Sunday, January 4, 2009

getting there from here

i did a reading yesterday for a lady whose ready to make significant changes in her life but doesn't know where to begin. it's a feeling i know all too intimately. where do i begin?

i used to think that the answer was in lists, and goals and measurable things - like word count, boxes sorted, pounds lost, miles ran. but now i'm starting to realize that the best place to begin is with an idea of what you want to create in the first place. the clearer the idea of the final outcome, the more likely you are to create it.

that's how it works when i write. at some point, usually by the time the first third is completed, the ending comes to me. i know, if i haven't known already, what it is each of the main characters wants, and i can "see" what's going to happen. at that point, the middle, muddled and tortured as it may be, becomes, if not easier to create, at least manageable. it's a turning point in the process and if it never happens, the story can't ever be finished. i get stalled, bogged down, blocked. no matter how much energy i throw against it, i can't move the story until i know the end.

and so this year, spurred on by my write-a-book-in-90-days group, i have decided to spend the first hours of every sunday envisioning, and writing, an intention statement, for all i intend to create, accomplish, allow and manifest in the coming week. i'll let you know how well i do next week.

and furthermore, the war must end. blessed be.

5 comments:

lynette355 said...

great focus

Kim said...

've been thinking about the 90 day vision statement. I'll be writing my own soon. And I pulled out my college paper - hubby is pretty spot on.

Kathy said...

That's a wonderful idea.

T.M. Curzon-Manners said...

I have also reached a point in life where I do not measure success by pounds lost etc in order to invoke change and positive outcomes. The surprise really was to find that the answer was within all along and all I had to do was listen.
I empathise very much with your idea of writing and ability to 'see' where characters are going in order to glimpse the outcome even though the journey may not necessarily be clear cut.

Martha@A Sense of Humor is Essential said...

I too don't invest much in miles run or rooms cleaned. It leaves out the joy of the process, the becoming. To visualize the desired outcome is a wonderful skill and tool, it is synchronicity. By creating the electrical impulses in your brain, you forecast them out into the universe and it can break through into a language or symbol understood by others. I am learning the power of "giving in" and how not to fight or defend, but the power of letting go and allowing the mind, heart, and spirit in to draw upon our DNA and wisdom of the universe.
I know you'll do great next week.