writing

Write Away

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A Quaker women once described the silence in Quaker worship as the time “you were to go inside yourself and greet the light” (in Vecchione, Writing and the Spiritual Life, 2001, p.6).  Writing, for me, is a similar moment in time and place to go within myself and, if not greet the light, at least diminish the darkness.

I journalled extensively in my twenties and early thirties; I found writing regularly was an excellent self care practice. It helped me to understand my actions and sense of the world, but also to stabilize myself.  Through writing I was able to find the ground of my being, and be able to stand more firmly in the world.

Since the fall, when I began participating in a UU Wellspring group, I have returned to journalling – not consistently but regularly, and I have been reminded of its value for my spirit. The writing is largely stream of consciousness, I begin with whatever is on my mind at the moment I begin to write.  I have no agenda to the writing, I am not trying to record my days in detail, or examine myself in any particular way.  I follow the writing wherever it goes.  While it occasionally leads to an insight or epiphany, I find that it is most valuable in helping me let go of anxiety or worries or concerns about having doing something wrong or not lived up to an expectation.  Writing those anxieties out helps me to release them.  Writing out an experience gives me distance and perspective, takes it out of my self in a way that talking about it doesn’t necessarily do.

While I don’t write to the divine or use writing as a prayer, I do find that journalling is a spiritual practice.  I feel better after an extended period of attentive writing: lighter, refreshed, more content.  I don’t always feel like I am “greeting the light”, seeing it clearly, but I feel like I am making room for the divine light within me, clearing out some of the darkness that shadows it.  May Sarton, in her memoir Journal of a Solitude, quotes Jung: “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious”.  Writing for me is often about paying attention to the dark, making it less scary and more normal, which allows it to fall away.  If I have been able to write through a difficult experience and come out to a place of integration, then I will write about who and what I am grateful for in my life, where I find joy and wonder.  Writing helps me be more open and present.

In this new era – the COVID-19 pandemic – in which the future seems not just uncertain but dangerous, with infection increasing daily here in Ontario, writing has become a necessary spiritual practice to cope with stress. What is helping you make the darkness conscious?

(this post is an adapted excerpt from a personal essay written for a class in seminary in 2011)

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The Journey Matters

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“It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” Ursula K. Le Guin

For our final February writing practice, we consider the theme of journeys. Find a quiet place where you can sit without interruptions for fifteen minutes.  See the first post for the basic outline of the practice.

Theme: Journey

So much of our lives is spent traveling, moving from place to place. For some that may be within a bounded geography, learning the deep details of place, others wander the wide, wide world.  All of us, however far we range in body, are also on an interior journey.  This journey of spirit meanders, goes around and comes around, taking long breaks then suddenly leaps ahead, but it spirals ever onward as we live.

Describe your greatest journey. It may your spiritual journey or it may be a physical journey, or both. Where did you go?  How did you travel?  What did you do? What did you learn? How did it change you? What did you leave with? Are you still arriving?Spend the time with the question which seems to need answering the most.

Describe your greatest journey.

Dark into Light

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A Quaker woman once described the silence in Quaker worship as the time “you were to go inside yourself and greet the light” (Vecchione, Writing and the Spiritual Life).

Writing, for me, is a similar moment in time and place to go within myself. I find it helps me to put all the pieces of my life in their proper order. I feel better after an extended period of attentive writing: lighter, refreshed, content. I don’t always feel like I am “greeting the light”, but I feel like I am at least making room for the light within, clearing out some of the darkness that shadows it.

Journal writing for me is often about paying attention to the dark, making the darkness within (and without) less frightening and more normal, which helps it to fall away.  May Sarton, in her memoir Journal of a Solitude, quotes Jung: “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious”.

Putting pen to paper helps move me into a place of integrated wholeness. In that grounding, I am, if only temporarily, more open and responsive to the wider world. Writing is a creative response to the divine mystery of living. It helps me be open to the beauty and wonder and spirit present in the everyday; it helps me to be curious and delighted by life.

This week we will explore our struggles with the dark. Spend at least 10 minutes writing in a quiet place. Light a chalice before you begin and take a minute to breath before beginning. See this post for details of the practice. If you begin with the image of darkness and find your writing goes somewhere very different, let yourself follow. If after 10 minutes, you have more to write, please continue.

