Stuckness!
"Growth is painful. Change is painful! But nothing is a s painful as staying stuck somewhere you don't belong." Mandy Hale
“If we stay where we are, where we’re stuck, where we’re comfortable and safe, we die there. We become like mushrooms, living in the dark, with poop up to our chins. If you want to know only what you already know, you’re dying. You’re saying: Leave me alone; I don’t mind this little rathole. It’s warm and dry. Really, it’s fine.
When nothing new can get in, that’s death. When oxygen can’t find a way in, you die. But new is scary, and new can be disappointing, and confusing - we had this all figured out, and now we don’t.
New is life.”
― Anne Lamott, Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers1
“Stuck” is an unfavorable state of existence. Everyone has their time in stuckness, and it is pretty damn frustrating. Imagine yourself stuck in a tunnel. You are stuck so completely that you can’t wiggle out! It’s scary when you can’t move up or down or sideways! You either give up or try to lose weight in a hurry! We hardly ever get physically stuck in real life unless you count traffic jams. Most of our stuckness has to do with the inability to solve a particular problem, losing something like our wallet or purse (not going shopping-sorry), or how to break a personal bad habit or stubborn streak. However, remember from your own life experiences, you have developed ways of getting unstuck.
A friend was covering his oddly shaped ceiling with beautiful planks of wood. He came to a very tricky corner. His wife says he sat atop his 10-foot ladder staring at the situation for hours, for days. Finally, his clever mind figured out the solution, and he continued without a hitch! Sometimes stuckness takes time. It also calls for deep thinking.
Athletes can get stuck trying to beat a specific record. They can get discouraged and modify their goal or keep practicing! Sometimes they succeed: “Sweden’s Armand Duplantis has broken his own pole vault record, clearing 6.22 metres to add one centimetre to his previous mark at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver meeting in France,” on February 25, 2023.” ”2
This news story shows that people don’t have to stay stuck!
People who are involved in the arts have a high probability of stuckness. For example, me. Yesterday and today! Every topic I tried to write about was a dead-end. So I decided to write about what I knew in the moment- being stuck. Some people call it writer’s block.
Every creative person must shatter obstacles of stuckness at some point. Dancers must create a new step. Artists must let their work evolve. They must allow a vision to lead them. Musicians have to challenge the “Blues” formula of music constantly. They must continuously imagine ways to utilize new technology. Actors must re-fashion their persona for each new role. Filmmakers stretch for ideas that will entice their audience. At some point, every one of them experiences stuckness! They must find a breakthrough or go stir-crazy!
For sure, whatever fills your hours with creativity, activity, or productivity will get stuck. Go into yourself because therein is the key to unlock the door to your next level of accomplishment. Let your brain work hard. Consider every thought before you toss it aside. You will come up with the solution.
Think of stuckness as an opportunity. It can be an opportunity to create a new breaking strategy. It can be an opportunity to pass through a stubborn portal to shiny new ideas. It can be an opportunity to be still for a little while. It is all good. One of my favorite sayings is, “Something bad happens, then something good happens!”
“Let’s all get unstuck. Shall we?”
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/stuck
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/26/swedens-armand-duplantis-sets-new-pole-vault-world-record
So true, my sister!