Why I Ditched My Smartwatch

lizshine74by lizshine74

In Be here now., Inspiration, On writing.

red watch

I haven’t posted here all month. I was going pretty strong before that. When I started bloggin, I didn’t have an intention to post on a particular schedule. What I knew was that as a writer who has been hitting it hard now for thirty-plus years and as a teacher and writing coach, I have this strong desire to boost other writers in any way I can. Some things I’ve been up to this month include: trying to write a poem every day for a month and sending out daily inspiration to an email thread of brave friends writing poems with me, helping in the creation of a literary magazine at my high school, caring for a sick parent, and being a high school teacher in spring.

If I measured my word count this month, I don’t think my poems would add up to much. I have made a few interrupted attempts to move my prose project forward. I finished one short story that I loved immediately, then loved less when I looked back at it a couple of days later. Thankfully, I am not counting words. I’m not counting steps anymore either. For years I’ve been wearing a smartwatch. As an active person with strong fitness habits, it tells me the same thing again and again: Given the time, I will move. It feels good in my body to move, so I do. The only time the data changes in when for some reason (I’m sick; overbooked; have a project to finish) I can’t make the time. Hell, I know that. I don’t need a watch to tell me. What’s more is that I’ve come to consider a new possibility about all this data-tracking: It ruins the creative energy that comes from mystery and uncertainty and just going through the dance and following your heart and not being able to explain any of it with data. It’s funny that I’ve been thinking about writing this post for weeks (since ditching my watch), but I just got an email from a yoga teacher yesterday that talked about how apps that track your nutrition data have some merit, but they ultimately fail because they can’t tune into your biofeedback. What is biofeedback? It’s the signs your body is giving you, in this case in regards to hunger and fullness. That’s the kind of data I’m leaning into right now. In the past, I maybe tried to make my steps even when I was quite literally dragging my reluctant and tired body along, totally ignoring its signals.

This applies to my writing as well. I am showing up each day with the intention to write. I’m showing up at the times I have set aside and in the space I have created for this work. Then, I am doing my best to get into the flow of the work, immerse body and mind. I do have goals, for sure. But on the day-to-day, I trust the work. Each day is going to look a little different and that is okay for me right now.

All that said, I think if you are a new writer just starting a practice, this might look different for you. If you need to build an exercise habit, try the watch. Counting words for a string of days will help you build a writing habit. Counting steps will make moving part of your practice. Once you have the habit, though, it is important to loosen the reins a bit and commit to the uncertainty and flow.

I even wrote one of my poems this month on this topic!

Writer friends,

I am happy we are here together. This work is hard, often thankless. It is a boon to be doing it together. I am here. Even when I’m quiet for a bit, I am here. When I have something worth saying, you’ll hear from me.

Love,

Liz

I also work as a writing coach and love helping writers gain confidence, set goals, and develop their work. For more information on coaching, email me at eatyourwords.lizshine@gmail.com.

lizshine74

lizshine74

Liz Shine teaches high school English, writes, edits, and coaches other writers from her home in Olympia, WA. When she begins to feel overwhelmed by it all, she simply looks up at Mount Rainier in the distance and gets back to work. If that fails, she heads to the ocean. She is a founding editor at Red Dress Press. Her Substack Make Time is her gift to writers, like her, trying to magic time in this crazy, busy world. All of those posts are cross-posted on the blog here. You can see more of her writing at lizshine.com and find her on Instagram {@lizshine.writer} cooking, traveling, and in other ways seeking moments of awe. She has been an active participant in communities of writers since the early 1990s. She’s learned that two things feel truly purpose-driven in life: writing and coaching other writers. In the in between (because one cannot be driving for a purpose every moment), she enjoys looking for wonder and connection. She is a lifelong yoga student, an enthusiastic walker along streets and trails, and an amateur gardener and vegetarian cook. She lives in Olympia, WA in the USA. She believes in the power of practice and has been practicing writing since some time in the early 90s when she became an adult in the rain-soaked city of Aberdeen. Writing began with journaling, as a way to understand a confusing, sometimes violent coming-of-age. She writes mostly fiction, some nonfiction, and poetry, and holds an MFA from Pacific Lutheran University’s Rainier Writers Workshop. She has published in Shark Reef, Dual Coast, and Blue Crow Magazine. She is a founding editor at Red Dress Press.