We all get to that place sometimes.
Stuck.
Trapped.
Making no progress.
It's frustrating and crazy-making and anxiety-producing.
I've shared this poem by Philip Booth a couple of times before, and it remains one of the best answers I know to that question: what do I do when I'm stuck?
Kona Coast, Big Island, Hawaii
First Lesson
Lie back, daughter, let your head
be tipped back in the cup of my hand.
Gently, and I will hold you. Spread
your arms wide, lie out on the stream
and look high at the gulls. A dead-
man's-float is face down. You will dive
and swim soon enough where this tidewater
ebbs to the sea. Daughter, believe
me, when you tire on the long thrash
to your island, lie up, and survive.
As you float now, where I held you
and let go, remember when fear
cramps your heart what I told you:
lie gently and wide to the light-year
stars, lie back, and the sea will hold you.
--Philip Booth