“You should focus on why you do things, not on how you do them.” 
~Janine Teagues, 2nd-grade teacher (created/played by Quinta Brunson), Abbott Elementary

Welcome to the second post in this blog series on NeuroPlayWriting with a focus on energy and motivation! This series invites neurodiverse authors to intentionally neuroplay with your writing craft, from the theory that our best writing flows through a balance of discipline and play that honors who we are. In the spirit of neuroplay, this 7-part series invites readers to play with the concept of the 7 chakras, to consider the chakra presented in each blog post as an energetic source of motivation for you as an author and/or the character(s) you are creating, as well as what may be blocking the flow of that energy.  For a bit more on the what and why of NeuroPlay, see the first post of this series!

Post #2: Pleasure and Feeling when Blocked by Blame

The first chakra was the Earth or Root chakra; the second chakra is the Water or Sacral Chakra. The sacrum is a triangular-shaped bone at the base of the spine, and it connects to the tailbone and pelvis; common associations with this chakra include sexuality, desire, and creativity. Accordingly, the motivating energy for the Water chakra is pleasure, one’s right to feel and have feelings. It also invokes the importance of defining and navigating our self-worthindividually and in connection with those around us. Likewise, Water chakra’s blocker or trickster is guilt / self-blame.

With everything going on so turbulently around us, I had a moment of wanting to go numb, to protect my hypersensitive nervous system, and to not feel the intense emotions welling inside me. But doing so is pretense, isn’t it? The feelings are still there; I’m just now blocking them from connecting with all of me and especially with my consciousness.

On such a day just last week, when I was feeling particularly gloomy and existential—with the Southwestern Pennsylvania weather reflecting my mood—I took a brief walk around my patio. I had been gifted some plants and purchased a few more in a first attempt at gardening last year; now the various-sized containers looked like an assortment of flower coffins arranged for my macabre viewing.

In that (penny) dreadful moment, I peered down at the gray, desiccated remains of my Blazing Star and saw…

…life. In the very center of the seeming-dead plant, there were hints of red and green. And I remembered the lyrics to one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite movies based on the excellent book by Peter S. Beagle:

“When it seems like all is dying and would leave the world to mourn,
look and see her, how she sparkles. It’s the last unicorn: ‘I’m alive.’”

And then I could not close the floodgates of feelings flowing through me: sorrow, anger, fear…and notably, instead of despair, I felt hope. It felt relieving and good to feel even that smidgen of hope to realize a flower I honestly thought I had killed (despite good-faith attempts at the opposite!) was – of its own accord – having a go at rebirth. What a feeling.

For the longest time, I would discipline myself over feelings – judging whether I was “allowed” or “justified” to have those feelings, and whether I should “do” something more “productive” with them. Now I am learning to welcome each feeling, to let each one flow and listen first to what it deserves to tell me before I react or take any action. It’s leading me to new and exciting character choices, too!

Maybe my story resonated with you. Maybe it didn’t resonate at all—because each of us feels in our own way. So let’s play with some questions and prompts around the Water or Sacral chakra and our / our characters’ right to feel.

Writing Prompts

“For what do you blame yourself?”

Continuing with our episode from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Guru Pathik invites Aang to meditate on the moments where he feels guilt and blame for his recent actions. Aang envisions fleeing the Southern Air Temple because he did not want to be the Avatar, only for the temple to be destroyed by the Fire Nation a short while later. He recalls causing harm to people, despite his best intentions and even despite being incredibly powerful (in the Avatar state). There is great temptation for Aang to shut himself off from feeling pleasure, or even worse, from feeling anything at all, but such is a path to further isolation and self-destruction. Restricting our feelings, limiting our pleasure, is part of cutting us off from being human; to feel the full range of emotions is a natural part of living. The guru tells Aang the only way he will unblock this chakra and positively influence the world is to accept his actions, to accept what has happened around those actions, and to forgive himself.

Consider the following playful writing prompts; these are stylized as if you are writing characters, though they may also be worded to oneself.

1. Naming blockers (remember to breathe!):  Where or in what ways might your character be experiencing guilt and (self-)blame?

Playing with blockers and turning them around:

2. What brings pleasure and/or fulfillment to your character’s life? When or under what circumstances does your character feel joy?
3. What does your character enjoy feeling the most? To what or whom is your character attracted?
4. How or in what ways does your character embody (or explore) her/his/their right to feel?

Be watching for upcoming Post #3: Transformative Willpower when Blocked by Shame