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| Rainbow's End Catherine Al-Meten Astoria, Oregon October, 2012 |
Yesterday, while skyping with a good friend of mine, I was reminded of the differences in our lives as writers from the other lives we have led or still maintain. My friend is on sabbatical from a high-powered teaching position. She has spent nearly the entire sabbatical researching, writing, getting ready for and traveling to give presentations. A little if not a lot like teaching. However, the thing I picked up from her while listening to her struggling to find balance, is something that is unique to writers and artists. As writers, we cannot do our work without the time, energy, and dedicated focus all of which require long periods of time alone.
And that is what is different about writing and art that we sometimes forget. We writers do a lot of the work we do in our heads. If we're not using our active imaginations, we are using our analytical skills or concentration to discover, figure out, or search for. We spend incredible amounts of energy doing, what often looks to others, like nothing. I recall reading something the great and prolific writer, John Steinbeck once observed. He moved to Monterey when the sardine and fishing industry was booming. He wanted to get to know what life was like for the fishermen, but they didn't have much respect for him, for to these hard working men, it appeared that he did nothing. They translated this to mean that he was a neer do well or a rich man's son who knew nothing about hard work. Writers and artists do not necessarily get much respect or support from those who don't understand the process. Most artists and writers work for a living and have to make ends meet in the lean times just as other people do. That said, if you don't get much support for what you do, that becomes a problem on some level of your energetic system too. So the "nothing" that we do includes a lot of mental and some physical, organizing, rewriting or rethinking ideas, approaches, plots, characters, style and syntax, or entire projects or themes. The creative process is not one that may be obvious to others, but it takes an incredible amount of time and energy. If we imagine ourselves as being composed of numerous subtle bodies each vibrating and pulsating to different forms of energy, we can see that we have needs on many levels. The physical energy and abuse our bodies take sitting, working on computers, typewriters, or pouring over books and papers, also require acknowledgement and attention if we are to remain healthy and whole.
We are reflections of that Divine Creation Spirit, and have the capacity, on many levels, to take in all types of information and knowledge. We have innate abilities, talents, gifts, and resources from which we create, build, develop, and interact and perceive our place in and our view of the world in which we live. We have the capcity to extend our vision beyond time and space limitations, and to take giant leaps to form, shape, and develop theories, propositions, arguments, possibilities, conditions, and other ideas that we then seek to bring to life in some form.
We have the gifts of dreams, active imagination (creating ideas), perception, consciousness, contemplation, concentration, feeling, sensitivity, intuition, compassion, and insight. Whether or not we use choose to acknowledge, access, trust, and use our gifts, is our decision. When we are using some of the gifts, we may overtax one part of ourselves, and forget about other needs. When this goes to the extreme, we feel out of balance. Oftentimes when we have pushed ourselves too far, we "hit a wall" and find ourselves nursing an injury, getting ill, falling (one I'm prone to), or otherwise landing on our proverbial fannies. Down but not out. We all do this occasionally, though some of us make this a habit.
Why, do we push ourselves over our limits? We can blame society and the way our cultures set too high a bar for us to jump in order to do our best, meet deadlines, or compete for a place to express our voices. We could, but that would only be part of the answer. If you are a writer who has dedicated at least a good part of your life to being a writer, then you have already made the decision and commitment to be your own guide and boss. If you are a part-time writer, then you have started to rearrange your priorities, and have made time to do what you know you must to write. If you write around everything else you are obliged to do (parenting, householding, working, studying), you know the sacrifice and value of time, energy, and good health.
