--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No one stopped me from playing when I was…" description: "\"No one stopped me from playing when I was alone, but there were times when I wasn't able to, though I wanted to... There were times when nothing played..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d42/lynda-barry-3343_able_no-one-stopped-me-from-playing-when-i-wa_433327.jpg" --- # No one stopped me from playing when I was alone, but there… ![“No one stopped me from playing when I was alone, but there were times when I wasn't able to, though I wanted to... There were times when nothing played back. Writers call it 'writer's block.' For kids there are other names for that feeling, though kids don't usually know them.” quote by Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d42/lynda-barry-3343_able_no-one-stopped-me-from-playing-when-i-wa_433327.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d42/lynda-barry-3343_able_no-one-stopped-me-from-playing-when-i-wa_433327.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d42/lynda-barry-3343_able_no-one-stopped-me-from-playing-when-i-wa_433327.jpg) > “No one stopped me from playing when I was alone, but there were times when I wasn't able to, though I wanted to... There were times when nothing played back. Writers call it 'writer's block.' For kids there are other names for that feeling, though kids don't usually know them.” [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writer’s block is a creative stall where ideas won’t flow, often felt alone and frustrating. **In simple terms:** Creative stalls happen to everyone. Key Takeaway Accept the pause, then act. Themes creativity blocks writing Mood reflective empathetic Type inspirational supportive When to use this quote - journaling - free writing - mindfulness exercises - talking with peers Key Concepts mental health self‑compassion Questions to Reflect On - What triggers your block? - How can you gently restart creativity? A Different Perspective Pressure to produce can worsen the block. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [Alone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alone/) [Back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/back/) [Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/block/) [Call](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/call/) [Feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feeling/) [Feeling Kids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feeling-kids-2018351/) [Kids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kids/) [Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know/) [Me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/me/) [Names](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/names/) [Nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothing/) [Other](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/other/) [Played](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/played/) [Played Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/played-writers-3815059/) [Playing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/playing/) [Stopped](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stopped/) [Stopped Playing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stopped-playing/) [Them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/them/) [Though](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/though/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Times](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/times/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) [Were](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/were/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writer Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-block/) [Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I stopped playing in Jr. events when I was 12 and played women's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-gulbis/i-stopped-playing-in-jr-events-when-i-was-12-and-played-women-s/) [Natalie Gulbis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-gulbis/) > [I just stopped playing. I did some screenwriting and got into the nature thing. Music kind of went away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-squier/i-just-stopped-playing-i-did-some-screenwriting-and-got-into-the/) [Billy Squier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-squier/) > [It's a good feeling to see the kids try to make it, try to get to the big leagues. Everyone here has an opportunity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-oliva/it-s-a-good-feeling-to-see-the-kids-try-to-make-it-try-to-get-to-the/) [Tony Oliva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-oliva/) > [I have a feeling that the kids are slowly returning to the roots, with this new Metal trend. I can really feel there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yenz-leonhardt/i-have-a-feeling-that-the-kids-are-slowly-returning-to-the-roots-with/) [Yenz Leonhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yenz-leonhardt/) > [Essentially, my kids grew up with the emphasis on the environment because I became a political activist in about 1969 and it was not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-redford/essentially-my-kids-grew-up-with-the-emphasis-on-the-environment/) [Robert Redford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-redford/) > [I got a feeling that when I have kids, I'm going to have a little girl, and she's going to be completely sensible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-townes-earle/i-got-a-feeling-that-when-i-have-kids-i-m-going-to-have-a-little-girl/) [Justin Townes Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-townes-earle/) > [I haven't been drinking for years now. Something's got to give. I don't mind that I'm a guy that's stopped drinking, though this interview…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-hicks/i-haven-t-been-drinking-for-years-now-something-s-got-to-give-i-don-t/) [Dan Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-hicks/) > [I haven't stopped playing. If you play all the time, then your chops are up and you tend to grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-schon/i-haven-t-stopped-playing-if-you-play-all-the-time-then-your-chops/) [Neal Schon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-schon/) > [If I would have listened to other people back in 2000 telling me I should have stopped playing basketball because of a kidney disease,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alonzo-mourning/if-i-would-have-listened-to-other-people-back-in-2000-telling-me-i/) [Alonzo Mourning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alonzo-mourning/) > [“When we were kids and believed that the game was not fair, we stopped playing. Well, the game of governance is not fair, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charbel-tadros/when-we-were-kids-and-believed-that-the-game-was-not-fair-we-stopped/) [Charbel Tadros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charbel-tadros/) > [Maradona is Maradona, that's indisputable, but he doesn't play anymore. He stopped playing a long time ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-kempes/maradona-is-maradona-that-s-indisputable-but-he-doesn-t-play-anymore/) [Mario Kempes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-kempes/) > [I stopped playing the drums when I was ten, and I picked up Rubik's Cubes. I was doing that for a while, and then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-brian/i-stopped-playing-the-drums-when-i-was-ten-and-i-picked-up-rubik-s/) [Rich Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-brian/) > [In my old neighborhood, a boy stopped playing when he began to lose his pulse. And then he became the referee.