The SHADOW: Stuck

Something crazy and very unsettling seems to be going around. Bouncing from head to head- not just all over New York City, but apparently throughout the world- it somehow found its way through my immediate circle of friends and acquaintances, and has now finally landed on me. As a result, I am not stagnant and stuck. Not necessarily between a rock and a hard place (although it feels that way at times), but creatively, motivationally, and ...stuck.

I'm not quite sure if it has come with the entering of a new, and of course, colder season, or if I myself have changed and am trying to find my footing. All I know is that these days, when I wake up in the morning, I want to go right back to sleep. Not because I'm too tired, hungover or sick, but because I'm unmotivated and unmoved by the monotonous, revolving 24 hours that is my day and, in the grand scheme of things, my life.

I'm usually one to look on the brighter side of things or just keep my head down and push through with a smile on my face, but I gotta speak up- something is definitely wrong. I've hit a point where nothing in my life inspires me right now. Not the job I'm working, the projects I've involved myself in, the people in my circle, or even the book that I'm writing. Nothing. I won't go as far as to say, "I have nothing to live for-" that's stupid; but the question around what I'm living my life for is entering my head a lot more often than it used to. Probably because of all the time I spend thinking about such things while procrastinating on the "to do lists" of my uninspired (to me, at least) life.

At first, I thought it was just me- that I was in a funk of my own. Many of the people around me seemed to be extremely happy and productive, and so I resorted to the idea that my slump was strictly that... mine. It wasn't until I started sharing what I was going through with my friends that I began to see that damn near everyone is going through the same thing right now. Everyone is uninspired by the projects and events of their current lives. What happened? Is it that we are growing, and the things that made us happy no longer fulfill us anymore? Or perhaps we've grown lazy and impatient waiting for the lives of our dreams to present itself through the work we do on a daily basis?

No one seems to have an answer for this stagnant state of being that I, along with some of my friends and acquaintances find ourselves in these days. You might even be going through something like this as well. If you are, then I'm pretty sure you are also equally as frustrated. Some people have suggested finding peace at church or in yoga/meditation, while others have suggested things like taking a vacation or starting completely new projects. I don't know if these are the answers that I'm looking for, but I do know that it is only a matter of time before I, and you figure it all out. One of the things that has helped me begin to shift everything around is taking the opportunity to think of my life and various projects at a different angle. Also, allowing and inviting new things and people into my life that are forcing me to think and respond differently is starting to spark something in me that wasn't there before.

Maybe the key is to try something new and go out and do something different. Or maybe there's something to be said for appreciating what we've already created and remind ourselves of how those things inspired us in the first place. I don't know. But for those of you who *have* figured it out- please share it with the rest of us. Cuz I want to be excited about life again...