19.8.11

Gratitude

It's been a busy week, between editing for clients, the slow, in-depth revision of Judith (now a quarter of the way through!) plus information to prepare and send Pearlsong Press for Love is the Thread, my memoir.  I have so much to feel grateful for today.  First of all the editing has reminded me how much I love to help other writers bring their thoughts and word into even greater clarity.  But there's more:

While I finished the last couple of pages of Chapter Nine, a scene where Judith and her best friend, Naomi, prepare for the siege to come, I heard a distant buzz.  It took me a moment to return from 600 B.C.E. and realize that a friend was weed whacking my labyrinth!  I've always been the kind of reader who feels like I vanish out of the room and into the pages of whatever book I'm reading.  Though the world of my own imagination absorbs me, this is the first time I consciously noticed the parallels between reading a book and working on my own.  (Plus my labyrinth's half mowed and I didn't have to do it.)  And finally:

As I worked on my author bio for the back of Love is the Thread, and contemplated the dedication and acknowledgements pages, I recognized how many people whose love, support and belief have brought me to this point in my life as a human being and a writer. 

8.8.11

Slowing Down, Gently

In a meditation class I took lately, I heard the same messages arise inside me several times over the course of the day: "Slow down."

While it served me well during the day of quiet, of peace and meditation, I've been applying it to my writing life this last week or ten days. I have sometimes revised "only" a couple of pages in a day instead of my usual amount.

I am savoring every word, just as I treasure every moment, every breath, of my meditation practice.