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/in-my-old-neighborhood-a-boy-stopped-playing-when-he-began-to-lose/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [I stopped playing video games, I stopped playing other sports, and I just dove head first into wrestling and it's been my passion ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-owens/i-stopped-playing-video-games-i-stopped-playing-other-sports-and-i/) [Kevin Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-owens/) > [If you stopped playing notes, Music would still exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-wooten/if-you-stopped-playing-notes-music-would-still-exist/) [Victor Wooten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-wooten/) ## More by Lynda Barry > [ “i believe \[images\] are the soul's immune system and transit system.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/i-believe-images-are-the-soul-s-immune-system-and-transit-system/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [The happy ending is hardly important, though we may be glad its there. The real joy is knowing that if you felt the trouble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/the-happy-ending-is-hardly-important-though-we-may-be-glad-its-there/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [I found myself compelled - like this weird, shameful compulsion - to draw cute animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/i-found-myself-compelled-like-this-weird-shameful-compulsion-to-draw/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [“As I enter the small intestine I get squeezed by muscles. Its dark and the walls look like slimey crushed velvet theres pancreas juice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/as-i-enter-the-small-intestine-i-get-squeezed-by-muscles-its-dark-and/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [I look crazy. I know I do. Been true since I was a kid!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/i-look-crazy-i-know-i-do-been-true-since-i-was-a-kid/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [In life there are always these things happening if you can just get the joke.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/in-life-there-are-always-these-things-happening-if-you-can-just-get/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [You may be a lady but you are still the man!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/you-may-be-a-lady-but-you-are-still-the-man/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [The minute you understand racism, you're responsible for being racist. It's like eating from the tree of knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/the-minute-you-understand-racism-you-re-responsible-for-being-racist/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [“Same circus, different clowns, and without a doubt I'm one of them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/same-circus-different-clowns-and-without-a-doubt-i-m-one-of-them/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [“Above me soft footsteps, the sound through the ceiling of a teenager haunted by a door to the night. My cousin Maybonne lights up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/above-me-soft-footsteps-the-sound-through-the-ceiling-of-a-teenager/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [Dear Anyone Who Finds This, Do not blame the drugs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/dear-anyone-who-finds-this-do-not-blame-the-drugs/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [There was a beautiful time in the beginning when I just did it and didn't analyze the consequences, but I think that time ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/there-was-a-beautiful-time-in-the-beginning-when-i-just-did-it-and/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [The library was open for one hour after school let out. I hid there, looking at art books and reading poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/the-library-was-open-for-one-hour-after-school-let-out-i-hid-there/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [“Mr. Harmong is the cheapest chinztiest most pig-lipped tightwad skanked-out lardo king landlord of all time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/mr-harmong-is-the-cheapest-chinztiest-most-pig-lipped-tightwad/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [Love will make a way out of no way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/love-will-make-a-way-out-of-no-way/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) [Explore all 133 Lynda Barry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [In the '80s, the way radio was programmed, if you didn't have a hit record you weren't going to be able to make any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huey-lewis/in-the-80s-the-way-radio-was-programmed-if-you-didn-t-have-a-hit/) [Huey Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huey-lewis/) > [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) [Greg Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-perry/) > [I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-don-t-know-if-i-would-qualify-as-mainstream-i-think-i-have-managed/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [The reason that Apple is able to create products like iPad is because we always try to be at the intersection of technology and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-reason-that-apple-is-able-to-create-products-like-ipad-is-because/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [It was an important period for us, because even though we weren't a "punk band", and what became a model for a punk band,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mallinder/it-was-an-important-period-for-us-because-even-though-we-weren-t-a/) [Stephen Mallinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mallinder/) > [- You look fine. - Right. I look fine. Except I don't, said Zora, tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. This was why Kiki…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-look-fine-right-i-look-fine-except-i-don-t-said-zora-tugging/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [There is a way to be a woman, ask for what we deserve and be able to negotiate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/there-is-a-way-to-be-a-woman-ask-for-what-we-deserve-and-be-able-to/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) [Browse all 17,257 Able quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No one stopped me from playing when I was alone, but there were times when I wasn't able to, though I wanted to... There were times when nothing played back. Writers call it 'writer's block.' 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