When Writing Is Home
Defining a creativity community rescue plan
Throughout my life that, from an early age, was never defined by family security or conventionality, writing and other creative passions have been a real home.
Which is why the below words from Natalie Goldberg, written years ago but never as relevant, comfort and remind me of how important it is to remain self-expressive as we all move swiftly through these increasingly unstable times.
“I write because I am alone and move through the world alone. No one will know what has passed through me ... I write because there are stories that people have forgotten to tell, because I am a woman trying to stand up in my life ... I write out of hurt and how to make hurt okay; how to make myself strong and come home, and it may be the only real home I'll ever have.”-Natalie Goldberg
If we define our lives through the kinds of superficial accomplishments that soul-crushing bullies like Donald Trump or Elon Musk value, of course we’re lost.
However, if we define and shape our lives by involving ourselves even more deeply with what it is we love, and doing what we feel we were put here to do, then we will continue to thrive.
Feel free to share with this great community of writers your ideas below in the comments section. I welcome writing-life recipes, oddball concoctions for breaking through blocks, raw-as-hell quotes like Goldberg’s above, links to cool and helpful websites for inspiration, etc. etc. etc…
Let’s continue to work on a viable literary rescue plan for 2025!
This is an odd confession for such a public forum, but here goes. Recently, I found out that someone with whom we swore love to each other—a forever kind of love—said she can't talk anymore because it might upset her new partner. The news slipped into my consciousness with the subtlety of a downtown wrecking ball.
After somatizing it first, then taming it through prayer and meditation, it still lingered. And then there was, of course, writing.
I'm by no means the first or last person to use a short story or a poem to overcome a failed love story, but it feels as if I were. Writing this as a short piece was a way of rewriting it in my mind, with ripple effects across my mind and my emotions as new versions of the story cascade across my self. Finding the perfect word or the perfect metaphor (and never finding it, but continuing to look) becomes entangled with the story itself—and off we go to the world of fiction, where I can do lots with it, and maybe it will empower me to try things out in the nonfiction world, too.
Thank you. I agree. It is helpful to write together and support each other. Research strongly suggests that writing and reading nurture our empathy, much needed in today's society.