We live in epic times. Politicians tell us:  democracy is at stake. Climate activists tell us:  there’s a war on Mother Earth. Mass shootings tell us:  violence is on a rampage.   And yet:  I urge you to write. I implore, beg, beseech, encourage, Invite you to write.   Why?   Because life is at stake.  And writing is a stand for life. When you write, you connect more fully with the life force in you. Something shifts and your energy starts flowing again. When one of us is back in the flow of life, it makes it easier for someone else. When you need a boost, the energy you liberated will return to you.   I invite you today to not simply write—but to write a prayer. To write as prayer. The life force itself is sacred.  It’s also inherently creative. The Creator gave you life. Part of what you were given is a call to write.   The call comes from your soul. And it’s both call and response In one gesture. To write is to bear witness to your own truth. In so doing you claim your voice. As you claim your voice you unfurl one tiny strand inside you which has been sealed closed and is now ready to open and flow with the stream of life moving in your body.   In this way writing and healing are one undivided gesture.   And because you do so in communion with The Creator—with Source— with the Divine   you’re reminded that the flow within you is Sacred.   Here’s a practice for you to write a prayer for your life today: Stand (if you can.)   Bring your awareness to your feet.  Reach down with your imagination to the earth below you.  Connect deeply with the presence of a living earth under your feet.   Receive that energy into your feet, legs, torso, shoulder, head. Fill your whole body with the life force of the Earth. Feel that life force inside you.  Know it is the truth of who you are. Bring your hands together in front of your chest in prayer position.  Feel the pressure between your palms, put your attention there. While you’re still standing in prayer position, take this phrase and say it silently to your self: Today, I write a prayer to honor my life and all life on earth. Say it a few times.  Today, I write a prayer to honor my life and all life on earth. As you repeat the phrase, notice any words or images that come to you. Receive these as gifts from your intuition.  Choose one and let it be the beginning of your writing.  Find your notebook, and start to write.  Trust what comes, and let the words pour out onto your page.   After you write:  read it out loud.  Post it on the blog.  Read it again, to yourself. Live it as your prayer today. Honor your life, as a prayer. Honor your life as a prayer for all life on earth.   Thank you for taking the time to write and to value creativity. Are you longing for more writing in your life?  Making your writing a sacred practice is a powerful way to bring writing into your daily life.  If you have a copy of my Writing the Prayer of Your Life workbook, you’ll find guidance in how to do that.  If you don’t have a copy, let me know and I’ll send it to you.     … [Read more...]

Dear Friend, I’ve been hearing your cries in the night. Your fears that all you care about may be lost.  Too much is at stake, too much has been damaged already, so why bother, picking up your pen, to write. Sometimes the weight between you and the page seems massive—the full force of a hurricane gale.  And you fall back in the face of it all.  You crumble in despair, and give up. I hear those cries because they’re mine, as well. And this is how I answer back: Writing feeds life.      Creativity generates creativity. What the world needs now is love—yes, always. And one form of love that’s especially needed is the power of creativity.  The power of solutions.  The magic of making something where once there was nothing. You can do that just by picking up a pen and tossing down a word, and seeing where it goes. “Once upon a time a marigold bloomed on a gravestone, and two bluebirds courted each other on its yellow blooms.” There’s my first sentence, will you take it from here?  Write the next one, and pass it on? Words have power to light candles in the dark. Despair is thick in the air in our world now.  Can you see it and know it’s not your own? Yes, rest when you need to rest. Restore. Repair. Take exquisite care of your precious self and then— Rise again. Sing with your bones. Dance with your dreams. Stand up and open your arms wide to the gift of your life— You are still here. Every time a woman raises her eyes to the sky and says yes: I will speak the truth, I will write what is mine to write— Stars shine brighter in heaven. Rivers flow with a little more ease here on earth.   Why? Because we are all connected. Your yes feeds a yes in my own heart’s longing. Your no closes a door for a child half way across the world. What if we took our power that seriously?       What if all the power you need exists already inside you, and one of the ways for you to know it is by sitting down to the page? What if another way to know it is to not give up on what you begin? Yet another way is to believe you are stronger than the voices inside you that scream: “I can’t?”      You find that power when you open your eyes to the magic of “Once upon a time.” When you sit down at the page, you’re no longer living by the rules of ordinary time. You are at a threshold, and it’s your life that’s at stake. But it’s easy now, not hard. Because your soul is right there with you, dictating the words that come through your hand.     We need each other to keep going To not give up To remember, over and over again, Every voice matters.   When you’re tired, you matter. When you’re scared, you matter. When you’re curious and wonder if maybe just maybe you can find the courage to begin again, you matter.   I want to live in a world where every woman’s story is heard.  Where every woman knows the worth of her own life. Where every living being, human and non-human, has a voice and the means to make that voice heard. Where we all find our way to the voices that support life and create more opportunities for life to thrive.   I know that writing is not the only way that this will happen, it’s simply my way.   Thanks for reading.  Do you know one or two people who’d appreciate what you just read?  Please forward this to them using this link. https://deboraseidman.com/writing-as-an-antidote-to-despair/     Right now I have openings for my private mentorship program for two women who are ready to make a six month commitment to their writing and to their self.  Send me an email at DeboraSei@gmail.com to learn more.       … [Read more...]

