Refilling the "Think Tank"
Think Tank #135 - "New Beginnings"
During one of the best times of my life, I wrote every day. It was a ritual similar to Julia Cameron’s “morning pages” from The Artist’s Way: write every morning about anything that comes to your mind. When you’re done, you will be grounded and ready to take on the day.
It actually works, but it’s tough to maintain. In fact, no matter how many times I sit down to work, I always resist the urge kicking and screaming, and only realize how much I enjoy it once I get started. The reason I used to wake up every morning to publish a post on this website despite my entire body screaming for an extra hour of sleep was simple: discipline. Skipping a day was against the rules. I told myself I had no choice, so I did it.
Then I got lazy. I got busier. Excuse after excuse piled up. Before I knew it, my output slowed to a near-complete stop. This is not unusual. Ruts are as much a part of the creative process as actually creating, but this one has lasted too long. I need my daily Think Tank series. It was keeping me grounded. Motivated.
However, there’s a reason it burned out in the first place, and this is because it was not sustainable. I was beginning to treat them too much like ‘art pieces’ and less like thoughts. I started getting insecure about them; and they started becoming more researched and less spontaneous.
That is going to change. Going forward, new additions of Think Tank series will be posted every weekday, and will be written the morning they are posted and sent out into the world exactly as they are, for better or for worse. Because this is a fairly vulnerable thing to do, they will only be open to paid subscribers.
Regardless, expect more output in general, because that’s the thing with writing—it begets more writing. All the essays and short stories and Picking Stones and Breaking Big Brother updates will still be free, and if Julia Cameron keeps her promise, they’ll be better than ever.
Thank you to everyone reading this. I hope this makes up for the months that you’ve stuck with me through all my limited output.
I’m looking forward to seeing where this new(ish) project brings.
Now, commence the first post of the new era of Think Tank—“Think Tank Refilled,” if you will. If you’re a paid subscriber, just keep scrolling. If you’re a free subscriber, why not consider an upgrade?