Post-Covid apathy is real.
For some, it leads to the Great Resignation, burnout, languishing, indifference, or the Great Whatever. Whatever it is, I seem to have it, and so do many other creative people I know and work with.
In 2020, as the world locked down, I decided to use the time of seclusion as an opportunity to get things done. Once I’d completed three books (not from scratch, just finished off) and launched them (between lockdowns) I found myself in a very different place.
Since then, I’ve written–mainly blogs, some very, very rough drafts of stories, new workshop content, and a daily journal that began on January first, 2020 and became a Covid journal. Despite the fact that words are being written, every word seems to be a very slow step on the journey out of the Great Whatever.
Despite the apathy, the words keep coming, but I’m finding it hard to do anything with them. This causes me to ask, what’s the point? What am I going to do with them anyway?
I feel the need to wrestle with my writing and fight all the things that will keep me from it–social media, lack of prayer, the shadow comfort of too much television, busy work that doesn’t lead to solid words on the page, and the sluggish soul that craves refreshment.
When in a slump, writing mentors encourage the writer to just keep writing. They tell us that even if it’s a Facebook post a day, an entry in your gratitude journal, or on a Post-It note–just write.
Vinita Hampton Wright writes in the Art of Spiritual Writing:
Allow your spiritual life to uphold your creative life. You write about the spiritual life, so do not hesitate to incorporate your spirituality into every aspect of your writing, including self-care.
Prayer, meditation, silence, time lingering with sacred texts, slow reading, contemplative movement—if these help with your life in general, then certainly they can help with your writing in particular.
Separating our spiritual selves from our writing selves isn’t possible. Therefore, this apathetic slump needs spiritual care, as well as the age-old advice to just keep writing.
I feel called to write and simply cannot stop writing. I also feel called to develop my spiritual life. At the end of the day, they one and the same.
I love this post, Elaine!
“We cannot separate our spiritual life from our creative life” I feel that one without the other leads to an unbalanced approach to our writing by making it an idol to bow down to, rather than enjoying the journey of discovering each and every word that creates our stories. God’s heart is always about relationship, and when our spiritual life is flourishing then the outcome is more words!!
Keep writing 😉😘
Thank you, Wendy. As always, your reflections are full of wisdom. Relationship is certainly the key. 💕
Such a great post, Elaine! You are right, our spiritual lives feed into our writerly lives and vice versa. Our physical wellbeing does too—I’m currently in a slump due to illness. I’m practising being kind to myself around that, letting myself rest and be nurtured. When I eventually get back to writing, I’ll be a rested and nurtured writer.
‘A rested and nurtured writer’ sounds wonderful!
I hope your health concerns are overcome soon. 🙏🙏🙏
Thank you for taking the time to respond. 😊