I’ve just finished writing an article for a grant I was awarded before I left Princeton last summer. It’s been a source of tension, frustration, exhilaration and, at times, even happiness this past year, and I don’t know how to feel now that I’m done with it.

Researching the subject, which included sniffing around dusty archives and interviewing primary players was fascinating. Oh, but the writing process…no, the PERIOD BEFORE the writing actually began to flow was utterly miserable.

I felt paralyzed. There were times that I would just sit at the computer and wait for some spark of inspiration, only to find myself still sitting there two hours later, grumpy and disappointed!

In an attempt to stamp out and rid myself of this beastly writer’s block, I decided to do some meditation and check in with my internal landscape, hoping that something there would throw me a bone or give me a clue as to the creative holdup.

And, it DID. What I discovered is that the voice of my former advisor, a man with whom my relationship had been rocky at best, was drowning out and strangling my own voice with his judging attitude and cruel words.

I sat with the discovery for a bit, shocked that I was still carrying him around. But, then, I decided to *take action*. Peaceful warrior that I am, I imagined myself binding him and hurtling him through stratospheres back to his own zip code. Ahhh…let me tell you that the exercise was ENTIRELY satisfying.

The point is, of course, that sometimes we carry around the past when it no longer serves us. The trick is to let it go as quickly as possible and without second thoughts.

The exercise worked, too. Once I was able to send him packing, my mind opened and the pages quickly filled.

There was *much rejoicing*!