Tag: #writing

Friday Morning Musing: Letters to Julia

Published by mhelbert on January 31, 2020

People keep saying that “Life is a Journey”! The object being that we should savor the moments as they come to us. “Stop and smell the roses,” they tell us. It’s all part of the “journey.”
To be sure, I really like that metaphor. It clears my head of any illusions that I have somehow made it to some terminus or completion. There is always another step to take; another rock to step over.
Along the way there are people, places, and events that affect us. Some for the good. Some for ill. In either case, our journey continues, helped or hindered, until we walk on from this world into the next.

Julia Cameron has been one of those people who has been a boon to me on my journey. Many years ago I came across on of her 40 odd books entitled, “The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity.” The book is like so many others the have been written to help creative people do what they are called to do…Create. Julia’s book arrived in my life at a time when I was struggling with my own creative direction.
I am a musician. Have been for nearly my entire life. I spent a lot of time in various bands playing all kinds of music. From garage parties to venues seating thousands and everywhere in between. However, at a particular point in my life, I noticed that the music had gone. Just up and disappeared. I don’t know where it went. Maybe someday I’ll find it again.
I did find something else, though.
When I was in seminary I found that I could put words to paper. Not just jotting random characters to fill page count requirements.I could mold and fashion them. I was what some people call an aspiring Wordsmith.
So, I wrote.
I wrote papers and essays.
I began this blog.
I journaled as part of my daily devotional practices.
But, I was also unskilled in the craft of writing. I wasn’t sure where the inspiration for consistent writing came from.

Enter Julia’s book!

It appeared at the right time.
Julia took me by the hand and led me forward until the weeds cleared a bit and I could begin to make out the path ahead.
So, first of all…
Thank You, Julia! Your words helped to prod me forward on this Artist’s Way.
I hope that I can continue treading on it until my feet grow too weary to carry me. Then, I will crawl until my hands and knees give out.

There are still times, though, when it seems that the words are gone. I look for that Creative Stream that courses through the Cosmos so that I can dip my toe into its living waters. Yet, it is nowhere to be seen.
Those are the days when I must press on anyway. Pull out the machete and hack at the brush and weeds to find my way forward.
One tool that I have developed to do that is called, “Letters to Julia.”
During my morning quiet time I purpose myself to write in my journal. My goal is to fill at least three pages with whatever comes to mind. Most mornings are filled with reflections and prayers. My deepest thoughts, fears, and joys find their way to these pages.
But, on those days when my brain is foggy or I am unable to put to cogent words together, I write a letter.

Dear Julia…
I begin.
Then, I tell her what’s going on in my life.
I share some of my thoughts and concerns.
I tell her about the weather in Northern Ohio.
Nothing is out of bounds.
And, the words begin to come.
First, a trickle.
Then, a small rivulet.
Eventually there is a stream flowing from my heart, my mind, to my pen, and then the page.

After I walk on from this world, whoever may read the journals that I have filled will find many letters to Julia.
She has been an ever present ally, mentor, inspiration, and friend on my life’s journey.

Thank you, Julia!!!

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Brazen Self-Promotion

Published by mhelbert on January 21, 2020

Hey, all!
I’m going to divert just a tad today.
Over the years I’ve attempted to write about, well, anything at all.
Ok, I try to stay away from U.S. politics. That’s way to divisive even for me.
That was one of the main reasons that I walked away from all social media a little over a year ago. The vitriol and hatred I witnessed was too much for me. I was loosing sleep and suffering from anxiety. So, yeah. I needed a season for self-care.

Recently, though, I returned to the fray.
I am being far more selective of people and groups that I follow and interact with this time. I don’t want to end up chewing my fingernails and muttering to myself.

What I do intend to do, though, is utilize the wide influence of social media to promote my own writing. With retirement looming ahead, I am continuing to work through what I intend to do with my time. And, believe me, there are a multitude of options knocking on the door. I will not get bored!

My greatest hope is to step up with writing.
Ever since I can remember words have been important to me.
They are the clay with which I mold both statuary for aesthetics and beauty as well as the bowls and cups with which I eat and drink.
In seminary I found that I could actually write well.
Not great, by any stretch. But, I was adept at it and enjoyed doing it very much.
So, to test the waters I began a blog.
It wasn’t much to begin with. I jotted down thoughts and ideas that happened to be walking around in my brain.
Now, over 450 blog posts later, I am more intentional about things that I write.
I write with a specific audience in mind.
Yeah, I still toss out the odd poem or essay from time-to-time. That’s just how my brain works, I guess. And, I will continue to do that.

So, back to the social media thing.
I am going to use Facebook, tumblr, twitter, and maybe Instagram to post my work.
My intent is to build an audience, a tribe, of followers who will be directed to my blog. I desire that people read, follow, and share with their friends what I write.
Eventually, I hope to either morph the blog into an Author’s website, or create a new site as my home as an author.

Yes, I intend to use this blog and my social media accounts to write and promote my original content.

That said, I would not be disappointed if you all would ‘like,’ share, comment, or follow this blog and any content that I post to social media.
Yeah, this is a brazen attempt at self-promotion.
It’s awkward for me to do this.
The page is turning to reveal the next chapter of my life.
Using words to create worlds and universes are written into that chapter.
I guess that I’m asking you to join with me as I journey into the unknown.

Thank you!

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Happy New Year!!!

Published by mhelbert on November 1, 2019

Ok, I know! It’s November 1st, not January 1st.
But, today is an anniversary of sorts for me that marks a rather significant milestone.
Before I get to that, though, there is another milestone I want to share.

THIS IS MY 400TH BLOG POST!
(And, the crowd goes wild!)

I went back and checked. My first post was written using Blogspot on
December 12, 2009. Considering that it’s been a decade in the making, maybe 400 posts doesn’t seem like a lot. But, it is. Trust me.

The other reason that this is a significant date for me is that one year ago today I started my first NaNoWriMo.
And, that ushered in a year of pretty substantial creativity from me.

I finished NaNo at the end of November with a novel of just over 50,000 words.
During that month I learned a lot about the process of writing. I learned that to create anything takes hard work and showing up Every. Single. Day. I had to average almost 2,000 words per day in order to achieve the goal.

And, I did it!

One of the results of that experience was an increase in content output for me. Yeah, I didn’t show up a lot on this here blog thingy. Not nearly as much as I would have liked. But, I began what has now been a nearly year long process of introspection. I primarily use Journaling for that work. Right now I’m on my third journal since Jan. 1 and will be going out to buy a fourth this weekend.
And, yes, Journaling is creative writing.
It enables me to tap into the Creative River that courses through the Cosmos. Writing this way opens my Heart to the internal Pulse of Life that animates me as I walk through the fields of this life. I also continue to develop the discipline of showing up every day to think, create, and write.

So, yeah!
It’s New Years for me!

Tonight I will begin the task that is NaNoWriMo 2019.
In 30 days I hope to have another 50,000+ words completed.
As near as I can tell, this is the Best Way to ring in a New Year!

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Yeah, It’s Hard. But, Oh So Worthwhile.

Published by mhelbert on October 29, 2019

Yesterday I wrote a bit about the role that Emotion and Passion can play in the creative process. Yeah, they can be good motivators. And, if Passion is properly channeled, as in having a Passion for the work rather than being driven by some external event, it can be quite helpful. I mean, how many times have we stopped doing something that we once loved to do because we “lost our passion” for it?
Lord knows I have!
At one time I would strap on a guitar and it would stay there for up to 8 hours!
Simply because I was passionate about learning and playing.
Now? I think it’s been at least 2 years since I opened the case.

That example kind of points to where I am going with this post.

This morning during my daily quiet time I opened my journal to write.

Crickets.

There was not one thought or idea the came to the front of my brain demanding to find its way on to the blank page.
This seems to happen way more often than when so-called “inspiration” strikes.

So, I wrote that down.

“I got nuthin'”.

