In the Weeds
How to Nurture Resilience and Grit in the Grind
In this post:
In the Weeds – Eatery Etymology
Determined Little Plants
Resilience. With a capital R.
What can you do when you start feeling in the weeds?
Have you found yourself “in the weeds” lately? Ever? Often?
Are your daily responsibilities and distractions affecting your performance as a writer?
Do you sometimes feel like the creativity is being suffocated by external influences (the news, social media, distracting life events, etc.)?
In this post, I explore how being in a state of overwhelm affects the writer and our work, and the big lessons we can learn from determined little plants.
In the Weeds
If you've ever worked in or adjacent to the service industry, especially restaurants, then you know exactly what I mean when I shout, "I'm in the weeds!"
In popular restaurant lingo, being "in the weeds" is an idiom that describes the anxiety of being so overwhelmed you fear not being able to handle all responsibilities of your job combined with the requests of your customers, coworkers, and management. While the weeds don’t typically last long, it can feel like drowning while in the thick of them (another fitting idiom), and if I were a betting person, I would wager being a writer sometimes feels like being in the weeds.
Determined Little Plants
According to a quick Google search, weeds are opportunistic survivors that can adapt to various situations and disturbances. Though many aren't wanted in the garden or yard, weeds are simply persistent plants that have adapted to environmental and climatic changes.
Perhaps the little boogers are so resilient because they're ecologically programmed to do their primary job: provide nutrition and medicine for humans and animals. Nevertheless, there's an entire industry of chemicals dedicated to their eradication.
What can writers learn from these determined little plants?
Resilience. With a capital R.
Think back to when I introduced the Writing Magick Equation: (B + W + I) AP or Belief + Will + Intention × Action (Writing) ^ Persistence = Writing Magick.
Here’s what Resilience looks like through each stage of the formula:
B - Resilience of Belief.
You can do it. You know you can do it. Now, be determined in your resolve.
W - Resilience over Resistance, initially.
Recognize when Resistance is threatening to thwart your will, your determination to get started or push through with what you’re writing.
I - Resilience of time and opportunity restrictions.
If your intention is to write for three hours but you're interrupted and two are stolen from you, resolve to make them up. Find pockets within your day or week to make that happen.
A - Resilience of what’s keeping you from moving into action.
Stay consistent. Push back. Take back your time, catch up on your sleep and replenish your energy. Wash, rinse, repeat.
P - Be persistent like a weed.
Do not give in and certainly do NOT give up. Let ‘em keep trying to hold you back from achieving your writing goals and watch how it feels to rise up in spite of the obstacles.
What can you do when you start feeling in the weeds?
Don't be in the weeds. Be Resilient like a weed. Here's how:
Stay vigilant. Beware of Resistance, doomscrolling, anything that is hindering your magick and keeping you from writing.
Remember the equation. No matter which part of the formula is being threatened, you can overcome.
Say NO. Start saying “No” when you mean it. Don’t keep taking on more responsibilities or projects if you’re overwhelmed with what you’re already working on or if those projects are keeping you from doing the work you feel called to do.
Shake it off. Weed out the people and things in your life that are exhausting you. Remember card 6 of the Mapping Your Writing Goals Tarot Tableau and YOU decide who you want to be as a writer.
How do you respond to being in the weeds?
How is your writing practice affected by having so much to do, and battling distractions while doing them? When you find yourself in the weeds, what helps clear your path?
In case you missed it...
You can find previously published posts in this Writing Magick series here:
Crafting Your Writing Magick Ritual
Battling Resistance to Fortify Will: Moving from Motion to Action
Color Symbolism & Storytelling
About Mandy
Amanda "Mandy" Hughes is an author and instructional designer who uses the tarot to inspire storytelling. Her book Mystic Storyteller: A Writer’s Guide to Using the Tarot for Creative Inspiration and companion tarot deck are helping her peers do exactly that. She also writes fiction under pen name A. Lee Hughes. Mandy lives in Georgia with her husband and four sons, two of whom are furrier than the others (but not by much). Visit her website at www.haintbluecreative.com and find her on Substack @HaintBlueCreative.
Love the weed analogy! Those buggers are persistent and thrive in less than ideal conditions. I'm taking that visualization with me this week.
Number 3 stands out to me at this point in my life. I've been the yes girl and suppressed the word "no" for too long. I've taken stock of what is working in my life and am focusing on doing more of that. I've learned I can say "no" in a nice way.