Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting a writer whose work I admired. One of the first thing I observed in chatting with her is that ideas weren’t merely verbal exchanges as if we were playing a socially reinforced game of tennis. Instead, she grappled with ideas as if they were palpable and available for her personal consideration.

On several occasions, based on the topics discussed, she took out her phone to jot down ideas for pieces she was working on or might work on in the future. Additionally, she had published (or was composing) pieces on virtually every topic that she found interesting or important.

I think a lot about fear and Resistance and the things that keep us from achieving our goals. In the context of writing, this is of course manifested in the pretend condition known as writers block. But as I shared space with the prolific writer in question, it was apparent that one of the keys to her ability to produce a significant volume of content was a result of her remaining in a posture of noticing things.

And not just noticing things and then moving on to the next distraction. I mean really developing a point of view and challenging herself to put words around her observations.

This was my inspiration in writing today—I just noticed something that I wanted to share.