Starting a few weeks ago, I made a commitment to myself that I would try to take writing to the next level for me. I don't know if that means that I'll just jot down more notes and read a few books in between or if I will dive into the world of sharing the art and possibly publishing work that stands out and might be enjoyed by others. In her book
Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg encourages writing practice as a means of self-discovery; navigating and fully participating in the world around us. She encourages anyone who writes to do so with confidence, stating that when we do "connect well" through writing we should claim our work:
"
I am not saying everyone is Shakespeare, but I am saying everyone has a genuine voice that can express his or her life with honest dignity and detail."
Sometimes you read something and you say, "Hey, that's me!" It doesn't necessarily mean you can completely identify with the author or the character she creates, but the common bond is enough to give you a smidgen of courage to explore your own dreams. Here is the passage from
Bones that makes me feel that way:
"Writers live twice. They go along with their regular life, are as fast as anyone in the grocery store, crossing the street, getting dressed in the morning. But there's another part of them that they have been training. The one that lives everything a second time. That sits down and sees their life again and goes over it. Looks at the texture and details."
Throughout reading this book, I made entries in my journal and took time to engage in the lessons Goldberg shares from her experience as a writer, a teacher and a pupil on her way to enlightenment. She dares to extinguish the self-editor we all encounter in our day to day practice. She believes "first thoughts" are the key to genuine expression through writing. She allows us to write from the gut and trust our observations whether or not they are wholly accurate from the point of view of any other observer. One lesson sent a surge through me and I submerged to meet the challenge.
Why do I write?
(My response):
I write to kill the devil inside me; to give energy to the angel within all of us, to be free and clear and brave. I write to hear the voice my diaphragm can not produce and speak the words my lips and tongue can not pronounce.
I write to find greatness from substandardization and laziness. I write to live a different way, to scream at my doubters, to attract other writers, to impress former lovers.
I write to find justice, to JUMP on the elephant in the room, to bring forth change and discussion and release. I write so I can sing and be music incarnate, to shout from the mountain top, to bring down the house.
I write as a father, a husband, an uncle, a son. I write as a brother, a mother (I can!), as a friend and a guide and a jewel.
I write because once (and today even too), I said, "I wish I could write like that." I write because someone said it to me.
I write because I dream, asleep and awake; because I see cracks in the sidewalk and weeds in the cracks and dirt on the weeds and frost on my toes.
I write for approval, applause and success. I write in cold places so I will confess. I write because the bible was written for me; the Koran, the Tora- yes, all three and I write because Buddha sat under a tree. I write to rhyme, obviously!
If I experience dementia,
Will you tickle my funny bone?
and let me pick new places too?
