I think about the tortured artist a lot.

The idea of turning pain into art.

Taking sorrows, ugly feelings,

moulding them like dirty, wet clay

’til they form a shape that means something. 

A man full of endlessness comes home,

puts his coin purse on the table

drops loquats in a ceramic bowl.

He props his sword

—clean, still sheathed—

against the table.

As someone with ADHD and a penchant for burnout, I am intimately familiar with the dreaded reading slump. I love reading. There is nothing better than having my whole heart and mind consumed by a rich storyworld – rivalled only by the satisfaction of finishing said story. And yet…

I still slump. I slump hard. But, after many years of slump experience, I understand the barriers that stop me from reading consistently. It really comes down to: Accessibility, Time Management, Accountability and Engagement.