The Gift of Writing

That is what this blog is about - the gift, the release, the wisdom of writing.  And the gift is that it offers an opportunity for reflection on the blessings, struggles, confusion and beauty of life.

Yesterday I went to first writing sampler before the "Women Writing for a Change" class begins in its entirety and I realized again this gift that is always available to me and everyone and so often avoided, dismissed and ignored.

We began as we always do with 2 readings - one is a quote and the other a poem.  After reading it to ourselves and hearing it read we then introduced ourselves into the circle and shared the words or lines that spoke to us.  The poem was "For a New Beginning" by John O'Donahue:


For a New Beginning
by John O’Donohue
In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.
For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.
It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.
Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.
Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

 and I was drawn to "And you stepped onto new ground, your eyes young again...." and shared how much I want my eyes to be young again.  It is so easy as we age to have old eyes that think we have seen everything and that fail to see what is possible and new. dreams.

Then later we did a "fast write" with several prompts from the reading.  The one that spoke to me was this phrase  "This beginning has been quietly forming."....

I have spent so much time thinking about "new beginnings" and this occasion and these words brought me to a peaceful resolution.  Here is what I wrote

This beginning has been quietly forming
   and I wonder what it is that is forming
   I have had so many beginnings for so many years.
           the beginnings of relationships that became a marriage
           the beginnings of life that became my daughters
           the beginnings of new jobs
                     in new cities
                           and finding new homes

Always the new beginnings eventually became what IS - the present reality
           not new anymore but the norm
         the marriage may end or become routine
         the daughters are grown and out of the home
         the job years are over
         the house and the city are comfortable, familiar and no longer new

And I am here
Wondering about what a new beginning looks like at this stage or this age.

The beginning has been quietly forming
       and I notice that there is a letting go that seems to be happening
                within me

          a letting go of stuff
                and activity
                      and status

        a letting go of the need to please
                   the need to hurry
                        the need to accomplish

And maybe this is a prelude, an opening, a creation of space
For this mysterious seed, or being, or promise or dream or desire
               to emerge

The beginning has been quietly forming
    Suddenly I am aware of the passive voice of this statement
    Suggesting that maybe I can just let go
                   of my need to know
                   to control
                   to figure out
                   to place

And trust that within me, beyond me, and around me there is the
HOLY ONE, the creator and recreator
    working, moving, nurturing, curating
    me.

May it be so