Esoteric knowledge views the body as having at least 12 levels of subtle energy. Great traditions including Kabbalistic teachings, have always understood the many areas of our being through which we connect to the Divine Energy of the Universe, God, a Higher Power, the Creator Spirit...whatever you choose to use to describe in addressing the ineffable nature of the Divine. We try to understand our nature and processes through symbols and metaphors, through rites and rituals including the seven sacraments and the healing, naming, life passage and turning point rituals in which we engage. We may seek to understand ourselves through the energy systems of the body (chakras, meridians, physiology), or through our psychological make up (personality temperments, astrological signs, enneagram types, spiritual paths)...all ways that have ancient roots and remind us that we, humans have been trying to figure out who we are and how we are connected to the Divine since time and being have been in existence. Whatever models, traditions, paths, or personal philosophies you embrace, it is important to choose wisely, remembering that whatever system or path we choose needs to be able to acknowledge your multifaceted nature. Any approach that is too simplistic or that leaves out a significant aspect of your being, needs, and desires, won't work on the whole of you and your experience. Honor all aspects of your being including:
- Base/Rootedness: Physical and familial connections to your earthly life (where you live, who you live with, family history, connections to nature, and how you live;
- Connection and Creation. Relationships and connections with others, your work, your creative and reproductive desires and needs, as well as how your relationships grow and are nourished by your life and your own personal sense of being;
- Personal Power, Identity, and Code of Honor. How honoring your own needs and desires is fed by the way you live and your relationships and creative expressions and how it links you to that which you truly desire and feel is your soul's destiny;
- Desire, Compassion, Love. How you express your physical being through emotional, spiritual, physcial ways, and how you are nurtured, enriched, and affirmed;
- Voice, Understanding and Being Understood: How much of what we say or don't say expresses who we really are or is merely a reflection of unfiltered, inauthentic responses? What are we not saying and why? How do we feel we are being heard and understood, and how does that affect our actions and vocie? Listen to what you are saying to yourself as well as what goes unsaid (about yourself or others), and seek ways to be more authentic through your communication. Address ways you hurt yourself and others, and practice being kinder and more understanding;
- Intuitive Knowldege and Beliefs. How do our beliefs filter what and how we view the world? What intuitive knowledge do we have, and do we ignore it? How can we learn to trust our intuition more especially when dealing with our sense of harmony and balance? Seek ways to learn to trust and use your intuition, and to be more aware of how your beliefs color your views and affect your understanding;
- Spiritual Knowledge and Connection: How do our spiritual and religious beliefs support, nurture, inform, and inspire us? If we think we have no beliefs, we are kidding ourselves. We all have beliefs. Spend some time exploring what you believe about the Universe, the Divine, and Infinite Knowledge. Just because you don't acknowledge something, doesn't mean it doesn't exist, and if you're not tapping into a resource that operates the Universe and is filled with ideas, opportunties, knowledge, and information that pertains to you, you are closing a window of perception and inspiration. Explore, without judging yourself, and see what you find. Pay more attention to dreams, intuitive hunches, seemingly random thoughts, experiences, or encounters, and see if there might be a greater connection than you might have understood.
There are many paths to walk, and the more intentionalwe are about our habits, the greater our experience of the those paths we can have. So what does this have to do with our writing practice? For those of us who proclaim through our words what we profess to feel, do, believe, we may forget that what we know and what we do might not always line up. To know you need to take breaks, is not the same as taking the breaks. To know you need to eat properly and drink enough water and not too much of other substances, is good information but does not work for you unless you actually take the necessary time to plan your meals and eat well. To know you need to get out of the house or up from your desk to move about, is great. Doing it is more of a problem. However, it is not a problem that has no solution. Some of the same skills that make you a better writer also work to make you a more balanced and healthy person. Planning. Preparing. Setting intentions. Setting up a calendar and schedule. Prioritizing.
One of my favorite ways to get in touch with my present needs is to first make a list of the 10 things that are most important to you.
Step One: What about your life matters the most right now? Your list might look something like this:
1. Family
2. Writing
3. Health
4. Yoga and Meditation
5. Friends
6. Rest and sleep
7. Being outdoors in nature
8. Getting my home and me ready for winter
9. Canning and making jam
10. Prayer life and Personal growth
Now this is probably a good thing to do withouth thinking about it too much. Let the 'real' you come out here.
Step Two: Determine how much time you spend in a day doing all of these tasks. Write the number next to the goal.
Step Three: Draw a circle and divide the circle into portion of time you spend in a day on each activity.
*If your goals look like mine, you probably need to do some prioritizing. For that, try this next exercise.
Prioritizing
Step One. Looking at your list of goals, identify the ones that need to be prioritized and clarified better. For me, Writing is the one.
Taking a goal, make a chart including the following headings:
Today Tomorrow This Week This Month Every months
Under today, divide the task/tasks into specific categories. For example:
Today
1. Write article for Salon.com
2. Write blog article
3. Edit book
4. Gather informaton for R. project
5. Select photographs for book.
Notice anything on Today's list that could be done on a different day, and then move it off the priority list for today. For example, I do not need to do #4 today (I have scheduled a week to work on this project, so it gets moved out). Knowing that I have planned time to do the task, it then is off my mind and is no longer draining energy.
Do this with all your major and minor goals/tasks, and you'll relieve your mind and clear your schedule.
Now it's all well and good to get our work organized. Most of us are better at this than we are at taking care of ourselves, so let's look at what we need to do for ourselves using the same type of prioroitizing.
What are the 10 physical goals you have to improve your health?
1. Give myself more breaks when at the computer.
2. Strech more and take meditaiton breaks while writing.
3. Get more rest
4. Eat on a more regular schedule.
5. Move.
6. Keep up my yoga practice
7. Walk more
8. Swim
9. Take supplements regularly
10. Cook more and juice more often.
