Dryer Lint

Envy rots the bones.

—Proverbs 14:30

When you’re stuck creatively, it absolutely does not help to google yourself or check your blog comments every six minutes. Even if, say, nine out of ten reviews on Amazon are lovely, that one less-than-glowing review will dive into your psyche like a virus you can’t shake.

Don’t read about other people online, either. If you’re feeling scared and small, your twisted-up mind will make them into heroes and paragons of talent and virtue. All you’ll notice are the fun things they’re doing and how skinny they are in their pictures. All the status updates and tweets, when you’re feeling jittery and terrified, somehow line up in this vein: “Just got back from 45 days in Hawaii.” “My new army of housekeepers is cleaning my house top to bottom.” “Sifting through awards and invitations from journalists and reviewers who think I’m a genius.” It’s not really like that, of course. Mostly people are talking about how badly they need a coffee and what they thought about the new Vampire Weekend album and how frustrated they are that their kids won’t nap. But when you’re stuck, all you see are the ones that make you feel tiny and gray, like dryer lint.