I’ve always wanted to be a writer, but never really behaved like one. I wanted to be a writer, not a published writer. And a writer … writes. A writer doesn’t wait until the perfect idea and mood strikes so that a masterpiece ensues. That never happens. Or at least not to people like me. A writer writes. Every day.
So, in my endeavor of establishing my identity as a writer, I joined a community led by world renowned Liz Gilbert. Liz guides everyone, or better to say invites everyone to ask themselves one question: Dear love what would you have me know today? And she invites everyone to ask themselves this question and then pause and listen…really listen. And after that magical break, just simply letting hands fall on paper or the keyboard, and writing (or downloading as she calls it) the answers. So I thought this morning, I might share two of my letters from the past month.
Dear love, what would you have me know today?
Dear one,
When you feel strongly about something, when you get frustrated and triggered, you have to slow down and start being curious rather than mad. Anger, the adrenaline of it, is an addiction for you, a downward spiral you do not want to get on, and something that might give you a temporary high but will leave you exhausted and depressed in the end. Know this that this is your Achilles heel and tread lightly. Remember that people always do the best they can with the cards they were dealt. Always … and I know this sounds unfair to you, but it is true. Also, everyone else is triggered by some so tread lightly and carefully.
There is a side of you which is fire. Sometimes it uplifts and other times it burns. Your art is managing that side of you and, my love, it isn’t a “bad side”. It is just part of you. In fact, I might’ve had something to do with that too. And it makes you, you. It also tries to teach you the patience you so covet. When your fire burns, the consequence is always disconnection so tread lightly.
I love you.
***
Dear love, what would you have me know today?
Dear one, how you run!
I worry about you. It feels like you have to remember to catch your breath just to be. It is like you’re running a perpetual race. Who are you competing with? What do you do with all those accolades that you get in your head, only to discard seconds later as not enough? More, more, more to do. Always more.
Why are you so afraid to stop? I will never love you less, and the love of others never depends on what you do even if they say so. It only depends on how much they hear me and how clearly I speak to them. There is nothing you can do about that. So, stop running and just be. Why don’t you make an experiment of that?
I will always be with you. I love you.
Photo Engin Akyurt on Unsplash
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