Day 13 of my 100 Days of Blogging. I knew that this weekend would be a little challenging to make time to write every day, because I’m up at Kripalu for Gabby‘s summer retreat weekend. I met Robyn, Jamie and Gabby early this morning for our road trip up to the retreat, and I knew I had a long day ahead without much solo time — but I also knew I’d make writing a priority, somehow.
I’ve been determined to make a little bit of time to write each day, instead of scheduling my posts ahead of time, so I can really develop the habit of being a daily writer. I can’t explain why it feels so important to me, it just…is.
Plus, who am I kidding thinking I might write posts ahead of time anyway? ;)
So here I am writing at 11:18pm. I took my lemon balm so I’m kinda in the wind down process as I write. Feelin’ groovy.
When I got to Kripalu today, I did something a little different, which signified my loyalty to my writing.
Shortly after checking in, I changed rooms.
To be clear, this in itself is NOT a new thing for me. I never usually take the first offer on a hotel room. But that’s another story for another day.
The reason I changed rooms was different this time. It wasn’t about the view, or the noise, or the amount of light, or wanting to be on a higher level floor, or anything like that.
I changed rooms so I could be in a room that had a desk.
I went to the check-in counter and I said, “by any chance, are there any similar rooms that have a desk?”
The guy at the check in counter smiled. “Are you a writer?” he asked.
“Yes,” I smiled. “I am. I have some writing to do this weekend.”
Just saying that made me feel…real. Like the Velveteen Rabbit. Who knows it?
“One you are real, you can’t become unreal. It lasts for always.”
-the velveteen rabbit
On the way out the door of my apartment this morning, I had scanned my bookshelf for something that might help me stick to my commitment. I immediately grabbed The Writer’s Life by Julia Cameron.
It’s a tiny little book with insights about writing. I love books where you can just flip open and read any page.
To say Julia Cameron was one of the major players in me starting a blog and finding my way through my inner world of creativity would be a vast understatement. The Artist’s Way had an incredible impact on me. I went to a 3-day workshop with her in person, right before enrolling at IIN and starting Healthy Crush.
ANYWAY-
My little copy of The Writer’s Life is all dog-earred.
I’ll have more insights from Gabby’s retreat this weekend, but for now I wanted to share a passage I loved from The Writer’s Life. (Which is, by the way, a book of short insights from The Right To Write).
“As we write, we are both describing and deciding the direction that our life is taking. As we become honest on the page about our likes and dislikes, our hopes and dreams, as we become willing to be clear, the murk of our life begins to settle and we see more deeply into our truth.
Writing centers us in ourselves and it moves us out from that center into the world around us. The “I” of the beholder, the hand that holds the pen, writes to get in touch – and touch is profoundly healing. At its very base, writing may be more about touch than it is about anything else.”
-julia cameron
I loved how she said writing is about touch – writing gets us in touch with ourselves, in touch with life, in touch with others, in touch with the world, in touch with existence, in touch with reality, in touch with what it feels like to be a human.
More tomorrow from the retreat. Follow along on instagram.
And hey….thank you for the desk.
Leave a comment!