Why is rest often the first step in the writing process for so many women? Writing is an invitation to honor yourself as a Creator. To do that, you need to walk through and release the stories that say “I can’t.” The weight of those stories and all that’s been needed to hold them in place can be exhausting. It’s not your fault.  And it’s certainly not a sign of failure, to surrender to a need to heal when you feel the call to write. It’s a sign of our times.  So much is shifting in consciousness as the world awakens to more truth.  In order to hold space for the truth, your body will need to release that which is not truth:  fear. The fear gets held in our cells and the tissues of our body.  The release of fear is a kind of detox. Yet what are we releasing into? The Divine. Which is Love. Unconditional Love. When you feel tired and need to rest, rest in the arms of Unconditional Love. When you long to write and aren’t sure if you can, rest in the arms of Divine Love. When your doubts and fears become stronger than your own ability to center yourself in the heart of your own strength, rest in the arms of The Beloved of Your Soul. Great tenderness is needed when you turn toward the call to write.  Over and over and over again. Rest until you remember what you love is one of the first steps on the Soul Writing Journey, because if you rest until you remember what you love, eventually you will remember that you Are Love. You will remember that Love has not forsaken you.  You will remember that Love is what called you to write, and Love will guide you to heal all that arises, as you answer that call. This is the kind of rest that leads to restoration. This is the kind of rest that is steeped in gratitude. This is what it means to rest into the voice of your own soul, guiding you home. … [Read more...]

Here’s another quick burst of inspiration, to remind you of one key thing that can fire up your writing life this week. How can you restore your creative flow when you feel stuck and aren’t writing? Remember what I shared last week:  creative expression is your birthright. If that’s true, how can you use that awareness to help you when you’re not feeling connected to your writing at all?  When you feel really stuck? Well the answer starts in the question.  Simply remembering that creative expression is your birthright gives you access to the power to restore creative flow to your life when it feels far away. The power to make lasting change in your life has a lot to do with your habits.  When you start to make it habitual—this knowledge that creative expression is your birthright—then you can call upon that awareness in many situations. To bring that awareness into action when you feel stuck or blocked, try this: Set an intention to connect to your writing.  Even if it feels completely impossible at this moment, be willing to set that intention and just play in the field of possibility for five minutes.  If nothing happens, no big deal…but who knows?? Then: Stand up.  Move around.  Shake your hands, feet, torso.  Move your hips.  Breathe into your belly and feel your energy in the core of your body, especially the area right below your navel.  Open your throat and yawn.  Stretch. Now, while you’re still standing, ask The One Who Knows what she has to say. Sometimes we get stuck because another part of us wants to speak.  You may be used to writing in a certain voice, or you may just be stuck in a certain groove in your brain that’s connected with a part of you that’s used to getting stuck. But you have access to the power to open up another channel.  Within you is brilliance and magnificence and clarity, just waiting to be expressed.  But you need to ask to connect to that part of you.  I call her:  The One Who Knows. Ask that one—The One Who Knows to write to you.  Then before you start thinking too much  (or at all) about it, simply sit down, pick up your pen and put some words down on the page.  You might be surprised by what comes out! Let yourself follow the words on the page, allowing the energy of The One Who Knows to guide you.  If you have questions, ask her. Return to this practice whenever you get stuck.  You can also use this practice for guidance when you’re not stuck but want to access your inner compass. Play with it and have fun!  Creative expression is your birthright and you can give yourself full permission to access it as often as you like.   … [Read more...]