Writing for me and for you- part one
All my audios are a complement to my posts and are not merely a transcript. I encourage you to listen first to set the scene.
Putting on your writing shoes
“Spill what comes to you on the page.”
So says author Beth Kempton as I attended one of her writing sanctuaries last year, having bought her book ‘The Way of the Fearless Writer’. So, I begin with a story.
One day in 2005, I was given a pen, after a period of counselling, which prompted me to start writing. I was then a hesitant writer, a clumsy writer, as I put pen to paper in a blog format called one thoughtful woman. Plagued by doubt, my early experiences with English had left me with little confidence.
Early writing experiences
My early schooling, wrecked by bullying, eventually left its mark across all academic subjects, including being a weak grammarian. My first sitting for exams at age 16 saw me achieve two O-levels, History and Geography. I also passed a CSE one in English, but I termed this last one as not a ‘proper’ English Language qualification. I saw CSEs as second best which largely they were for their time.
The formal study of English Literature had been denied me two years earlier when I failed the mock exam by 2%. It took me two more attempts to scrape a C grade at O-level English Language, something which haunted any effort to see myself as a ‘serious’ writer until only fairly recently.
The Journey begins
I started a blog in my early forties when I returned to formal education ( University of East Anglia) and two things happened. I started to form an identity as a scholar and began to take off academically. This thrilled me, but I still had the old mindset of not taking myself seriously as a competent writer, outside of the lecture room. I bought books for my essay writing which still needed huge grammatical input and began to teach myself.
Fast forward to the pandemic, I remember going out for a walk and asking the Universe for a sign. Yes, I know for many of you that sounds rather weird, but I had been reading about the Law of Attraction and thought I would give it a go. In the middle of a deserted, featureless, bare concrete path there lay a feather right in front of me. Years ago, I had bought a quill feather with an ink pot and this had been mainly used as an ornament/novelty. I stopped dead in my tracks and picked it up. Was it telling me something about writing and if it had a future for me?
I took the feather home. It sat on the shelve, nudging me from time to time to take up the pen again. I stared at it, but what was I really to write about? My previous blog had produced no clear pathway or subject and I had stopped it. I needed to find my niche, my story, and what I cared enough about to form the discipline required to write something of real substance. The months passed by, but the thought never left me, resurfacing from time to time.
The momentum picks up
Then, In the summer of 2022, after another significant life event, I saw on Facebook a free summer writing sanctuary by Beth Kempton, the Japanologist and published author of books including ‘Wabi Sabi’ and ‘Freedom Seeker’. I was working hard at that point and had little time to indulge, but a little voice told me to sign up and do it anyway. I think this was my epiphany moment.
One of the exercises was to go and write outside. Beth uses the idea of writing sparks (a piece of poetry or writing to act as inspiration) and a previous spark of own, from reading John Lewis Stemple’s ‘Meadowland’ combined with walking in nature, and the love of big skies all came together. One day I was sitting at a Ford in South Acre, Norfolk, a place of many happy memories and started to write. I had no idea what was going to be created until the pen touched the paper and I just let my mind go.
The writing paradigm shifts.
A painter can paint what he sees outside, why not a writer then? This introduced me to a whole new way of thinking about where writing comes from. What ignites the words, the vision, story, of what needs to be written? And the exciting thing of all was that I found it so easy, like a lid from a paint pot finally opening and all that fresh new paint spilling out waiting to be seen.
The Summer Writing Sanctuary produced vibrant colours. Exercise after exercise made me bolder, and braver and I would read out loud what I had written and thought where has this come from? Soon nature and writing became as one, two halves, like a pair of walking shoes waiting to be put on to find unity, wholeness and a whole new sense of direction. It was from all of this that I walk beside you now with footstep conversations.
Where do we go from here?
Next week, I will continue to walk you through how you can write and why it is so powerful and good for us as an activity. There are many ways in which you can write for yourself, and for others and how to get started with some signposts to help you navigate your own road map.
Beth is currently doing another Summer Sanctuary and it’s completely free. I would encourage you to take a look at her work at https://dowhatyouloveforlife.com/ She is amazing and gives so much of herself and her time to help us become who we are called to be, with so many different courses at incredible value. She has also introduced me to Substack where you can also find her. I have created my own account but have yet to decide how I am going to use it.
Until next time and part 2. I hope you have a great week.
