Too Many Thoughts, Not Enough Brain

I've been suffering from writer's block, can you tell? It's been plaguing me for the last few weeks. Each time I sit down to write, my brain suddenly sssslllloooowwwssss doooowwwwnnnn. I stare at my glowing computer screen, knowing with certainty that I had something to write about, but completely unable to retrieve it from the deep corners of my brain.

I think there are a few reasons I've had trouble getting my thoughts out. The most pressing is happening this week. I've been asked to be one of three speakers for our Relief Society Meeting. The theme for the evening is An Abundant Life - How we can renew ourselves physically, mentally, and spiritually so that life's journey can be enjoyed not just endured. About a month ago I was asked to speak on the final portion of the topic. I said yes, but have felt woefully unprepared to teach other people how to be spiritual.

I am spiritual; it's something dear to me that I work on daily, but I don't feel like I'm an expert. I've been pouring over conference talks and keep coming back to the same three things: daily prayer, daily scripture study, and service. Now I need to figure out how to say that in an engaging way that will take up my allotted ten minutes. I've been told I can talk the whole time or treat it more as an interactive lesson, my choice. Have you ever noticed that the more freedom you have on a project, the harder it becomes? Ten minutes is fine for a talk, but short for a lesson, but a discussion would make the subject feel so much more personal for those participating.

And that's why, at least in part, that I have writer's block. I'm trying to write a short talk/lesson on a very important topic while still writing about other subjects here on the blog. I'm devoting too much brain space to that task and not reserving enough for this. Really, I think what it boils down to is that I will happily teach doctrine but feel ill-suited to give a how-to talk and I'm mentally reconciling myself to the task.

I'll figure it out, hopefully before I get up to speak.