‘When a man talks from his heart, in his moment of truth, he speaks poetry.’ ( Ray Bradbury)
Inside each one of us is the impulse to express ourselves. This is a sacred impulse, and when we honor it, our writing brings courage, integrity and clarity into our lives.
Face the pure and empty page. Breathe deep. Enter into your own body. Pick up your pen and write from your own living experience, from what is given to you, moment by moment. Discover how it feels to ‘be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself.’ (Andre Gide)
It’s not really possible to teach anyone to write, to be creative. The source of your creativity and inspiration is deep within you. What we can do is create an atmosphere, an environment which supports the creative spirit, and helps you release your resistance. This is what ‘The Alchemy of Writing’ is all about.
Don’t wait for inspiration - just begin
Many people long to write, sometimes for their whole lives, and never take the plunge. I encourage anyone who feels the urge to write to jump right into the water. Writing is powerful medicine. It connects us with parts of ourselves that have been lost, hidden, shut away. It can be a form of guidance, learning, prayer and transformation.
You don’t have to wait for inspiration. I have interviewed some very creative people who discovered that the inspiration comes after you begin, not before. ‘There is no need to imagine before you paint. Painting brings forth imagination.’ Kazuaki Tanahashi. This is one of the secrets of the creative process-the actual act of writing calls forth your inspiration, your creative flow.
The myth of talent
‘The more skill you have, the further you are from what your deepest love wants.’ (Rumi)
I have never believed that writing belongs to a select group of talented people. This is actually a myth. The truth is that just as human beings talk, human beings write. ‘Everyone has a strong, unique voice. Everyone is born with creative genius.’ (Pat Schneider) Just picking up your pen and sitting down to write is an act of affirmation, of discovery. Let go of the myths of talent and skill. You have everything you need right here. When you listen deeply, paying no attention to your ideas of good and bad, right and wrong, you open a pathway through the uncharted terrain of your deepest self.
Learning to trust your authentic voice
In the ‘Alchemy of Writing’ process, we approach writing as a practice, something that supports us in going deeper into our own living experience. Our writing allows us to explore, to enquire, to meet ourselves in each moment, just as we are. This is as an invitation to experience writing as alchemy, a tool for transformation- a way to tap into the ‘raw voice,’ of our authentic being. Whenever we are really honest, when we are willing to be open, vulnerable, when we take off our familiar armour, our writing comes alive. In this aliveness there is truth, and the truth is beautiful, no matter what form it takes. We feel something deeper than the actual story, a feeling or fragrance that comes through the actual words.
‘Often the first time is the hardest..caught by a life-time of being smaller than you are, trapped by your ideas of what art is, what an artist is, immobilized by the judgments of people whose names you never again remember. How did we come to forget that anything true is beautiful? How young were we then?’ (Rachel Naomi Remen)
Releasing our attachment to outcome
It’s not the ‘what’ that matters in this process, but the ‘how.’ When you focus on results, you tie yourself in knots. Paying attention to ‘how’ you are writing is what frees you up, and releases your resistance. As long as you are holding back, making excuses for why you can’t fully engage, your writing will reflect those limitations and blocks. Writing is a very clear mirror of your inner landscape, of places in yourself where you resist the free flow of your life energy. You can decide with your mind to write without judging, controlling or resisting, but it’s not so easy. That’s why this kind of writing is a practice. Here is the opportunity to keep checking as you write:
Am I letting the writing comes, just as it is? Or I am struggling, controlling, trying to meet some idea of how it should be, how I should be? Could I let go and allow the writing to flow, just in this moment? And this one?
Writing from the body
“Be strong then, and enter into your own body
There you have a solid place for your feet.” (Kabir)
Our culture places a high value on rational thought, achievment, and goal-oriented action. This way of living keeps us in our heads, cut off from the profound intelligence of the body. We ignore the energy that is streaming through us, and adopt a known, conditioned way of expressing ourselves. Writers and would- be writers are often surprised to discover that the body is the doorway to our creativity, presence and spontaneity. The gentle yoga, meditation, and full body breath that are a part of our writing practice bring us into the moment and into our bodies. When our breath and our body are part of our writing, it becomes grounded, sensual and alive. We begin to sense a natural energetic process in the body that expresses itself in the rhythms of our writing. We learn how to follow the flame of interest generated by the excitement in our body. When we engage in ‘whole body listening’ we are drawn into the world of feeling, intuition and emotion. We are no longer writing from one part of ourselves only. Our whole being is allowed to come to the page.
The Power of presence
Writing actually brings us to a different state of consciousness. The minute we pick up a pen and start writing, we are in a different state, whether we are aware of it or not. One word for it is the ‘witness’ state, another one is ‘presence.’ The more present and open we are, the more alive our writing is. And the more we write, the more this awareness or presence opens up and becomes part of our life. We start to notice things in a new way, small things we might have passed over before. Wonder sprouts in us, the capacity to feel the ‘ordinary magic’ of our lives. We have a sense of a pattern or a flow to our lives that unfolds itself day by day, in a mysterious way. ‘Sometimes I go about pitying myself, and all along, I am carried by great winds across the sky.’ (Ojibway saying)
Working with resistance
“Out beyond ideas of right and wrong doing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” (Rumi)
What we need to do in order to write is not learn, but unlearn. We have to let go of all the things we learned in school that create so much fear about expressing ourselves. The ideas of right and wrong, good and bad, all stand like guards in front of the door to our creative flow. We don’t even care about grammar, punctuation and spelling! The place where we meet in these workshops is truly the field that Rumi describes.
