Today's been a struggle, for the first time since starting the A To Z Challenge. I've started on several topics, ranging from Ithaca to Indiana (Jones, that is) to Imagination (which will, according to 80's singer Belouis Some, make a man of you) - but only got as far as a sentence on each before stalling. There. I'm ahead already.
The dictionary defines an impasse as 'a situation with no possible progress or escape'. Well, it certainly felt that way this morning: I powered on the laptop as usual, sat in front of it, ready to regale everyone with my shining wit, then... nothing. Just a few words, barely strung together, the start with a capital letter and the end with a full stop (English) or period (American) were all that made it a coherent sentence. I washed breakfast dishes, hoping that a routine chore like that would cure this block, but nothing. The glasses and cups were nice and shiny though.
Normally when this happens, I make myself sit at the desk until I write something - anything! - but I didn't have that luxury today as I had to go to work. Ten or so hours later, I was still no further forward - I'd reached my impasse.
So I've decided to write about it, and in doing so, I've got through it. So, I suppose the moral is to keep going, to keep writing; even when you think you can't, you actually can, but it sometimes takes time and defintely needs effort. And, in my case, several cups of tea.
As for Indiana Jones... well, that Map Room scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark sends chills up my spine every time.
Ithaca is a lovely island just off the coast of Kefalona. I visited there on a misty morning a few years ago, the land shrouded by fog making me think of Odysseus returning home - my Imagination at work.
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