unblock your mind
cleaning up your inner world
There is something soul-cleansing about cleaning. Something about ridding the dirt, disposing of the garbage, clearing the excess, cleansing what does not belong from your space. But unlike physical spaces, which while demanding, are quite viscerally satisfying when the cleaning is complete, cleaning up your inner world is challenging in that it is hard to detect when the task is done. We know what a clean space looks like. We know what a clean space feels like. But cleaning up your mental space is much less obvious, much less explicit. No one is going to give you a round of applause for your clean mind — they don’t know what you’re thinking about! Cleaning up your mental space is much more abstract, more sensitive to what feels messy to you. It requires you to express, organize, categorize, prioritize, complete, and repeat. Over and over until you feel clear, satisfied, and unblocked.
what does it mean to ‘unblock your mind’?
I wrote this tweet a few days ago and had someone ask me what I meant by ‘unblock your mind’:
I realize that this ‘truth’ that feels quite essential to my creative practice (that a blocked mind makes it impossible to self-express) is actually quite an obscure, fuzzy concept to most—just as it was for me until recently. So I thought I would poke at explaining here what it means to ‘unblock your mind.’
To me, a clear mind is the foundation of creation and expression. If you can’t see and think clearly in the present, it’s hard to detect what you truly like, let alone what you want to create. Your desire to express is going to feel opaque and unreachable until your mental space is clean enough to detect your inner signals and to hear yourself.
What does it mean to hear yourself?
We have all felt stress, anxiety, and worry before. Some of us might even be living in what feels like a perpetual state of said feelings. These feelings are blocks. They keep us from seeing clearly, from developing present-moment realizations or insight.
I read a quote that struck me recently in a book I’m reading about the biblical prophets and their journeys. It explains that what makes a prophet different than anyone else is their ability to develop insight. The author defines insight as “thinking in the present” and as “knowledge at first sight.”
“Insight is an attempt to think in the present. Insight is a breakthrough, requiring much intellectual dismantling and dislocation. It begins with a mental interim, with the cultivation of a feeling for the unfamiliar, unparalleled, incredible. It is in being involved with a phenomenon, being intimately engaged to it, courting it, as it were, that after much perplexity and embarrassment we come upon insight upon a way of seeing the phenomenon from within. Insight is accompanied by a sense of surprise. What has been closed is suddenly disclosed. It entails genuine perception, seeing anew. He who thinks that we can see the same object twice has never seen. Paradoxically, insight is knowledge at first sight.” — Abraham J. Heschel, The Prophets
I like this definition because it mirrors my own experience of arriving at what feels like ‘insight.’ I can only notice what life is trying to teach me when I am totally present, when my mind is able to fire on what is happening Now, instead of imagining what might happen in the future or replaying has already happened (or could have happened) in the past. Which is to say: I have insights when I am not worrying, reminiscing, regretting, or planning. I have insights when I am Here. When I am listening, learning, observing, and experiencing in the present. And I can only do those things when I have taken the time to figure out why it is that my mind so desperately wants me to look backward or forward.
I have learned that the process of unblocking is not about being angry at your mind for taking you out of the moment, yanking it back to where you are and yelling at it to STAY THERE. The process of unblocking is much gentler than that. It requires you to go into your mind and untangle its knots slowly, curiously, with care. Just as you would approach any loved one that appears stress, worried, blocked, or distracted. You would want to know what is bothering them. You might even wonder if they know something that you don’t! Or you might realize that they simply need an attentive ear. Either way, it would feel obvious that getting aggressive or frustrated towards them for not paying attention wouldn’t be the best strategy in bringing them back to the moment, so why do we try that on ourselves?
