jeffnords) November 16, 2016

I've always wanted to attend a songwriters retreat. 

Unfortunately, retreats like this cost $$$, and I simply do not have $$$ right now. Perhaps I can find some sort of free Internet songwriting group. Or perhaps I'll have to start up a MeetUp of my own. If I'm going to make a retreat for myself, it's going to have to be a little closer to home.

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2. Solve writer's block by Pinteresting the shit out of my social media.

My ex loves Pinterest and her best friend says "Don't follow me on Facebook if you want to know who I am: check out my Pinterest boards and you'll know everything about me." I don't tend to aggressively use Pinterest myself, but perhaps I need to create a few Writer's inspiration boards on my own Pinterest.

On reflection, my Pinterest largely consists of stuff about mental health and leadership. I doubt all the academic reading I had to do for my Master's in Leadership Studies degree was very helpful in regards to my desire to write elemental, emotional, community-based music. So I should probably do my best to avoid all of that sort of writing for a bit create a songwriting board on Pinterest and visit it regularly..

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3. Track down a shaman of some sort.

As a writer suffering from writer's block, I look forward to listening to this episode of #R4Seriously https://t.co/aSeap71SVF

— Jeffrey Nordstrom (@jeffnords) November 16, 2016

I hesitate to apply "spiritual" ideas to anything these days, but religions endure and tap into elemental human aspects. I should try to tap into them too. 

Religions try to give purpose and vision to people in a collaborative manner. They usually have a hierarchy of leadership and mentorship. As much as I've chafed over the years at mentorship, perhaps some time with an inspirational shaman of sorts might help kick this writer's block goodbye.

As to how I could do this at this moment... I have no idea.

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4. Date carelessly.

I have tried to be a very careful dater over the years. At this point, when I look back, that over-caution hasn't really got me very far, writing-wise. I still haven't written any of those "What the hell was that all about" breakup songs. I think part of this might be attributable to my general even-temperedness and desire to give everybody the benefit of a doubt and assume their well-meaningness. More likely, though, is that I'm a bit of a cowardly dater and I barely date in the first place. And right now is most definitely NOT the time to start, even for the sake of a song or two.

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5. Collaborate.

This one is very important. I have not had a healthy group of friend-relationships for a long time. The conversations that inspire new metaphors and hooks... I just haven't had them. Nor have I had anybody highlight what's worth holding on to and what's worth scrapping. 

So perhaps this is the best option. It's time to track down a songwriting partner. Time to get back to reading literature and filling my brain with latent metaphors I'd never considered before.

Perhaps a new project for the new year.