How to get yourself to write when everything is falling apart around you?

I'm an aspiring writer. I went to school for it and got to a point post graduation that I was juggling a part time job while trying to make a manuscript. After some decent progress on it, I hit a point in my life where everything going on in it is so much that I just can't get myself to write more often than not. This isn't a situation of "it's okay if the words are bad at first, just get it on the page", I know that and I believe in that, but it feels like I can't even think of words to put on the page, I just can't think. I feel like I have such a limited amount of time to even set aside for writing, and then I'm wasting it away by staring at my screen while my mind just floods with worry about everything. I had been trying hard to make some progress on this, but every time I have a good week or two that actually allowed me to start chipping away at what needs to be written, something worse happens, and I'm back to worrying every time I have a quiet moment.

I do go to therapy and talk with my loved ones about these worries, but it's always things physically outside of any of our control. Currently I just cannot stop worrying about my life partner who is battling cancer, so there isn't really any way to "resolve" these feelings. I'm hitting a point of it being several years post graduation with nothing to show for it but drafts I can't finish. I'm starting to feel defeated and like I'm never going to make it to a point where things will be stable enough for me to write.

I would appreciate any advice on how to handle trying to make a writing career through these sorts of circumstances, or how to find a good way of getting into a writing mindset despite them.

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u/mistfoot — 2 days ago