Bolsinger uses the story of Lewis and Clark and their search for the Northwest Passage as a metaphor for adaptive change. Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery endured 15 months of hard travel, a seemingly endless string of days of backbreaking upstream slogging, all for the purpose of discovering a water passage linking America, East to West.
Mosquitoes galore.
A dark, cold winter.
Grizzly bears.
The death of a companion.
The Corps of Discovery finally come to the source of the Missouri River. They found what no person of European dissent had before them. After 15 months of going upstream they looked forward to swiftly being carried down stream to the Pacific Ocean.
They could not have been more disappointed.
Stuck
They discovered that 300 years of experts had all been completely wrong. Everything they had accomplished was only a prelude to what was in front of them. What lay before them was nothing like what was behind them. There were no experts, no maps, no best practices and no sure guides who could lead them safely and successfully.
As a writer, do you feel like a canoeist who has run out of water? There is no writing route in front of you; no map; no quick fix or easy answer. You’re stuck.
You may be excellent at what you do. You’ve written books or started a popular blog and even given seminars about writing well. But you’ve run out of creativity. The river is dry. As far as you can see, there are only towering mountains of frustration.
That’s the time for a conversation about
canoeing.
Writing Dreams
My dream is to write a book so helpful, readers
want to go through it multiple times and then write blog posts to recommend it
to their friends. I’ve been working to
turn that dream into reality. But I was stuck.
Bolsinger’s use of Lewis and Clark’s story got me unstuck. Have you discovered that what you're good at can hold you back from realizing your dream?
Members of Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery designed their own keelboats and learned to make canoes in the wild. They excelled at what they did. Imagine what it’s like to be told, “Drop the canoe.” Men whose hands had been shaped by the use of oars were told to ride horses.
What is your canoe? What have you dropped to achieve your writing dream?
Please
leave a comment below and start the conversation.
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Hi Bob, what a beautiful metaphor for needing a new vision where the old one doesn't work any more. It reminded me of God's promise in Isaiah: "Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:18-19
ReplyDeleteThank you for being first to comment, Sandi. Most every time we write something we are pioneering.
ReplyDeleteSometimes you just have to start over with something new. Fixing the old just leaves with with something that is still flawed, often, even though workable. How much better to start fresh.
ReplyDeleteStarting fresh... like a new blog format. There are challenges with all things new and thinking creatively. But they challenges worth taking on.
ReplyDeleteI dropped electronic music composing. Though I love the genre and have had pieces played in various cities, I had to quit because I went on disability. Electronic music was a net loss so I tried freelance article writing. I grew tired of my lack of success so I wrote a memoir about my experiences living with house rabbits. That book sold about 200 copies but my next two memoirs bombed. Now I just want to retire and wade through the mountain of music and videos I've accumulated.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this timely post, Bob. The Lord has been sending me all kinds of encouraging prompts lately, regarding a project I've been dragging my feet on, and your post is one of them. I have clear direction from Him to write a particular aspect of my life story, which involves looking at many painful memories in detail, a daunting task I have yet to tackle seriously, as it is so difficult. I've been asking in prayer for a new way to look at this project. What keeps coming through is that I am just to sit down and write, and God will provide whatever I need to do it according to His plan. I just need to be obedient! Simple, I know, but sometimes the simplest directives are the hardest to carry out. So, to use your metaphor, I must drop the canoe of my own control and fear, and mount the horse of God's power and Spirit. The story will be told.
ReplyDeleteYou have me thinking Bob! What is my canoe? I'll be pondering this for awhile.
ReplyDeleteHow to get where I'm going but discarding something I'm familiar and comfortable with, and using a new method I'm not familiar with? Hmmmm, I love this story and it's got me thinking!
ReplyDeleteIsn’t it amazing how a book, a poem, a Bible verse can change our perspective on writing, or our perspective in any area of our lives? One example for me was the time I took a gift certificate I’d been given to a Christian book store. I was planning to buy a new book by a favourite author. While in the book store, I literally walked into a promotional sign for a new book by a new author. I am convinced that God helps each of us as believers to select the right book, read the right Scripture or the right blog, or run into the right person at the right time.
ReplyDeleteReading your blog, I thought of Psalm 121:1-2: “I lift my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Be it with the next book to read, with our next writing project, or with making our next right step, we can lift our eyes to the hills and help will come from the Lord. Thanks for this this story of how God is asking you to drop your canoe.
I hope and pray that your eye is healing,, or fully healed and that your wife is also feeling better. Amen.