Two excellent bits of advice arrived in the comments to "The Diving Board." I was talking about my daily hesitation to begin writing, the habit of lingering on the end of the diving board.
The aptly named JimWing said: "JUMP! No matter how baffled or unsure you are, grab a concept, or even a wisp of a concept and start writing...."
Focus on the process rather than the outcome, said Billie. "Why am I on the diving board? Because I love to dive. So-- feel the board beneath my feet, the sun, the air, the smell of the water. The anticipation of cool, and my favorite part, the swim up from the depth toward light and air. With all that going on, whether the dive is a 10 or not becomes not so important."
My personal adaptions: I could give myself a reward for starting to write within x minutes of getting to my office. And then remember how I felt when I first started writing: the dreamy process of fiddling with words.
After reading Billie's description of the dive, I think I want my reward for starting to write to be going swimming.
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ANXIOUS WRITER ATTEMPTS ADVENTUROUS LIFE
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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.
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3 comments:
"We do not have to visualize jnanasattvas ["the lofty idea, the jnanasattva of humor and openness"] as such: they just come along. They just float down from the sky and join our own cluttered and clumsy visualization; they simply dissolve into our clutteredness." Chogyam Trungpa, "Journey Without Goal."
My creative process. Hmm. I've really enjoyed the contributions. For me the experiece currently in the project I'm working on is of problem solving (revision of various kinds; imagining how the project will be "finished" and leave my hands), and I don't want to dive or jump when the problem seems too tangled and insoluble. What gets me to do it anyway is probably both past experience of working through as well as just the creativity that's a human birthright. The whole issue of clutter is key to me. For my own process "clutter" is both subject and process. I think there is a valuable spiritual dimension of accepting the clutter while also having a willingness to let it go. I don't know whether it's easier said thån done -- maybe more easier done than said. Now. Breathe. Go!
I love the idea of jumping/leaping. I think of leaping as committing myself to action rather than overthinking it... and thus unleashing serendipity and synchronicity... one of my favorite quotes of all times is this:
"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. "
-- W.H. Murray, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition
The two strategies--jumping, and settling in with the fertile mental clutter--both involve letting go of fully-controlled effort, instead giving gravity and other mysterious forces of the universe a chance to play a part.
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