Today's school work focuses on writerly identity in part and one of the questions I am using to get into that concept is 'What is happening when you are at your best?'
Well, that's a fascinating question, I think and I had to pause and contemplate before I could even begin to answer it. These are very initial thoughts. It really is a very deep question.
When I am at my best I feel...translucent; I allow light but not certain images in. That is to say, I feel completely in my zone, at one. I have a strong feeling of well-being and that I am doing what I should be doing, in the place where I should be. There is lightness of being; an accord with the world and the sense that it is a wonderful place. I feel love in a very general sense and I'm happy both within and with myself. I'm functioning in a fluid way, not thinking too deeply or worrying too much. I'm happy to be alive and sure of my place on this earth. I'm doing what I was meant to be doing.
As to the writerly identity, well, I wrote a piece a few weeks ago in just the state as I described above and it had a different feel about it to other pieces of writing in that particular subject. In turn, I got very different responses to it. I'd touched something within the reader and they had responded in kind. I think this is what we call authenticity. We are writing from within us; we have touched the mainspring of ourselves and out flows something very authentic.
Is that sort of writing Australian, the writing of someone who is Australian but has lived many years in the United States, the writing of a woman with a submissive nature; the writing of a mother, of a content person? Or, is it something far more personal; the writing of my soul, the place that even I can't tap into on most days?
As a writer I must trust my intuition. As a woman with a strong desire to live according to my nature, trusting my intuition is also imperative.
Well, that's a fascinating question, I think and I had to pause and contemplate before I could even begin to answer it. These are very initial thoughts. It really is a very deep question.
When I am at my best I feel...translucent; I allow light but not certain images in. That is to say, I feel completely in my zone, at one. I have a strong feeling of well-being and that I am doing what I should be doing, in the place where I should be. There is lightness of being; an accord with the world and the sense that it is a wonderful place. I feel love in a very general sense and I'm happy both within and with myself. I'm functioning in a fluid way, not thinking too deeply or worrying too much. I'm happy to be alive and sure of my place on this earth. I'm doing what I was meant to be doing.
As to the writerly identity, well, I wrote a piece a few weeks ago in just the state as I described above and it had a different feel about it to other pieces of writing in that particular subject. In turn, I got very different responses to it. I'd touched something within the reader and they had responded in kind. I think this is what we call authenticity. We are writing from within us; we have touched the mainspring of ourselves and out flows something very authentic.
Is that sort of writing Australian, the writing of someone who is Australian but has lived many years in the United States, the writing of a woman with a submissive nature; the writing of a mother, of a content person? Or, is it something far more personal; the writing of my soul, the place that even I can't tap into on most days?
As a writer I must trust my intuition. As a woman with a strong desire to live according to my nature, trusting my intuition is also imperative.
This really resonates with me. I often write not having any idea what I will write about, and even just scribbles seem to take on a life of their own. Then I am amazed at what was inside of me, things I didn't even know until I began writing.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting that I often think about trust in relation to my trusting others, when the greatest kind of trust I can place is in myself, and as you put it, intuition. Thank you for another thought provoking post.
My blog is www.heroinyoursoul.blogspot.com
Susan
Susan: Thank you for the address to your blog. I've added you to my reader folder so am already starting to read your words. Much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought of it quite in terms of trusting others versus trusting yourself but I think you've hit on something important there. I've come to see that we must acquire a great deal of inner strength - patience, tolerance, forgiveness, ability to love - because the more inner strength we have, the better things will be. Happiness (which comes through strength) is spread to others who in turn give it back to us. Working on yourself is never a waste of time because it ends up being a gift to others anyway.