Struggle as Writing Exercise

A few years ago, I raised Painted Lady butterflies and marveled at their progressive stages of life.  When the containers arrived, the creatures appeared like crinkled staples. Already plumping with growth during my drive home from the Post Office, they began spinning the next day.

Silver bits threaded the cup which helped them move to eat and eat, the brochure said.  Each day they wriggled and gobbled the brown nutrient at the bottom of the container. It reminded me of how I gorge myself with reading on a vareity of subjects during a writing project. I search my shelves for writers whose words inspire.  Munch. Munch. Munch.

Within a few days my friends crawled from the bottom to hang at the top of the container like question marks.  They climbed their Everest "head first," grew fuzzy and began to curl  into the chrysalis stage.  I feel this way when I'm snug in the middle of my writing.  Time passes as I hang in and stay buoyant.

It's a good metaphor to use with friends who constantly ask, "What are you working on now?"

"I'm in the chrysalis stage!"

In the next stage my butterflies-in-training did their best work.  They shed old body parts to form the colors of orange and black.  At first they looked like golden leaves or  pea pods. In this resting position, their wings pumped to full size until they broke through the exoskeleton.

A red coloring dripped from each. This meconium, or leftover coloring and tissue, dried after wing formation. It smelled like fountain pen ink and scented my office.   After the wings hardened, the Painted ladies danced on the floor of the butterfly habitat. After enjoying them for a day, I released them into my garden.

Each butterfly must struggle out ot its tight package for the wings to form correctly. I learned this the hard way when I tried to save one. Because I helped it out of the sack it never grew wings. Butterflies like writers have to struggle on their own to develop in the best way possible.  Although it lasted as long as the others and moved about the cage, it never experienced the glory of flight.

The word, struggle, can represent a variety of conditions from physical and emotional discomfort to frustration at not achieving a writing goal. What takes its place if we give up on something too soon? Do we tend to push for the result before examining all the possibilities of the process? Do we know when to stop doing what we’re doing that does not work and try something different

With writing, struggle exists as part of the process. For butterflies it's just a "bind" before growth, never a block. No one can help us through it. We learn about ourselves during our efforts. It's all right to feel unhappy with a messy draft. Jumping into the writing process itself will always assist the struggle because we become active and moving toward something.

My amazement with writing results from what my subconscious feeds upon and pushes to the surface. I never cease to thrill from the experience writing provides.

Creative Write: This week, let your fingers hit the keys or push the pen with new vigor. Become determined to benefit from the struggle in your process. Engage all your senses and write with abandon. It doesn’t have to come out right if you just write!  Write about the struggle.