The easiest, most practical way I unblock myself is by writing (big surprise, I’m sure!). I find that letting myself quite literally speak my mind, by writing the things on the page that are not getting seen, heard or acted on internally, is the most helpful practice in approaching life with more presence, clarity and equanimity. When I am writing consistently—ideally every morning—I have an exquisitely clear picture of my own psyche, of what is weighing on me big and small, of what is urgent, of what is a long-term fear/worry that there is not much to do about vs. what I am neglecting that wants to be acted on now (I recently outlined the format of my daily journalling practice here). Simply giving my mind the platform to express itself, to reveal to me what it is concerned about, relieves a massive amount of internal blocks that were really just little tasks disguised as much grander feelings of angst or neglect. In addition to writing, exercise helps tremendously. It collapses the psychic pressure we put on ourselves by pulling our consciousness into our body and clearing the queue of what feels existentially important that is simply not. Or said differently: it helps us get out of our head.
Meditation helps too, because it reminds you that you are not behind, that this is exactly where you need to be, and that you can start where you are. Walks help. Talks with friends help. Doing things you are avoiding helps a WHOLE lot. But you probably know all of this. I don’t think I am going to present any wildly novel tips on how to clear your mind and be more present. We have heard it all before! Just as I had heard it all before I started applying it. The benefits won’t emerge from reading this essay though, or from consuming more knowledge about how to unblock your mind. As Derek Sivers says, “If knowledge were the secret to success, we would all be billionaires with abs.” The benefits come from doing one, two, all of those things. Transformation comes from actually trying. From applying knowledge. From facing your blocks, looking at your avoidance, and moving towards resistance. Transformation comes from owning your responsibilities and taking care of what needs to be done so that you can be a free, relaxed vessel for creation to pass through.
I saw this wonderful piece of art by @this_is_silvia on Twitter the other day called ‘being a clear channel for the muse’. To me, this is the perfect depiction of what the end state of being unblocked is. You are no longer getting in your own way—or in the muse’s way if you subscribe to the idea that what comes through you is not necessarily yours but that you are merely a channel for creation (I do!). But if you are preoccupied with responsibilities that are not taken care of, with ways that you are failing as a friend, employee, mother, father, brother, sister, daughter, son, lover, partner—the muse is going to take one look at you and move on to the next portal she can find. Because you are blocked. You are stuck in your own little world, blinding yourself to insight because you are unable to think in the present. You are stuck in your mind, running through what will happen if you don’t act, change, or take responsibility for yourself. You are stuck worrying. Because your mind is worried about you. It is worried about what will happen to you if you don’t take action and correct what needs correcting. It is concerned that you are not focused on what is important. So, it isn’t letting you revel deeply in the present until you listen to and acknowledge what it is worried about. Because it cares about you! Because it is trying to protect you. And as a result of its efforts to protect you, it is taking you away from the moment.
These are blocks. These are mechanisms of the mind that keep you from being a clear channel. And while the mind’s intentions are pure (it just wants to make sure your life is in order and to position you to be perceived well by the world), it really gets in the way of the whole creation thing. Because creation isn’t about honing in on perception or optimization or to-do lists. It is about being suspended in the present, willing to be surprised by what materializes before you.
But to get to that state of openness and creativity and clarity, your inner world does need to be clean. It needs to be unblocked, and to do that, the mind needs to be listened to—gently, carefully, earnestly. And I cannot tell you exactly how to clear your channel, because clearing your channel is a matter of studying your own curriculum, of paying attention to what is happening in your life. Becoming present and lucid to what you are ignoring. Because you are living in your own classroom. And to unblock yourself, you need to pay attention to what your world, your inputs, your mind are trying to teach you. And you won’t get closer to that through numbing yourself or by avoiding what is important that you don’t feel like doing. You’ll get closer by taking full responsibility for yourself and cleaning up your world—outer and inner, alike.
craft
I had a long conversation with friends recently about whether improvement at your craft comes from simply cleansing yourself of all the knots in your inner world (i.e. clearing your channel) or from hacking at your craft incessantly—from doing the work and forgetting about the self.
The answer I feel most comfortable with is probably somewhere in the middle. I don’t expect myself to be an A+ writer when all I do is clean up my spaces and meditate. I need to do some writing in there, too. But if I get extraordinary at writing while my inner and outer spaces are a mess, nothing very interesting is going to come through me because it will be hard to think in the present (i.e. have insight!).
