A space of your own

When you’re trying to write, it’s critical to set aside a space of your own that has no distractions, a place where you can let your imagination roam free and take flight without fear of falling.

It’s a place where you can play without fearing criticism or judgment, a place where you can fail as many times as you need to fail without feeing embarrassment or shame.

It’s a place where you can simply sit, if you so choose, and watch clouds float by or listen to the gurgling of a stream or shut your eyes and dream or sleep, if that’s what you need to do.

It’s a place where there are no rules, where there’s nothing you have to do and nowhere you have to go, as my yoga teacher likes to remind us when we step on the mat to begin our class.

It’s a place where you can laugh or cry, open a door to the past and let memories flood the room without worrying about where you’re going or when you have to return home.

It’s a place where you can savor the sight of a blank page waiting for words.

It’s a place where you can sprout wings and fly from the present to the past or into the future, a place where your pen is like a magic key that can open the door to a world that you’ve never seen before.

All of us need to set aside time so we can spend a few minutes each day in these spaces to create the work that we need to create.

May you find the space you need today and in the days ahead to create the work you’re meant to bring into the world. 

Empty Mind

"Make an empty space in any corner of your mind, and creativity will instantly fill it."--Dee Hock

"Once you are empty then there is no barrier for the divine to enter in you." - Osho

It may sound like a contradiction to try to empty your mind when you write.

After all, if your mind is “empty,” how can you possibly find the words and images you need to set down on paper?

But I’d like to suggest that these words and images can only begin to surface once you’ve cleared the screen of your mind of other distractions.

By “empty mind,” I mean emptying it of the thoughts and images that have the power of keeping you from or taking you out of your story, such as:

* The weekly list of groceries that you need to pick up;

* The afternoon doctor’s appointment;

* Your daughter’s after-school soccer game;

* The speech you promised to give to the local PTA tomorrow;

* Tonight’s class that you have to prepare to teach;

* Your worries about money, relationships, health, etc.

While these are important matters and essential to the lives that we are living, they serve as distractions to the writing that we want to do.

Empty mind means setting priorities so that your writing comes first rather than last--somewhere after “pick up frozen peas”--on your list of things to do today.

Empty mind means being willing to let go of the world of everyday activities and worries in order to explore the world of your imagination.

How can you arrive at an empty mind, a mind that is blank and waiting for words to fill it?

It takes a willingness to slow down and listen to your breath.

It takes a stubborn determination to sit at your desk (or stand at your new standing desk) and wait for the images of your story to begin emerging onto the page.

It takes the desire to plunge fully into a story no matter how cold the water feels and swim into the unknown rather than cling to the shoreline, afraid of what might happen if you let go.

Empty mind does not mean empty page.

Rather, it means fullness, ripeness, possibility.

If you wait with patience and faith, your mind will empty, and words will come.