Side Quest Podcast

Tolkien describes the dead marshes like this in The Two Towers: "Dreary and wearisome. Cold, clammy winter still held sway in this forsaken country. The only green was the scum of livid weed on the dark greasy surfaces of the sullen waters. Dead grasses and rotting reeds loomed up in the mists like ragged shadows of long-forgotten summers." You can smell the staleness of the air, you can feel the icy chill of death as it slowly seeps into your bones when you read this passage. For me, the imagery of the marshes: dreary, sullen, and ragged is an excellent metaphor for those times when we lose motivation. When we enter this area, our thoughts become dreary, and our bodies and minds are easily fatigued. Like Frodo, entranced by the faces of the dead in the murky waters, we're easily pulled down into the depths of demotivation. These desolate, shallow, murky waters are never easy to get out of once we allow ourselves to sink in. So how do you escape these marshes? That's what I cover in this episode.