Clearing your mental ram

It used to be that when I sat down to write, I was suddenly overwhelmed by thoughts of everything else I should do first: pay bills, grocery shop, call friends. I needed the right pen, the right paper, the right system. Over time, this fluid compulsion to clean my desk, my study, my house -- before writing -- solidified into the golden realization that writing is like breathing. Rarely is it the only thing I do. Rather, it's part of how I take in the world, part of how I release it. Part of how I live.