Zen and The Art of Writing

 

Life is about experimenting, finding out what works for you, what doesn’t, and eventually discovering what makes you happy. 

That’s my theory anyway.

Many people get trapped in a rut where they think life is about achieving material success. This is often counter-productive, because you will only become happy if you choose the path that is right for you.

From the moment we start writing, we’re on a quest to discover what works for us, how to best express ourselves, how words work for us and how we want them to work for our readers. We aspire to gain proficiency, an objective viewpoint, and we sharpen our ability to control our talent, art, and craft. In short, we constantly strive to make ourselves better artists.

Given the world we live in, this is not always a smooth journey.

During my younger days I did a lot of meditating. Ostensibly to calm myself during times of stress. And believe me, did I experience a lot of stress when I was younger!

From horrible jobs, terrible bosses, bitter disappointments, unhelpful partners and alcohol habits to support. During my most stressful times, I used to take time out to visualize my perfect life and to reinforce attitudes that I believed would be useful. Like knowing I didn’t need drugs or alcohol to cope, and believing that the color green was calming and therapeutic. At the time, meditation seemed to make little difference to my life but somehow, over a couple of decades, all the things I taught myself during meditation have come into my life as realities.

Nowadays, I can see and hear myself living the affirmations I made back then. I now have the life I was trying so hard to summon. Twenty years later, okay sure, but I got there! Through perseverance and sticking to my goals, even through the tough times.

I envy people who are talented but who also possess smarts and the social skills to benefit from their talent. Me, I was always shy and probably destined to be a quiet writer, shunning people and social situations. I never really liked networking, making friends with the right people. What do Americans call it? Social awkwardness. Yes, that sounds right. An aversion to talking, meeting, even being with others. It could be a curse but actually I found it liberating, once I understood how to embrace and profit from the need to be alone.

That’s the trick. Learn to embrace your flaws and use them instead of hating yourself for not being perfect. When you truly understand yourself, you’re better equipped to make decisions that will bring you happiness.

There’s nothing wrong with getting older. It’s a gift that keeps on giving.

Sure, the past may come back to haunt you. Whether you like it or not, scenes from your youth will pop into your head and you will see them anew. Little things that made no sense at the time can be recalled with sometimes terrifying clarity. Suddenly you can see through other people’s eyes. Situations become clearer, motivations more obvious.

And you can use these new perspectives to your advantage. Writers especially can use these insights in their writing.  

For instance, knowing you can start afresh is enormously liberating. It’s like permission to repair the past, to remake yourself and your work.

Similarly, knowing you can break things down, re-prioritize and re-evaluate how things are working, these are all wonderfully helpful tools to help restore your enthusiasm for old projects that didn’t seem to work.  

Use your changing perspective for the good. When we age, we like routines that keep our mind and body stable. Use that stability to your advantage. Keep a level head every day. Then there’s no fear and no rush. There’s plenty of time to get things finished.

The illusion that we have to get everything done immediately is not helpful. Only the very young believe we have to do everything immediately before the idea, or the initial excitement, wears off. Trust that you have the time.  

Of course, security - physical, mental and financial - is important. If your life is in constant turmoil, try meditation to smooth out the edges. Remind yourself that everything is fine. Problems tend to come from other people. Remove them from your life if necessary.

Like investing money in the future, think long term: take your time, relax and stop beating yourself up about not being perfect or lacking inspiration. Be a plodder. Allow yourself to live in the moment. Be present for your writing. Treat each sentence, each paragraph, each chapter with equal care and respect. Let every word shine.

People often complement me for having the perfect life but what they don’t realize is that I have constructed my days through a long process of eliminating what I don’t like, what doesn’t work for me. That doesn’t mean I don’t like doing the mundane stuff like cooking, housework, and chopping wood. I do all those things because they serve the greater purpose. My activities enable me to work more effectively.

So many students complain to me that their lives don’t help them write. Either because they’re surrounded by people who don’t encourage them or because their jobs exhaust them. Others say they’re always ill or prone to emergencies that get in the way. I have deliberately removed those distractions from my life. For my sanity.

Motivation is a gift but it comes from eliminating obstacles and being able to live without pain and suffering. You need to work on what really makes you happy, remove all those bad influences and simply focus on your creativity.

Then you’ll be living the dream.

And your writing will soar.

Till next week,

Keep Writing!

Rob Parnell’s Writing Academy