What we write down holds energy. I would also like to believe that the reader’s thoughts and comprehension has energy as well, adding more meaning to the written word. Thus, it all adds and changes the energy. The combined energy stays with us. In a special and timeless way, it is co-created and then lives on in our minds.
Okay, right now, at the moment I am writing the draft of this blog, my ego is telling me to look at the claims I just made about energy and the written word. Do I need to change it to be more palatable, believable, and logical? I’m deciding to leave it just as I wrote it. This is my creation afterall, and I can choose to do what I want with my written word and let go of the ripple of energy it creates.
Let me explain it this way. I had a tough and negative time in my late twenties. At that time of my life, all at the same time, I was raising a newborn, going through a divorce, struggling to pay my bills, and completing my master’s. I kept a journal of emotions, affirmations, list of things to do, and other important information. So after that stressful period of my life was over, I could not hold, touch, or look at the contents of my own journal book. It held too much energy that I could not revisit and had to throw the journal away. That old energy of my life had to grow stale. I was tired of feeling it.
Writing is Energy. Writers, you can use this energy to your advantage. Here are 3 tips, many of which are inspired by Natalie Goldberg in Writing Down the Bones: Feeling the Writer Within (2005).
#1 Feel the stream of consciousness
Try being still. Relax the body and mind. Have that pen and paper ready so when something is ready to be written, you will be ready to write it. Just write. Write without caring about the organization of the piece. Write without caring about an audience. Write without caring about adding dialogue, flashbacks, backstory, foreshadowing, or any other writing techniques or tricks. Write and keep writing. Then look back and be amazed at what came out. You may want to use pieces of it to inspire more writing.
#2 Practice writing down the first thoughts
Let the first thoughts out without overthinking. I like what Natalie Goldberg said, “… burn through to first thoughts, to place where energy is unobstructed by social politeness or internal censor, to place where you are writing what your mind actually sees and feels, not what it thinks it should see or feel,” (p.8).
#3 Let go of the ego.
Ego is kind of a thing us humans have. Why is it important to let go of the ego? Goldberg writes, “…if you express something egoless, it is also full of energy because it is expressing the truth of the way things are,” (p.9). It is almost like it is an expression in its purest form. It is like the first thoughts before overthinking. I like what Goldberg describes. She says, “you are not carrying the burden of ego in your expression, but riding for moments the waves of human consciousness and using your personal details to express the ride,” (p,9).
So let’s not worry about what the reader will think right now. When we overthink, change, or edit as we go, we might lose the energy of our egoless first thoughts of consciousness. Let’s take this opportunity to capture the oddities of our mind, (p.9).
Thank you writers. May you find your way to writing on your writer’s journey. Please look out for new things to come by WAY2WRITING as I am also on my writer’s journey. Take care.
Sincerely,
T.J. Hopkins