So, like most things, the best approach to creation is likely a balance. Though I do believe that we all have natural talents that come more easily to us than others. Meaning that there might be something where we can get pretty incredible compounding gains from combining some time spent on craft and some time spent unblocking. And I think that is the sweet spot of creativity: when you are nurturing what comes naturally to you and getting out of your way by cleaning up your life.
miracles
I believe that in a moment of insight, something cosmic is striking us. Even if you are just going to explain a moment of insight as the natural synthesis of our mind and body putting together new and old inputs in a way that produces a crystallized novel idea: is that not a miracle in and of itself? Einstein says that there are only two ways to live: one as though nothing is a miracle and the other as though everything is a miracle. I opt for the latter because I like the idea that I can make magic if I am diligent and self-aware enough. Because it is a reminder that simply being alive is a miracle beyond miracles, that the probability of me taking this breath and writing these words is so impossibly unlikely, that my existence is an astonishment. And by extension, it feels like a responsibility—a duty! (in a good way)—to use this miracle of my own existence to generate as many new miracles as I can by clearing my channel and honing my craft by cultivating presence and making an effort to improve at what I do.
It feels like a privilege to spend time working with miracles, to spend time being creative. It feels like the most fun lab to be running experiments in: a true fusion of mind and body. An opportunity to practice my own magic. Dwelling deeply in my vessel, noticing what is around me, studying the curriculum of my life, and distilling it into words.
I know that there are ways I could be doing better, seducing the muse more sweetly, sharpening my sword more efficiently. This keeps me humble and in tune with myself and the world. It keeps me hungry, too. Because the more I practice, the more I realize that I don’t even have a glimpse of my potential because of all of the ways I am inevitably complacent and blocked that I can’t even see yet. I am encouraged by the idea that the harder I work, the more glitches I will find in my system that are keeping me from noticing and expressing insight more freely. I like how the more I work at this craft, the more humbled I become. Because I have learned that in the process of approaching what looks like mastery, you realize that there is no such thing. That there is always more refinement to be had. That true devotion is infinite. That the layers of what it takes to be a master are so subtle, so rich, so deep that you cannot even detect what mastery is when you are only beginning the climb of creation.
one thing at a time
I’ll often get frustrated with myself for not breathing life into my ideas quickly enough. That is my current curriculum: to be quicker, more precise, more disciplined with my creativity. I have spent a lot of time unblocking my mind and the benefit of being so clear is that I have insight pouring out of me, begging to be crystallized. But as with most problems, solving that one has left me with another. And the price of successfully unblocking myself is that I now need to sit myself down consistently (even when I really don’t want to sit down!) to honour those insights, make them concrete, express them fully. Because when I don’t do this, I’ll get a new insight I feel compelled by while my attention is still being tugged on by the first one that has not yet been actualized—and then neither of them get the attention they deserve.
Clearing the queue of my ideas is a common challenge of mine, one I am working on. One that I am sure is blinding me to other, more subtle blocks that are keeping me from fully expressing. Blocks that I won’t be able to see until I resolve the one at hand. Because like ideas: we can only work on one at a time. Right now, I am trying to publish more, write more, increase my output in the hopes that my fear and avoidance contract while maintaining the quality of what I share.
But who knows what will happen! I am running experiments, constantly trying to get more intimate with this craft of painting this glowing screen with letters. It feels simultaneously never-ending and like I haven’t even started. I think that is the trip of creativity: you go inside your mind looking for a loose thread to tug on. And when you finally find it, you realize you can just keep unraveling it indefinitely—that it’s like one of those magic handkerchiefs that seems to produce a new quilt each time you yank it.
