Writer's block

So I've been really lax the last few weeks in posting.  Not because I haven't had anything to write about, but I couldn't get anything beyond the first paragraph.  Here's a list of potential topics, all of which I had to trash cuz I couldn't think of much to write once I got my first thoughts down. (FYI, this is an unedited/uncensored look at my initial thoughts as I put them on paper.  They therefore contain language and turns of phrase that are offensive, non-PC etc. etc.  This is my process. I like to get the emotions down first then re-write with a rational head.)

"MINORITIES IN PR:  I think the notion of "chemistry" on teams is a very real impediment to minorities in PR.  Despite protestations to the contrary from the industry the different opinions minorities bring to the table are really NOT valued.  In a culture that values "being a team player" that one voice crying in the wilderness that espouses a different opinion is more often seen as a nuisance.  From my own experience I have been accused of not being on board because I'm not willing to "drink the Kool-Aid" as it were and say yes to the senior-most person's idea. It's not comfortable being out there on your own.  And, even before we are hired, we're subject to that "Well, something didn't really click" assessment from interviewers. "

...

There's where I got stuck.  I was going to make a foray into how the female culture of most firms leads to the tyranny of consensus.... but clearly I need to work on getting the words right.  Also, since I am a PR/communications professional and wish to remain so, I didn't want this to be a wholesale indictment of the industry, but rather an eye-opener.  However, as you can see from that first paragraph, there's a ways to go on that front... alas.

Then I decided to do something more positive:

CELEBRATION

"Why is that as groups of gay friends we are always so bitchy to each other?  My friend Chris said back in May that we need to celebrate our friendships a lot more.  I believe that, and we need to do that in word and deed."

...

So this is one of those things that start off being positive then veers headlong into the pedantic.  My God!  Did I really just use "word and deed" in a blog post? My thought here was to talk about how much I love my friends and swear to be more mindful of the bitchiness when I next see them.  But that sounded weird and pathetic and needy.  Ugh.

KIDS

This time around (now this is about 3 weeks after my initial post idea) I thought, let me right  write about kids, seeing as many of my friends have them are having them, are planning for them.  But then I was at a restaurant where the mother let her kid run around the entire place, I knew i was not going to be in the right frame of mind for a happy post on kids.  So I let that go.

I HATE DOGS

This gets me into the same territory as kids.  Here's what I started with (yikes!):

"People cannot believe it when you say you don't like dogs and get really defensive.  It's like your a bad person.  I just hate badly behaved dogs.  I don't like them jumping up on me, I don't like them snuffling around when I'm trying to eat, I really don't like them peeing or pooping anywhere near me but especially not in my house. It's not cute, it's not funny and it's not cool. Fuck you very much."

Clearly this was going to get me in trouble so I decided to leave that rant for another time. In addition, I was clearly getting defensive and angry so best to cut it out.  Also I noticed the total misuse of "your" versus "you're" in the second sentence and thought it was probably better to just pack it in completely.

The a litany of other possible topics came to my head and were quickly vetoed --

AUTUMN/END OF SUMMER - Wow! That's original!  NOT!

MARRIAGE - Friends are getting married, i'd like to get married, blah blah blah.  

BAD HOUSEKEEPER - Really? You're going to complain about your housekeeper on your blog?

WATCHES - Where the hell did that come from?

FENCES - Who am I, Robert Frost?

FRANCE - I was actually going to post in French! P-R-E-T-E-N-T-I-O-U-S!

PRETENTION - I'm crazy.  I know.

CRAZINESS - OK this is just getting to be a bad association exercise...

WRITER"S BLOCK -  wait a minute... that's it!

Welcome to the craziness that it my mind.  I think it's like deciding to take Pacific Coast Highway instead of I-5 from LA to SF.  It's not as direct, it's prettier but there's a lot of twists and turns and every so often there's the danger of plummetting of the mountainside.  (I don't know where that came from just now.)

Until next time,

JS