This resonates so much with me, Camilla. I’ve been writing professionally for 40 years as a journalist and editor, but since I haven’t published a novel I’m not a “real writer.“ And yet leading a writers retreat/workshop in August…More to come. 😊❤️ Thank you for always inspiring!
Interesting that for your Inner Critic it's as specific as a novel. Congrats on leading a writer's retreat/workshop in August! That's exciting. No pressure, but if you write more about your recent trip to Sardinia too, I'm looking forward to reading it. So good to connect with you here in our community😁 Bridget❤️🙏🕊️
Writing life as a double helix ~ one spiral the writing, the other the writer.
The writer's life coiling and recoiling around her writings.
There is so much I resonate with in this post!
Are we writers? Of course we are!
Are we authors? Having written ten books (some of them selfpublished), I know I'm an author too.
Do we need the validation of the publishing industry which sucks everything out of writers and gives hardly anything back? I think those times are over.
We write because it's our Tao (or dharma). This is validation enough.
Having said that, I would love to see writers create innovative paths to publishing and distributing our work AND being the ones getting paid for it!
"We write because it's our Tao (or dharma). This is validation enough." YES! I love that - writing as our Tao - especially as I've also just been reading Cristina Moon's beautiful writing at her Substack https://cmoon.substack.com/ and how she writes about Kendo - the Japanese way of the sword, and Chado the Japanese way of tea ceremony, etc. The Way of the Fearless Writer, and writing as a spiritual practice, and how creativity and spirituality are so intimately intertwined. Thanks for your response to my post Veronika! It's great to hear from you in this community😁 and congrats on having written 10 books❤️🙏🕊️
I think of writing as my dharma and getting to it has taken such a scenic, roundabout route that at least for now, I’m not thinking beyond it. Lots to mull over here, Camilla.
Thanks for reading and commenting Priya, always good to hear from you in our community here😁 and I'm happy to hear these words may have stirred something within you.❤️🙏🕊️
I really enjoyed this read and the connections that you made throughout to capture the theme of your writing. It got me asking what my dharma was, the thread through all things. I looked to my poetry and saw clearly that it was the coming to know of and sharing of true unconditional love. Thanks for this prompt to explore this. 🌼
Thanks so much for reading and responding as part of this community Emma. And that's a beautiful dharma: "the coming to know of and sharing of true unconditional love." ❤️🙏🕊️
The doubt that comes with the writing life is such a real thing! And the way we attach our self worth to the things we write/create is sooo icky, and yet, at the same time, soooo sticky, in that it’s hard to break free of that idea.
I really enjoyed the idea of the double helix.
And I’d like to share something I heard somewhere (can’t exactly remember where) but apparently it is a part of the Tibetan view of art: the value of a piece of art is found in what it did to the creator in the act of creating it.
I freaking love this idea, because it flips everything on its head. Suddenly, it’s not about the art endowing us with some feeling of self worth through external success, but rather about the art helping us grow as people through nothing more than the act of creation. :)
OMG YES: "the Tibetan view of art: the value of a piece of art is found in what it did to the creator in the act of creating it." This is soooo beautiful Michael! Thank you for sharing that. And yes, exactly: "Suddenly, it’s not about the art endowing us with some feeling of self worth through external success, but rather about the art helping us grow as people through nothing more than the act of creation." love, love, love!❤️🙏🕊️ and I will say it again, it's so nice having you back in the realm of this Substack community😁
I love the double helix analogy. Writing, creating, art as one strand and the other our inner journey, growth as a human and soul. They truly go together. I know my writing is intertwined with my capacity to be vulnerable. Synchronicity here...I am doing "A Poem a Day in the Month of May" with Kaitlin Curtis. The subject today was writing. Here is my poem:
Beautiful, Julie! ❤️🙏🕊️ and thanks for sharing it in our community here🥰 I love Kaitlin's work too - I was first introduced to her writing by Katherine May, whose writing I also love. Especially her books WINTERING: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times and ENCHANTMENT: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age. Love the synchronicity too🥰 and yes, the vulnerability aspect isn't always easy!
This resonates so much with me, Camilla. I’ve been writing professionally for 40 years as a journalist and editor, but since I haven’t published a novel I’m not a “real writer.“ And yet leading a writers retreat/workshop in August…More to come. 😊❤️ Thank you for always inspiring!
