Reverb10.2 This is Where the Practice Begins
Posted by Kaileen Elise on December 4th, 2010
It’s not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts
it’s what you put into the practice.
(Eric Lindros)
Reverb 10.2 – Prompt from December 2, 2010
Writing. What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing – and can you eliminate it? (Leo Babauta)
Yes, I’m part of the Reverb 10 HQ. Yes, I feel compelled to answer all the prompts with eloquence and grace. Yes, this prompt is a challenge.
I’m not quite sure I consider myself a writer. Reading, journaling, writing poetry and blogging have been parts of my life since I can remember. My thoughts make more sense once they’re outside my mind. I process by talking with my closest confidants. I make sense of the world by recording in my notebook the details that hurt. I express my desires and sparkle to the world through this website – and projects like Reverb 10.
To answer this prompt as written would be dishonest because I have not made writing a practice in 2010. I wrote, life got in the way, and then I would write again. This is how my year went.
I can tell you that I started a new journal just a few weeks ago. It’s pretty blank and my intention is to fill it up with good bits, honest thoughts and perhaps a few challenging moments. I like rereading journals that include the good times much better than the bad, so at some point I stopped recording the messier and more complicated parts of my life. Sometimes that means that I don’t write at all. Other times that means I break my rule and write about the muck.
In 2011 I intend to fill up that new journal – with ideas, encouragement and moments that need recording. I will do my best not to censor myself. I’ll also try not to judge myself if this sentiment falls by the wayside.
Perhaps one day I will publish a book. Many books. Maybe then I will consider myself a writer. Until then, the practice is where I will begin.
Image Credit: LuneBleue via WeHeartIt
Tags: Reflection
You are going to write a book…I keep telling you that! You are going to take over the world:) Thank you for getting me to write in a journal 7 years ago…my life has forever been changed for the better
xoxoxo
A few years ago, I stopped recording the “not so good moments” too. Not because I didn’t want to remember them (I feel they are almost as important as recording the good times because we learn so much from them), but I just found that then I was in a messy funk I just didn’t have the energy to write anymore.
What used to bring me comfort and clarification became a chore, and so life got in the way and my journal & computer would begin to collect dust.
Since I began blogging publically, I often find keeping a seperation between happy/public and sad/private makes it more difficult to be 100% honest with myself even if I’m writing in private.
Funny how that works, hey?
Thanks for your honesty in this post – it was a refreshing read that I could really relate to.
And good luck in writing that future book of yours!