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ANXIOUS WRITER ATTEMPTS ADVENTUROUS LIFE
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Writing Books, Seeking God, Teaching Writing, and Coping with OCD
I’m a writer who dodged being a minister; I saw that my dharma, my calling, was instead to write about body and spirit, to explore in fiction my metaphysical questions. I’ve spent the past 35+ years as a freelancer, with 2 novels, 2 nonfiction books, magazine and newspaper articles from 25+ countries, a few seasons as a TV reporter, copy for ad agencies, a winter in India, and my manuscript and career consulting services for writers.
It’s not because I’m naturally lion-hearted that I’ve chosen the topic of bold living and bold writing. It’s because I aspire to living and writing with courage. I wrestle with these matters; I even have a touch of an anxiety disorder, specifically obsessive-compulsive disorder. You probably know the saying: we teach what we need to learn.
I post here about daily fears and triumphs, about writing and, if I ever get my courage up, about mysticism, the ultimate brazen act: direct experience of God. I hope you’ll leap into the wide-ranging conversation here and come back often. I hope you’ll find the talk here encouraging for your own adventures.
It’s not because I’m naturally lion-hearted that I’ve chosen the topic of bold living and bold writing. It’s because I aspire to living and writing with courage. I wrestle with these matters; I even have a touch of an anxiety disorder, specifically obsessive-compulsive disorder. You probably know the saying: we teach what we need to learn.
I post here about daily fears and triumphs, about writing and, if I ever get my courage up, about mysticism, the ultimate brazen act: direct experience of God. I hope you’ll leap into the wide-ranging conversation here and come back often. I hope you’ll find the talk here encouraging for your own adventures.
Followers
Blogroll, Book Links, etc.
PLEASE VISIT MY WEBSITE:
PeggyPayne.com
To Buy My Books:
American gathers courage in a Hindu holy city
A preacher-mystic dares to tell about the voices
Giving can heal and empower the giver
A business encourages bold thinking
Using This Blog
"Everything Peggy Payne has critiqued for me has gotten published and in venues such as Image, Shenandoah, and The Missouri Review. Her advice on structure was indispensable in revising my memoir, Gods of Noonday."
Elaine Neil Orr
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7 comments:
Peggy,
Thank you so very much for your thoughts and prayers. I really appreciate your kindness.
We haven't had to evacuate our primary residence, but we have a second home, up in an area called Lake Arrowhead, which might have burnt down. I have been madly scrolling through the scanner transcriptions to find out if our address is listed, but so far, I can only find the addresses of some of our surrounding neighbors. From the ariel shots that I have seen, it doesn't look great for our little mountain home, but we are not giving up hope yet. All of our neighbors, up there, have been evacuated, and so we have been keeping up with them by phone.
The great thing is that a house is only "stuff" and so long as our families, friends and neighbors are safe, everything else can be replaced for the most part.
Any prayers and positive thoughts for my CA neighbors would be greatly appreciated. Everyone is quite on edge, and so to know that there are people pulling for us, is very comforting.
Peggy, thanks again taking the time to post this on your site. You have the biggest heart.
I'm so glad to hear from you, Debra. Best of luck with your mountain house. I'm glad you folks aren't physically in the fire's path.
Also, I answered your book question in the Willing to Be Strong post. I thought I'd posted that answer days ago, but that one didn't show up.
Peggy, thank you. Things are so dicey here in Southern Cal. right now. New fires keep flaring, and the older ones tend to take on new life. We are situated between several major fires. None are close enough to put us in any immediate danger, but still, to look up the hill a few miles from our home and see flames...it is a very disconcerting feeling. My daughters are nervous, but the schools are keeping them indoors so that they won't be exposed to the smoke. It almost seems as if all of So. Cal. is on fire. Still no news on our mountain home, but as I said before, I am not going to give up hope.
My nerves are very much on edge, and I am getting that compelling feeling that makes me want to find a way to help other people who have been displaced. Because of my illness, I know that I have to wait until things calm down, but after that, I feel that I really must do something to help. I feel a bit like Swain in Revelation, "hearing" the voice of God (although I am not hearing voices!), but not really knowing what to do about it. I keep asking,"Okay, so what would You like me to do with this need to be of service?". I hate having limitations that don't allow me to follow my gut.
I will go back to your Willing to Be Strong post, to read your answer about the book. I also have some responses to other posts that you have written, but I am too distracted now to make any sense, so I will wait until I can think more clearly! I do love the way your posts make me think!
By the way, I LOVE the red shoes! They remind me of Dorothy in Wizard of Oz. They will be able to take you to amazing places, but the good thing about them, is that they will always take you back home, again!
Holding down your own fort with four daughters already seems like quite a lot to me, Debra.
Peggy,
Thank you for that validation. There is enough going on, right now. I cannot add anything else to my day without crossing over one of those boundaries that we have discussed.
We found out, last night, that our mountain home is fine! Unfortunately, many of the streets around us took a major hit. A majority of the homes that burnt down in the Grass Fire, were homes in our neighborhood. The firefighters are doing an amazing job and I pray that the fires will continue to burn out. Right now, they have 30% containment on that fire, so they are making some progress.
My daughter's are home from school today. They were also off yesterday because the air quality in our area is very unhealthful. These fires are relentless.
We are safe, and everything is fine. I will keep you posted.
Good news that your house came through.
Dear Debra,
It has been decades since I have heard from you and don't really know how to reach you. I had sent Robert an email with my concern during these fires, and hoped he passed on my concern about you and your family as well.
My prayers are with you that you can recover from your illness. As the smoke and rage of the fires have passed, may you once again feel the sun shine on your family.
Eleanor S.
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