Nature and writing
When I started writing on Nicheless, 300 words on a daily basis did not seem an insurmountable task. I was proven wrong. An overseas work trip, between airports, the aircraft, hotels, office buildings, malls, high speed trains and cars, I was struggling to keep up with my writing. Finally after two days, I settled down to write and looked out at the vast expanse of the ocean visible from my hotel room for inspiration.
I wanted to write about the hummus and the glass bottomed swimming pool. Instead I kept staring at my keyboard, typed one word, deleted it and then froze. No words, no state of flow. That's when I realised, that four days of glass, concrete and being indoors all day had been a deterrent in my ability to be in a state of flow. Earlier, even seeing a picture of flowers, or visualizing a forest with deciduous Himalayan firs was enough to transport me to the midst of nature, where I found myself immersed in the beauty of God's creations and then the words just flowed.
Instead now I was literally stuck. No thoughts, a blank space in between my brows and finally I shut my laptop and decided that I needed to virtually immerse myself in nature or go out in the fresh air for a walk, feel energized and then come back to write.
In the past, I have heard friends say that they need to go on a nature walk, I've wondered what they actually mean by that phrase, now I finally know!
It explains why the best poets and artists lived by the sea or near the mountains. It's where nature is all around in abundance and we can be in a state of constant flow.