Interesting that for your Inner Critic it's as specific as a novel. Congrats on leading a writer's retreat/workshop in August! That's exciting. No pressure, but if you write more about your recent trip to Sardinia too, I'm looking forward to reading it. So good to connect with you here in our community😁 Bridget❤️🙏🕊️
Writing life as a double helix ~ one spiral the writing, the other the writer.
The writer's life coiling and recoiling around her writings.
There is so much I resonate with in this post!
Are we writers? Of course we are!
Are we authors? Having written ten books (some of them selfpublished), I know I'm an author too.
Do we need the validation of the publishing industry which sucks everything out of writers and gives hardly anything back? I think those times are over.
We write because it's our Tao (or dharma). This is validation enough.
Having said that, I would love to see writers create innovative paths to publishing and distributing our work AND being the ones getting paid for it!
Thank you, Camilla, for this post 💕🙏
"We write because it's our Tao (or dharma). This is validation enough." YES! I love that - writing as our Tao - especially as I've also just been reading Cristina Moon's beautiful writing at her Substack https://cmoon.substack.com/ and how she writes about Kendo - the Japanese way of the sword, and Chado the Japanese way of tea ceremony, etc. The Way of the Fearless Writer, and writing as a spiritual practice, and how creativity and spirituality are so intimately intertwined. Thanks for your response to my post Veronika! It's great to hear from you in this community😁 and congrats on having written 10 books❤️🙏🕊️
I think of writing as my dharma and getting to it has taken such a scenic, roundabout route that at least for now, I’m not thinking beyond it. Lots to mull over here, Camilla.
Thanks for reading and commenting Priya, always good to hear from you in our community here😁 and I'm happy to hear these words may have stirred something within you.❤️🙏🕊️
I really enjoyed this read and the connections that you made throughout to capture the theme of your writing. It got me asking what my dharma was, the thread through all things. I looked to my poetry and saw clearly that it was the coming to know of and sharing of true unconditional love. Thanks for this prompt to explore this. 🌼
Thanks so much for reading and responding as part of this community Emma. And that's a beautiful dharma: "the coming to know of and sharing of true unconditional love." ❤️🙏🕊️
I loved this piece, Camilla!
The doubt that comes with the writing life is such a real thing! And the way we attach our self worth to the things we write/create is sooo icky, and yet, at the same time, soooo sticky, in that it’s hard to break free of that idea.
I really enjoyed the idea of the double helix.
And I’d like to share something I heard somewhere (can’t exactly remember where) but apparently it is a part of the Tibetan view of art: the value of a piece of art is found in what it did to the creator in the act of creating it.
I freaking love this idea, because it flips everything on its head. Suddenly, it’s not about the art endowing us with some feeling of self worth through external success, but rather about the art helping us grow as people through nothing more than the act of creation. :)
OMG YES: "the Tibetan view of art: the value of a piece of art is found in what it did to the creator in the act of creating it." This is soooo beautiful Michael! Thank you for sharing that. And yes, exactly: "Suddenly, it’s not about the art endowing us with some feeling of self worth through external success, but rather about the art helping us grow as people through nothing more than the act of creation." love, love, love!❤️🙏🕊️ and I will say it again, it's so nice having you back in the realm of this Substack community😁
I’m glad you liked it, Camilla. It’s definitely one of my favourites.
And glad to be back :)
I love the double helix analogy. Writing, creating, art as one strand and the other our inner journey, growth as a human and soul. They truly go together. I know my writing is intertwined with my capacity to be vulnerable. Synchronicity here...I am doing "A Poem a Day in the Month of May" with Kaitlin Curtis. The subject today was writing. Here is my poem:
.
Writing is a vulnerable act.
A willingness to expose at times
what I would prefer to stash away.
Imploring me to enter corridors
that are challenging to traverse.
Opening locked chambers that
confess forgotten memories.
Uncovering what’s been delegated
to the edges and alcoves of my world.
Whether pain and sorrow
or joy and enthusiasm
it’s all entangled, inextricable.
I must listen to the charge,
for in writing, I am summoned
to be… with… it… all.
To feel, taste, smell, listen and
see all that is inside me.
Beautiful, Julie! ❤️🙏🕊️ and thanks for sharing it in our community here🥰 I love Kaitlin's work too - I was first introduced to her writing by Katherine May, whose writing I also love. Especially her books WINTERING: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times and ENCHANTMENT: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age. Love the synchronicity too🥰 and yes, the vulnerability aspect isn't always easy!
I couldn’t help but smile as l read this 😊. It’s the gratitude, so true 🙏.
Thanks so much for reading, commenting, and being a part of this community Simone💕🙏🏼🕊