Photo by afsheen @ Flickr.
Sometimes writing—or being creative or doing things that are important to you—is like pulling teeth. Like pulling teeth out of a cranky dog’s stinky mouth. That is what this week is like. Doodie. That’s what I have to say about that. It’s doodie.
That happens sometimes, right? You think that you’re going to come up with something spectacular and earth-shattering. You’ll write the perfect blend of funny and poignant and everyone will read your post, laugh, wipe teensy tears from their eyes, and say, “Aaaaaaahhhhh…that was perfect.” And then each and every one of your readers will go to the store, buy a single, delicious bottle of beer, wrap it up and send it to you in the mail.
That’s what you THINK you’re going to do. Instead, you write 14 sucky drafts, look at Pinterest for an hour, then Facebook, then you browse through all your RSS feeds, go for a walk, juggle for a while, and come back to the same, insidious, blinking cursor that was mocking you two hours ago. (Curse you, cursor! With your continual, “What’s next? What’s next? What’s next?” Eff you, is what’s next.)
I checked out this thing called SuperBetter, a website that helps you get better at things you want to get better at. It’s like a game. And they talk about emotional resilience, and how it’s really key for all kinds of important things, like being awesome and opening jars (I’m paraphrasing here). I have the emotional resilience of a wet tissue hanging from a tree on a windy day. Hmm. Trouble.
I also read an article a while back about how positive thinking is really important for creativity. This is a challenge for me. My name means “blackness” or “dark”—what do you want from me?
Perhaps I (& maybe you too?) should work on these things.
To help strengthen your emotional resilience, SuperBetter said that for every negative feeling you have, you should try to create or experience three positive feelings. They recommend looking out the window, or doing an image search for cute baby animals. Since I’m also supremely lazy, I went for the animal search option. Not wanting to keep the treasure trove of tiny baby animals to myself, I’m going to share them here with you. Let’s watch these little cutie-wooties prime our creative pumps and next week we’ll take over the freaking world. Or maybe just you will. If you do, can you send me a beer? Thx.
And Now…Cute Animal Parade!
Photo by Joachim S. Mueller @ Flickr
A baby marmoset! And it’s like, “Whhaaa?” They’ve got one (two, actually) at the San Diego Zoo if you MUST! SEE! ONE! now.
Photo by Jessica Merz @ Flickr.
This guy lost his mustache trimmers!
Photo by juliez_pics @ Flickr.
Awww…the wittle baby is cuddowing.
Photo by Greencolander @ Flickr.
It’s a teensy, artsy chinchilla.
Photo by timsnell @ Flickr.
Looks like we can expect some monkey business…(wah, wah). The photographer says this guy “generally like[s] to stir the shit.” Awesome. Unless that was literal. You never know with monkeys.
And that’s the last one. I was going to include a picture of a baby kangaroo, but those guys do not leave their mama’s pouch, and, I’m not gonna lie, the pouch thing kinda freaks me out. So we’ll stop there. Share your favorite, positive mood-inducing photos and creativity-inspiring activities, too, okay? Sweet.
Roscoe Village Chicago dentist
/ May 10, 2012“Pulling teeth” is a great metaphor for being creative and trying to come up with ideas. Great post. YOu did a very good job pulling out your own teeth! lol
andy1076
/ April 24, 2012Cute pictures, not too sure the lil fella wants to shave that mustache though lol
RubberChickenMa (@RubberChickenMa)
/ April 22, 2012Just don’t make me search for kittens on Google. Might make me go postal. Or feline.
Melanie Crutchfield
/ April 22, 2012Hmm…SuperBetter didn’t mention the “murderous rampage” side effect of searching for pictures of baby animals. Proceed with caution.
hollow tree ventures
/ April 19, 2012I loved your description of the cursor – sooo true! “Eff you, that’s what’s next,” I’ll think in its general direction tomorrow when I can’t come up with anything to post. And I’ll laugh at it derisively until I decide to get a snack and check my twitter feed.
Melanie Crutchfield
/ April 20, 2012That’s right! Don’t let that thing boss you!
jerrod
/ April 19, 2012Looks like we can expect some monkey business…(wah, wah).
And THIS is why I keep coming back here.
Melanie Crutchfield
/ April 19, 2012Note to self: terrible humor makes Jerrod happy.
mathetos
/ April 18, 2012Cuz you never know with monkeys…. too true!
What’s funny about this is it coincides with an OPPOSITE animal parade meme going around all over the net right now. 33 animals that are totally disappointed in you! Why do we use animals for pleasure or guilt!?
http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/animals-who-are-extremely-disappointed-in-you
Melanie Crutchfield
/ April 18, 2012Ha. That is funny. The baby bear is the best. So angry! But, actually, I still think it counts as upping your positive feelings, because it’s funny and it makes me laugh. Go me (via you).
denise @ victory rd.
/ April 18, 2012if you had shared a picture of your “little animal” i’d have a positive feeling… these animals are creepy.
in hebrew, melanie means “God’s grace lifts me up.” that’s who you are. really.
i am the goddess of grapes and wine. apparently i should be sending you beer or wine.
and your writing process is all too familiar. i want to love it again.
Melanie Crutchfield
/ April 18, 2012Goddess of grapes and wine?! Awesome! Sending you super good vibes on the writing thing. We all have seasons. Just write a little every day, even if it’s just for you.
Melanie Crutchfield
/ April 18, 2012Also…i LOVE marmosets! They’re seriously my favorite animal. So cute! To each her own, I suppose. (Though you’re clearly wrong here. I mean, come on. They’re so teensy!)