Fragile, resilient. Perceptive, narrow-minded. Reclusive, convivial. As writers we are all these things and more. We are the canaries in the coal mine, the watchers against the dark, the mirrors of society. But if we are empaths and mirrors, what do we do when society has a really bad day? Or a really bad week? Or months? Or a year? If you were fortunate enough to listen to Rebecca Day’s session on “Where’s your head at? Mastering creative uncertainty in 2021,” you would have heard some strategies about new ways of thinking about yourself and your work and about the crucial importance of mental health and wellness during this time of unprecedented stress. It was a revelation to me.
Interestingly, Rebecca remarked that freelance writers are almost uniquely suited to cope with difficult times of uncertainty. The very precariousness of our career trajectory means we are more dogged and resilient than most. However, there’s a point at which even the most nimble freelancers can be overcome with bad news and uncertain circumstances, such as the events of the past year. It’s what we do next that matters.
Rebecca focused on provocative questions: how do we avoid the evil of comparing ourselves to others during times of Covid? How do we turn down the noise? How do we combat unreasonable expectations of ourselves? Like her co-presenter Lucy Van Smit, she urged writers toward greater self-care, with the caveat that without it, our productivity, and even our lives, could be in danger.
Lucy focused on humans’ physical responses to stress, with surprising findings from neuroscience about how our bodies and minds react and how to combat the reactions. Quick tips such as getting sunlight early every day, shutting off the phone and computer, moving your eyes up to the sky – all can directly help relieve stress. The most basic tip of all: to avoid “freeze breathing” (the behavior we manifested when we saw a predator in the wild) which can occur when we read emails or texts. Her remedy – if we consciously breath slowly in and out, we can train our bodies not to “freeze breath” so often, thus greatly reducing our anxiety level.
Finally, I was greatly encouraged by a session of Joey Tuccio’s from last year’s online Festival. Amidst a flood of useful information, this is the nugget I clung to: “First, before anything else, we are human beings. Second, we are writers.” His conclusion: we need each other, we need ourselves and that together, with kindness and care, we will make it through. As long as we remember to breathe.
Rebecca Robinson is a screenwriter and author of Piercing Time podcast, now available through her website https://www.piercingtimepodcast.com. She is based in Vancouver, Washington after living for many years in the Bay Area of California. She can be reached through her FB page or through Stage 32 where she is an active member.