Why does writing feel so difficult, so scary? Many people do not understand the nature of the creative process. Creativity does not come from the logical, rule-bound, rational part of our being. It comes from a place which is much deeper and wilder. In order to access that place, we have to write without judging, editing and censoring. We have to get right into the process, and give up caring so much about the results. After we have finished we can go back and look at our work with a more critical eye, but if we bring in the editor too soon, our whole process is blocked. We need to approach writing with an innocent spirit, with the kind of open heart we had as a child, before we were told that we weren’t good enough. This is why the writing process is so powerful and so healing. In order to write freely, we have to stand up to the voice of the critic and the judge inside us. Learning how to do this will make a big difference, not just in our writing, but in the whole way that we live.
Many times in my workshops and courses I have heard someone read out a truly wonderful piece of writing, only to hear them say afterwards that they felt it was no good. We human beings are so hard on ourselves! We judge ourselves without mercy, we compare ourselves to each other, or to our own impossibly high standards. This is the heart of writing practice-learning not to believe our minds. What the mind tells us is not true. It’s only a thought. We can’t control those thoughts, can’t make them go away, but everyone has the power to not believe in them.
Skillful means
Practices such as inquiry, contemplation, clustering, listening from the heart, and whole body breathing support you, as you learn to trust and honor your natural voice, and follow where it leads. ‘Let yourself be silently drawn by the deeper pull of what you really love.’ (Rumi) You will learn how to access ‘Point Zero’1 or the open ground of presence, as the source of your writing. From this unconditioned place, something begins to call you into a direct and pre-conventional relationship to yourself and your world. A search for your voice invokes your willingness to experience your life in a whole new light.
Writing questions
Inquiry is an essential part of our writing practice. We drop these questions into our being, and listen for the answers as we write:
What would I write
- if I was not afraid to be free?
- if I included my body in the writing?
- if I didn’t have to make sense?
- if I let myself really feel?
- if I could break all the rules?
As we write our own questions begin to reveal themselves,
Letting go of control
Each time we write, we embark on an adventure, a journey into new and unknown places. This is why I ask the participants in this process to celebrate their courage, their warrior spirit. The nature of the creative process is that we are not in control! Everyone who has ever felt the creative channel open up knows this. When that door opens, it doesn’t feel like you are doing something. It feels more like something coming through you. Some writers call that ‘something’ the Muse, the Goddess, the source of their inspiration. Whatever it is, it can’t be commanded, it can only be invited. And we don’t know where it will take us. That’s the magic of the journey. When you sit down to write, you really have no idea what you will be writing about one hour, or even five minutes from now. This is how we practice. Our very first guideline is “I will write whatever comes up, just as it is.” 2 We are allowing, opening, letting things happen instead of trying to manipulate and control. It can be difficult for us. We are not used to letting go in this way. All of our training and conditioning has taught us another way-to hold tight on the reins, to judge, to know what is going on. This is where the support of the group makes such a difference.
The support of the group
“The time of the lone wolf is over” (Navaho prophecy)
The writing adventure is full of challenges. It’s easy to get lost and discouraged. Instead of trying to do it alone, we take this journey with the group. We come together in a circle of mutual respect, kindness, and trust in our capacity to take risks. We encourage each other to follow the thread of our own unfolding, to let go of our attachment to results, and surrender to the living process. The support of the group can carry us through many of our barriers, and bring joy and community into the writing experience.
We begin by creating a container of presence and loving kindness. We affirm our willingness to be present for ourselves and each other, and to listen to each other with an open heart. This is not a technique, but a genuine willingness. I often ask participants in my workshops to listen to each other as they would to a dear friend, to imagine themselves as a clear mirror, an open space of listening.
In all the courses and workshops, confidentiality is strictly maintained outside the group, so that participants feel free to express whatever arises. Sometimes we read our writing to the group, sometimes to one person, and sometimes we write just for ourselves. If we want feedback, we can ask for it, but there is no criticism of anyone’s work.
Writing is good for the soul
‘Each of us carries in our chest a song
that is singing and crying at once’. (F.X. Alarcon)
Writing is actually a bridge between your inner and outer worlds. To write is to affirm the beauty and value of your voice, your life and your experience. Your voice is totally unique, and it matters. You don’t have to try and write like anybody else. Who you are is enough. You don’t have to know anything to start writing. All you need is the willingness to begin. When we tap into our creative flow, we discover we are not who we thought we were. Our authentic being unfolds before us, moment after moment.
‘Our writing allows us to remember that despite our limitations, our suffering and our fears, there is something in us that is not touched, something shining. Our writing is its voice.’ (Rachel Naomi Remen)
Participants express:
“It was a very powerful process for me.” Shonna Wells, Victoria, B.C. Canada
“The workshop actually freed me up in writing my last assignment. I don’t feel blocked. Yahoo!” Debbie Wandler, Castlegar, B.C. Canada
“I have been writing more, and caring less about how it turns out, and all I can say is ‘What have I been waiting for?’” Eric Bowers, Nelson, B.C. Canada
“The experience was so rich and full. I felt a deep connection with everyone through their writing. I didn’t want it to end.” Lois Warthe, Nelson, B.C. Canada
References
- Michelle Cassou-‘Point Zero, Creativity Without Limits’
- This is one of Barbara Turner Vesselago’s guidelines. Many thanks to her and all I learned about writing in her ‘Freefall’ workshops.
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If you are interested in having a free half hour conversation with Shayla about writing, please email her here with your request.
For information regarding courses, coaching and workshops, click here
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The ‘Alchemy of Writing’ is offered as an 8 week course, two hours a week; as a weekend workshop, or through a series of personal coaching sessions, conducted by phone and email. The 8 week course can also be done by phone and email. If you are interested, I am happy to come to your town or city for a three day, or a weekend workshop.
