Writing

In yesterday's post I wrote about coming to understand my practice of observing the Sabbath. ("What is work?" 3/28/14) The acting of writing helped me to determine what the observation of the Sabbath meant to me and to commit to an intention for how I want to live.

After finishing that post, I continued to ponder the gift my writing has been to me. (Pondering the big questions is a legitimate use of the Sabbath.) I've known for a long time that I used my writing to figure things out, but I am not sure that I fully understood until this morning that my writing is how I discover my intention for life.

In the instant that I had the thought that by writing I discover my intentions in life I understood for the first time the books I had written--I mean fully understood them.  Over 20 years ago, when I was well into writing the first draft of Leading from the Heart, I remember sinking into my chair as dusk had darkened my office and having the thought: "This is my Truth!" In the split-second that followed, however, two contradictory thoughts came almost simultaneously: "I've always known this," and "Somehow this is all new."

I think the act of writing had helped me know how to put my Truth into action--how I would attempt to live the rest if my life. I had somehow known my Truth before writing it, but I hadn't really figured out what that meant for a real world, day-to-day life.  Now, I want to be clear: I haven't gotten there yet. But like the practice of Sabbath, having a blueprint for how I wanted to live established a bar that I want to clear: it has become my intention for how to live.

As I reflect on it, The Alchemy of Fear and The Game Called Life were refinements to that intention.

When I began writing this blog last fall, I felt that I had lost my way. Intuitively, I knew that writing was the answer, and having an almost-daily blog would bring spiritual rigor and discipline that I desperately needed.

In describing how I write the blog to a friend, I said that I often didn't know what I would write until I sat, and words were coming. Then, the words just made sense as they spilled onto the screen. Given my intention in naming the blog "You Know In Your Heart," I should not be surprised that my writing has brought forward for shared examination what is written on the back side of my heart. ("Intention," 3/13/14)

Those of you who have been reading this blog for awhile will know that I've been working in a memoir. Humbly, I think the writing has been some if my best, but it just hasn't hung together. With this new insight, I think I will be able to add structure that will help it to coalesce.

In The Game Called Life I wrote that we have three intentions for life: to perform special service to which we feel uniquely called, to learn lessons, and to fully develop and use our gifts and talents. As I have enhanced my understanding of my writing and probably my memoir today, I think I've done all three.

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