Why does it matter that your relationship with your writing is sacred?
Does that awareness make any difference in your day to day writing life?
I’m currently working on a new website, so I can articulate in a clearer way what it is that I do, and why. One of the things I wrote recently was:
“When you take the time to recognize that you have a relationship with your writing, and you realize that it can be a sacred relationship, you open to the possibility that something can really change.”
When I shared a draft of my new home page with a number of women I’ve worked with, they all resonated deeply with that sentence about making your relationship with your writing sacred.
This resonance led me to ask: Why does it matter so much that you see your writing as sacred?
I’m going to be exploring that question in a series of newsletters over the next few weeks, starting with this one. I’d also love to hear from you: What are your biggest challenges in your writing life? Where could you benefit from making your relationship with your writing sacred?
The Truth of Your Shining Brilliance
In my last newsletter, The Truth of Your Shining Brilliance, I wrote this:
The truth you uncover
when you keep writing
past your fears
is your Shining Light
Your Brilliance.
So how do you do that?
How do you keep writing past your fears?
One thing that really makes a difference is knowing and remembering that your call to write is Sacred. It comes from your soul.
Here’s an example.
Let’s say you have an idea for a book you want to write. It’s close to your heart, and you have a gut feeling that your soul wants you to write this book. At a certain point, you decide to go for it.
You’re inspired. The words flow. You’re in the groove with your writing, and you’re happy.
But then it gets hard. You’ve got lots of pages written, but you start to feel lost. Doubts pop up everywhere. “What was I thinking?” “Was this even a good idea?” “I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.”
Suddenly it doesn’t feel so good. You’re stuck.
You may start to feel overwhelmed. There might even be an edge of despair.
Here’s what I know. Everyone gets overwhelmed at some point or another in the course of a big writing project. But if you’re a highly sensitive writer, and the project you’re writing comes from a core place inside you, when you get overwhelmed, it may hit you especially hard.
It’s not your fault! Truly.
Your sensitivity is a key to the writing you do.
You need your sensitive vulnerable self intact, in order to write this exact project that comes from such a deep place inside you.
Soul Oriented Strategies To Stay The Course
But you also need strategies to help you stay the course. Strategies that acknowledge and honor your highly sensitive nature.
When I was in high school, I was fascinated with theatre that depicted female heroines. I read all the plays about Joan of Arc and Antigone. What inspired me so much was that these women, who in their daily lives had no real power to act, gained tremendous power to influence their world because of their connection to a “higher law.”
Because they felt compelled to follow this higher law, they found the strength to go beyond the restraints of their culture, which said that as a woman they had no voice.
Why does that apply to you, writing in the 21st century?
If you feel that your call to write is in some ways a Divine calling–meaning it truly comes from your soul– then you can call upon the Divine to assist you, when your own fears threaten to overwhelm you.
When you do that, you remember that you’re not in this alone.
If your writing project is truly a Sacred Assignment from your Soul, then you’re meant to do it.
When you start there, and return there, you open to the vast support of the Universe. You align yourself with all that power.
Sacred Alignment is a very powerful stance to take. Once you’re standing there, your Inner Guidance kicks in. You start to know what to do, or what kind of support you need, to move forward.
Sometimes you see the whole plan for your book. Sometimes you just see the next sentence you need to write. It doesn’t matter. Once you remember the truth of why you’re doing the writing you’re called to do, and stand in the Sacred Power of that Truth, you’re back in the flow of magic again.
You’re back in the flow of creative possibility, and strength.
So in answer to my question: Why does it matter that your relationship with writing is sacred? In this instance, it matters because that awareness can be the key to get you out of overwhelm and despair.
It can also be the ignition key that gets you started. I’ll talk more about that in another article.
Take a moment now to reflect where you are, currently, with your own writing life. Then ask, have you remembered, lately, that your call to write is a Sacred Call?
See if anything changes, when you ask yourself that question.
Then see if your Inner Knowing, pipes in, with an idea of what your next right step is.
And then–and this is really important–take the time to put that suggestion into action!
Your Inner Knowing is always available to you, but it does take a shift in perspective to remember to ask. Then there’s another shift, to actually implement the guidance you receive.
That guidance can help you immensely. The peace you find when you shift your stance to one that’s in alignment with your soul’s wisdom will also help you immensely.
It all begins with remembering that your call to write is sacred.
With practice, you can remember that more and more, so it starts to become the ground you walk on, and more easily, the ground you return to, when you forget.
What would help you remember that perspective?
Is it developing a ritual where you start your writing with a moment of prayer?
Is it starting your writing with a few conscious breaths, and a short meditation, to still your mind and return you to center?
Think about what would work in your life, and experiment with it this week. See what makes a difference for you.
I believe that remembering that your writing practice is sacred can help in so many ways, and on so many levels. I’d love to hear any results you get, if you practice what I’ve suggested here.
I’d also love to know where it gets hard for you, in your writing life. If I can, I’ll address it in a future newsletter, as I continue to explore this topic.
For now, thanks for reading.
