Writer's Block in the Shadow of October 7th
Two months into war, the situation is getting harder to process.
Last month I published a long personal reflection on my experience before and after the October 7th massacre. It ended with a pledge to publish on the 7th of each month at a minimum, a promise to myself I knew I wouldn’t break. It’s a hack to reinforce a regular writing practice, with a little Jewish guilt.
Yet today is December 7th and I’m suffering from the most intense writer’s block I’ve ever had.
I’ve started and stopped this post at least a dozen times. Recalibrating my message and adjusting the tone. Debating which stories to tell, where to begin, and how deep to go. And questioning what’s the point, anyway?
The same thing is happening on Instagram. I begin to craft a Story or a post, and hesitate before deciding it’s not worth it. It’s not worth getting accused of not caring about the unfathomable humanitarian crisis in Gaza just because I’m still processing what happened in Israel on October 7th. This has happened a few times, each time more painful than the last.
No one is forcing me to write about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I don’t particularly want to be writing about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet right now I don’t know what else to write about because I don’t know what else to think about.
I want to honor my commitment to publish on the 7th of each month but I also want to protect my mental health.
So for now this is it.
This is my December 7th post.
Instead of the 2,401 words I have sitting in a draft, I’m only comfortable sharing the 271 on this page.
