by Jenna | Nov 10, 2016 | Writing Articles
It's been an intense week.
Regardless of your political affiliation, here in the U.S. and worldwide we've been through the wringer and come out changed. We're all going through a lot right now. There's much to process, contemplate, and recover from.
In the midst of all this, the important thing is to remember who we are. That we each have a purpose to fulfill.
A calling.
If you're hanging out with me in this little corner of the Universe, you're called to write. To create with words, pen on page, fingers on keyboard.
A tremendous gift, writing is.
It has the power to open minds and hearts.
To express deeper truths.
To shine lights into the recesses of our humanity and unearth hidden gems and wounds.
To heal, inspire, strengthen, catalyze, and change.
To heal us individually as writers.
And even though it may be tempting to turn away from your writing right now, please don't.
If not for others, for yourself. Because writing will remind you who you are, and what you were put here to do.
When my mother in law died in 2015, I clung to my writing as if it would save my life. It was my constant in a sea of pain and turmoil.
If you find yourself in that place now, as I do, let writing be the raft that carries you to shore.
I know that not everyone is hurting right now. It is likely that some among us are happy with this week's outcomes. And that is your right.
But let us keep the focus on the larger vision. Our writing. Our truths. The messages we each have to share with the world. Because that's why we're here.
Keep writing.
With love,
by Jenna | Jul 17, 2013 | Writing Articles
So many writers I’ve spoken to recently are talking about finishing; many at that point of having just finished a major draft or putting the finishing touches on one.
It got me to thinking about the ingredients that go into the mix to make that happen.
It strikes me that there are both internal and external aspects to these success stories. What I see on the internal side is:
- Vision — having an idea or a calling to see something come to fruition.
- Passion — having a love or interest or fierce desire for a specific project or idea.
- Decision — making the decision to tackle the project.
- Courage — having the courage to dive in to the unknown.
- Perseverance — having the wherewithal to stick with something.
- Intuition — knowing when something is right for you, or not.
Hopefully we have all these skills. If we don’t, we can strengthen them within ourselves. (And there are good coaches and therapists who can help us do just that.)
So yes, completing any project requires a tremendous amount of drive, determination, and courage. But even the strongest of strong-hearted among us get tripped up by a laundry list of obstacles, like:
- Doubt — what if I can’t do it?
- Fears — of success, failure, rejection, disapproval, shame
- Resistance — the force that repels us from our dreams
- Procrastination — our tendency to put off anything that moves us toward completion of our dreams
- Perfectionism — the belief that perfection is attainable and that if we’re not hitting it, we’re failing.
- Bad habits — putting vices before taking action on our dreams.
- Poor self- management — struggles with discipline, decision-making, commitment, time choices.
- Poor self-care — not taking care of our bodies, minds, hearts, and spirits.
- Comparison with others — thinking other people are doing better than we are.
- Obsessing about our chances of success — focusing on the big questions rather than doing our work.
- Approval-seeking — looking outside ourselves for validation of our talent or ability.
- Life challenges — stopping when life gets hard.
Many of these things can be solved with self-awareness and determination, and yet what I see time and again is that we can draw on resources outside ourselves to help us make it through the rough patches. Things like:
- Support — there’s nothing quite like having other people believe in you, especially when you’ve temporarily forgotten your own skill and ability.
- Daily accountability — having support to see it through, to keep showing up and do the daily work is deeply motivating.
- Community — being a part of a community where you are with other people who truly “get” what you’re experiencing helps end the sense of isolation we can all experience at times.
- Energy — the shared energy of working together, whether side by side or as a team, can move us into action when we’re otherwise flagging.
- Inspiration — a shared spirit of energy and enthusiasm can reignite us when the going gets tough.
Warmly,
You may also be interested in:
by Jenna | Mar 9, 2012 | Writing Articles
We write because we have stories to tell.
We write to entertain.
To explore.
To connect.
To teach.
We write because if we don’t, we can’t sleep.
We write to be paid.
We write for the joy of it.
We write because we said we would.
We write to document, explain, journal, create.
We write because we love it.
We write to expunge the terrible questions that captivate us.
To travel the neural pathways and find out where they go.
To see what happens.
Joss Whedon has said, “You either have to be writing or you shouldn’t be writing. That’s all.”