Theme:  The Dark

Describe the dark.  What does it look like? Does it have a sound? A smell? What does the dark feel like? Where is it located? How do you feel about the dark? What scares you about the dark? If  your fear is strong, spend some time examining that fear. Where does the fear come from? Can the dark also be friendly? What do you appreciate about the dark?

Describe darkness.

A World of Wonder

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“Wonder is the basis of worship.” Thomas Carlyle, philosopher (1795 -1881).

For this week’s spiritual practice of writing, we explore the theme of wonder. Author Brian Doyle says “Nothing could be as useful, as generative of joy and mercy, as energizing and refreshing, as nakedly holy, as a faucet of wonder that never shuts off.”

Moments of wonder for me include: making snow angels under the northern lights in Saskatchewan, watching a baby blue jay learn to fly in my back garden, even watching the epic paintball battle of season one of Community. All these experiences were intersections where my spirit met the greater whole and said “wow”. The vastness of the universe, the beautiful life surrounding us, the comedic brilliance of humanity, all remind me that this planet is an amazing place to live.

Please see last week’s post for the protocol of this spiritual practice.  Find a quiet place and plan to take at least 10 minutes for writing.

Theme:  Wonder
Where and when and how have you experienced wonder? What moments have made in awe at the wonders of the world?
Describe each experience in detail: where you were, who you were with, what it looked like, what it sounded like, and what it felt like.
Where have you experienced wonder?

Writing the Spirit

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“Writing can be a way we connect with the spiritual forces that support our lives, a way to be in the presence of holiness and to honour the mystery of life and creation.”  Patrice Vecchione

Writing is one way to access the depths of your spirit – all those things you know but may not be aware of.  It is a way to access that “still, small voice within”, the voice of wisdom and insight that can be so hard to hear in our everyday lives. This February we will use writing as a spiritual practice, as an avenue to awareness. Each week I will offer a different question or theme to consider through writing for 10 minutes. If you have another question that you want to explore, or find the writing takes you someplace very different, please follow that path.

The Basics

Begin in silence. Before you begin writing, take at least a minute to sit in silence. Take deep breaths and centre yourself. Let your thoughts rattle away and slow down. If ritual helps you, before the silence, light a chalice or ring a bell, to shape this moment with intention.

Use a notebook and a pen. While most of us are used to the fast typing of a computer, using a notebook and pen slows us down, offers less distractions, grounds us in the physical world, and helps define this writing as a spiritual practice. If you use a computer, close all the windows and turn off e-mail and media alerts.

Keep your hand moving. Once you start writing, don’t stop, keep your hand moving to help keep your thoughts flowing. Writing without stopping also helps stop your inner critic from deciding some language or thoughts are best unwritten. Don’t step back and analyze your thoughts. Let the words flow. The reflection time comes afterwords. Set an alarm for 10 minutes.

Embody the word. Be concrete in your descriptions. Be specific. If you mention a bird, identify it – a robin or a falcon? If you are writing about exhaustion, explore how you feel. Drill down to the details. If you are writing about something abstract, describe it through the senses – taste, touch, sound, smell, sight. Giving your ideas a physical presence helps create connections.

First Theme:  Belonging

This week’s theme comes from the Rev. Karen Hering, a UU minister who runs Faithful Words, a literary ministry. Belonging is a key understanding of Unitarian Universalism, we belong to this planet, we are part of an interconnected whole. But it can be very difficult to feel like we belong, we often forget, or neglect, the ties that keep us together. Other connections we might not be consciously aware of. Not everything we belong to is healthy or right for us. After writing, take some time to reflect on what you have written. What stands out? What surprises you? What do you wish you did not belong to?

“The bird belongs to the sky, even though it cannot sleep there; the egg belongs to the nest even though it will not stay there.”  To whom and to what and to where do you belong? Hold these questions as you begin to write. If you feel stuck ask yourself the question out loud. Don’t editorialize your answers but simply write them down, develop each belonging with some detail.

To whom and to what and to where do you belong?