That’s what it’s like when everything is going well, at least. Infinite ideas is a fun problem to have. There are also days when you dig around inside your mind endlessly for that thread and never find it. Days when insight eludes you. Days when the channel is totally dark. On those days, the art of creation is about not losing hope, not identifying with the lack of flow in your channel, the stubbornness of your craft, the absence of your ideas. Because as soon as you do, you risk believing that you are what comes through the channel instead of remembering that what comes through the channel is impermanent, evolving constantly, depending on loads of factors that you have no window into, no clue about, no control over! We are working with the muse after all. She wouldn’t be such a mystery if you could summon her on demand and make special requests from her. Her elusiveness is part of the fun, part of the game, part of the chase. You need to always be ready for her, to invite her in when she passes by, to convince her to stay by being as clear and attentive as possible when she whispers to you.
humility
That’s why being creative is so humbling. It is about showing up day after day, even when the muse is hibernating. It is about signalling to her that you are present, with a clear channel and a sharpened craft that awaits her arrival (while simultaneously not being too attached to her visiting you, otherwise she won’t come). It is about waiting with patience when the channel is empty and operating with urgency when insight strikes. It is about remembering that nothing you have made defines you and that the miracles you have channelled are just a tiny sparkle on the palace that exists inside of you waiting to be carved and polished as you continue to unblock your mind.
Creativity is about remembering that every day is different. That being blocked doesn’t mean you’ll never make anything interesting again—that it simply means there might be something stuck in your channel. It is about remembering that each moment is a new opportunity to create a miracle, to play with your own magic.
Creation is a wild mind-game. It requires to work on yourself endlessly despite the belief that you are not the source of the magic—only the medium for its expression. Creation is funny, and challenging, and humbling, and encouraging. It jerks you back and forth and lulls into a long, smooth, flat stretches of nothingness. It ebbs, flows, then stands still. It depends wholly on the mood of the muse.
The creative process, like all things, is impermanent. That is why it so hard to show up. Your progress isn’t linear. It can’t be optimized. This is art we are talking about! It is not predictable: the whole point is to generate something that you could not have conceived of until the flash of insight appeared. It is hard to maintain resolve when your creative faucet feels clogged, and it is hard to maintain focus when a dam of ideas get unleashed within you and try to surge out of you all at once. But such is the nature of playing with miracles. You never know when they’re going to strike or what they are going to reveal. They are unpredictable. They are magical. As all good art is. That’s what I believe Einstein was trying to tell us: that life is much more interesting when you believe this whole thing is one giant miracle, and that everything that comes through us can be one, too.
Related essays you might enjoy: obligation vs. compulsion, resistance & regret, avoidance & expression, on being selective, becoming yourself is a process of reduction, self-trust, comfort. You can find my daily thoughts on Twitter (and now on TikTok!)
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If you have any reflections on creativity, unblocking, or self-expression, I would love to hear them.
And if you have any specific questions or themes you want to see me write about or expand on, feel free to share those in the comments. I enjoyed using one of my lovely reader’s questions as a prompt for this essay—so if something you are wondering about resonates with me, I might just write about it! :) I am also in the midst of writing an essay on taste: a topic I have spoken about on Twitter extensively (i.e. here, here and here) as well as on TikTok (here, here and here). If you have any thoughts, musings, or questions about taste or resonance in particular, let me know in the comments or by replying.
This essay has set me free from the chains of enslavement my chronic procrastination had bound me to.
Just this morning I had an insight that most people focus too heavily on developing time management skills, but this doesn’t really help them make progress on their projects, as they fail to capitalise on the time they make for working on their projects. They remain blocked. Their energy is found wanting.
I had formulated the following equation to help me understand this - time management is downstream of project management which is downstream of energy management which is downstream of emotion management. If you are being strangled by unprocessed emotions then it doesn’t matter how much time you make for yourself - your emotions won’t let you channel your creative potential.
Your essay is the most beautiful and elegant expression of this formulation that I could have only dreamed of receiving in my Substack inbox on the very day I have thought of this.
Thank you for writing this. I can’t believe how serendipitous this is.
do you ever wonder what the muse really is? i'd also like to think that all forms of creative expression is some form of energy passing through you from a certain muse. we're all mere vessels for ideas and art. but do people wonder or know what the muse really is?