How I Don't Fall Off The Cliff When I'm On Edge | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Student Life

How I Don't Fall Off The Cliff When I'm On Edge

Or how I stop worrying and learned to love the blonde(in the mirror)

94
How I Don't Fall Off The Cliff When I'm On Edge
Wikimedia Commons

Some Context: Your humble blogger friend has been in somewhat of a downward slump of late. I have been experiencing that unique ennui of having spread myself too thin over too many projects and destinations, without having much tangible progress to show for it.

Writers write. That's the mantra. A page a day keeps one's muse at bay. Later means never.

Or maybe Goethe has something more appropriate: "What's put off to today, tomorrow's put off"

Writers are stereotypically dysfunctional in all of life's minutiae, except for writing. No, no the stalwart American Author, a man's man, may get lost in drink, may lead the most ruinous and scandalous of lives, but there is always output, output, output. How can tortured genius be measured without output? What is a writer that isn't writing? What is an artist without the daily,hourly engagement with creation? A schlub that's what!(The Ego screams) A no good shclub that has no business calling attention to their doings!

A schlub one minute. An author the next. Woe to those who live in the middle of this accursed paradigm! Flitting between disaffected pupil and accomplished scholar. Never falling too far, and never landing in one place. Living in the electron cloud of artistic merit.

At 27 years and counting your humble blogger has no answer to these bouts of block. I may be so able as to confidently say, with many years of expert experience, what paths or activities don't help when one is in the hole.

This state of being can be self inflicted by the demons of self doubt and procrastination, those buggers certainly do enjoy feeding off of each other. Giving into their taunts and temptations does not help, I can assure you!

Acceptance is the most potent antidote that I know for the time being.(Some may prefer the imagery of the serenity prayer) Do not confuse acceptance with complacency, but just take in the way things are at present, accept that as the foundation for your current trajectory and move forward. Maybe its baby steps. Maybe its the act of standing and not falling down. Whatever it is, it is probably okay.

The comedian Maria Bamford remains my favorite for just this sort of psychological situation:

“When ever you think “but I’m a waste of space and a burden”; that also describes the Grand Canyon. “Oh, but I owe people a lot of money and everybody hates me”; hello, Europe. “Oh, but I killed someone”; so have onion rings, firecrackers, who gives a shit. “Oh, but I’ve done some other horrible, unforgivable thing”. There are 7 billion of us, Google it; somebody has done exactly what you’ve done and they’re currently on a book tour… You’re never alone!”

Good luck friends.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
one tree hill
Wikimedia

Everyone, and I mean everyone has heard of the show "One Tree Hill". Many people think that this show is the best thing they've ever watched and others won't bother watching it because they know they'll get hooked. And yes, I know many people have written about this show before, but I couldn't resist. I could re-watch every season multiple times to the point where I can almost quote an entire scene. Trust me, once you start "One Tree Hill", you will be hooked. There's way too many reasons to list as to why you'll love this show, and these are just a few.

Keep Reading...Show less
Health and Wellness

5 Ways To Bring Positivity Into Your Life When All You Want To Do Is Drown In Self-Pity

It seems like life has been serving up more bad than good and in all honesty, the only thing you want to do is crawl under your covers and hide from the rest of the world.

1610
5 Ways To Bring Positivity Into Your Life When All You Want To Do Is Drown In Self-Pity
Photo by Kinga Howard on Unsplash

The first two weeks of classes have come to an end and they have been anything BUT easy. It seems like life has been serving up more bad than good and in all honesty, the only thing you want to do is crawl under your covers and hide from the rest of the world.

Although this seems like the best solution, it is also the easy way out. Take it from the girl who took basically a whole week off from her life because she just could not handle everything that was being thrown at her. This caused her to feel extremely lonely and even more stressed out for being behind in classes that JUST began.

Keep Reading...Show less
friends

1. Thank you for being my person.

2. Thank you for knowing me better than I know myself sometimes.

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

11 Things We Learned From Brooke Davis

"What's more important? What we become or how we become it?"

833
Brooke Davis

"She was fiercely independent, Brooke Davis. Brilliant, and beautiful, and brave. In two years she had grown more than anyone I had ever known. Brooke Davis is going to change the world someday, and I'm not sure she even knows it." - Lucas Scott, An Unkindness of Ravens

Brooke Davis of the hit show One Tree Hill was the it girl - she had it all, or so we thought. She started out as a stuck-up, shallow, spoiled, head cheerleader who didn't have her life together. She slept around a lot and loved to party - sounds like your typical high school teenager right? Wrong. B. Davis had so much more to offer. Caring, loyal, and outspoken, she has taught us some valuable lessons throughout the 9 seasons that OTH was on the air:

Keep Reading...Show less
Honorary Roommate
Rachel Zadeits

For some of us, coming to college was the first time we ever had to share a room. It was a big change, but a fun one. As you meet more and more people over the course of your college career, it seems to be a pattern that you will at some point have that one friend that doesn't live with you, but acts like they do. We call those people, "Honorary Roommates" and here are 11 signs you have one in your life.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments