To Write or Not to Write...

To write or not to write, that is the question...

It certainly isn’t for lack of ideas that I don’t write.  I realize it truly is the discipline to sit down and put pen to paper that is the craft of writing.  I’d like to be a great accomplished writer straight out of the gate, but accomplishment comes from practice.  The only way to get good at anything is to do it over and over again.  There are reminders everywhere in my own life and the lives of those around me that show me this. It is funny how I have those built in forgetters or think I should be "different".  One of the things Ann Lamott posts over and over is that if you want to be a writer you just have to sit down and write.  It doesn’t matter whether it is good or bad, just make the time.  So, again, here I sit and thank Ann for the courage. 

The next questions that nag at me still are, why am I writing, to who am I writing for, why do I feel inspired to write???   I know inspiration is something inherent in each of us.  Each time you breathe, you fill with inspiration, literatlly and figuratively.  The breath is such a simple analogy and one I use quite often as a yoga teacher.  It is the one thing we can always come back to, it simplifies and defines life in that it conspires to not only give us physical life, but inspire us to greatness, to vulnerability, to truth, if we pay attention to it, if we practice paying attention to it.

As I have struggled these last four weeks (when I started this blog it was only two) to write and have come up with tons of ideas for blogs (at least a dozen good ones) I always have something better to do.  It took me years to find a steady meditation practice, not because I didn’t feel great affects from it, but because I couldn’t find the motivation or drive to do it daily.  Sleep seemed more valuable, spending time with my son, doing my asana, walking the dogs, going to work, making homemade meals, helping friends, ad infinitum.  These are all very valid strong life affirming activities, but in my heart I know I needed to meditate daily.  I can still be a moody person, with a tendency to react in anger over the slightest injustice to me or in the world.  Meditation created space and allowed life to come to me, rather than knee jerk react my way through every situation.  After trying for many years and coming back to the practice over and over again, I began to see the value and recognize how it enhanced my life, made all the above activities richer and allowed me to be more “present” within them.  I now have a daily meditation practice.  It was a joy, a struggle and many come to “Jesus” moments, but it found and devoured me. It has its peaks and valleys like any other relationship, but now I am committed to it.

So… with that written and me figuring out while I am writing this what one practice has to do with the other, it seems much clearer.  I have already put myself out there once, you have begun to hear me clear my writing throat and nothing imploded and temples didn’t crumble under the heresy of my voice.  The demons of fear have been quieted a bit, so now what is my excuse?  Still a bit of that fear, but really it is good old fashioned discipline, not a punishment, but literally being a disciple of my desires answering the call of making meaning of my life.   I hired someone to coach me, she suggested I write a couple times a week and that doesn’t seem so hard, right?  Yet, here I am at the end of the two weeks (ahem, four weeks) since our session and I am just taking my first 20 minutes to write this.  I am enjoying it, I will go back and edit and re-read many times (I have now put more than a couple hours into editing/rewrites) but really was that so hard (nope!). 

Everything in life teaches me, when I am willing to learn.  My yoga and meditation practice (one is not really separate from the other, but that is for another blog) have taught me the benefits of taking the time to do what makes me feel good, do what lights the fire of inspiration inside of me.   I literally feel lighter in my physical body and mind and everything seems to come together when I answer to my desire.  The key is to do it, whatever inspires you, it is important to recognize your desires but more importantly answer to them.  The only difference between successful people and ones that feel “stuck” is the ability to just do it (for Pete's sake!).

 I feel free when I write.  With freedom comes vulnerability, and yes, I know, when I expose myself there is the chance to be hurt.  I will end this post with one of my favorite quotes by Anais Nin  “and the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom".   

The answer is clear… To write.