These are the times when we creative folk need to show up and do the hard work of, well, creating.
We can’t count on some great inspiration to ignite our passions so that we can create that Great Magnum Opus that we all know is just waiting to be birthed from the fertile soil of our imagination!
Yippee!
No, these are the times when we just need to get down to business and create something. Anything. No matter how bad or uninspired.
Write! Play! Dance!
Whatever the expression that we have, we need to use!
Yes, it’s true that, as Thomas Edison said, “Success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.”
For those of us who aspire to create stuff, the ratio may be more like .5% inspiration and 99.5% perspiration.
At least, that’s how it feels to me sometimes.

Creating things, whether cobbling words together, making music, or building a bat house, is all hard work.
And, it takes discipline to stick to the tasks we’ve been given.

Especially, when it’s Just Not Happening, we need to Make. It. Happen.

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Passionate Creativity, Or Hard Work?

Published by mhelbert on October 28, 2019

I noticed something over the last few weeks.
While I’ve been emotionally on edge, I have also experienced a creative burst.
I have written poetry, blog posts, and journaled more pages than I have in ages.
Is there a direct correlation?
Maybe.

I stepped back a bit and viewed that last year as well as the recent weeks.
I noticed that since about this time last year there has been an uptick in the number of words that I’ve produced.
Last year I complete a first draft of a novel, over 50,000 word.
Journaling has increased. I’m currently half way through my third journal since Jan. 1.
Blogging hasn’t grown as much as other media, but the amount of content did increas over previous years.

So, why quibble over these things?

Well, for one, I’m a Creative and we kinda keep track of things like this. I mean, we need something to obsess over, right?

Another reason is so that I can track patterns. I take notice of periods of greater output and try to see if there’s something different that I can use to keep producing. Yeah, there it is, pure analytics. Sheesh! That hurts my brain.

What I noticed is that nothing keeps the creative juices flowing like simply putting in the time. For NaNo last years, I had to get over 1,600 words per day written in order to complete the challenge of 50,000+ words.
That requires showing up every day and leaking words onto a computer. It’s hard work. But, it’s good work.

However, passion and emotion play a very small part in that work. It’s nose to the grindstone stuff that keeps the process moving.

So, what about the recent spate of words that I link to raw emotions?

I think that while the work itself requires discipline to actually do something, passion like I’ve recently experienced can act like rocket fuel.
It super-charges the creative juices so that they start to boil and roil and toil with added intensity.
That’s all well and good. I think that any endeavor can use that kind of boost.
The problem, however, is that rocket fuel burns hot and fast.

And, it may burn you.

Badly.

I think that I got a bit singed here recently.
Its blisters are painful.

But, I can’t let that be an excuse to back away from the River of Creativity that runs through the Cosmos.
I still need to get my toes into the flow and do the work.

Who knows what kind of nuggets I can find in that river?
Hopefully, shiny ones.

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NaNoWriMo

Published by mhelbert on October 18, 2019

National Novel Writing Month starts in a couple of weeks.
I participated last November and completed my first ever 50,000+ word manuscript.
Yay!
Of course, it’s still in a first draft that’s been sitting on my desk for 10 months. But, that’s not the point. The point is, I created something.
I originally used the working title of “God, Who Are You Really?”
I had hoped to create a fiction that reflected the personal journey that I had embarked on at the time. Little did I know then that novels tend to take on a life of their own. This one decided to become rather independent at an early stage. At times it felt as though I was simply the stenographer recording the story.
By the end of November I had completed the task and was sure that I had the next best seller, albeit in embryonic form, in my hands.
But, like all writers that I’ve read who share their own process, I knew that at best I had a rough idea of what might be a poorly written story.
So, there it sits. Waiting for me to perform some kind of literary CPR on it so that it can Rise Up From The Ashes like the might Phoenix that it is!
Or, something like that.

Anyway, all that to say that this year’s NaNo is fast approaching and I really have no idea where this story will go.
Hell, I don’t even know where it’s going to start!
Hopefully, by November 1 I’ll at least find that starting line.

During this NaNo I hope to share bits and pieces of the story as it is birthed. Perhaps, I’ll share snippets of the process as well. While many writers say that the writing process can be a lonely one that is fraught with difficulty. A saying that is attributed to Ernest Hemingway states,
“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
But, I found last year that I was not alone, bleeding at my computer.
I had the good company of my characters. I was with them as they found themselves thrown into a quest that they never asked to be a part of. I shared their fears, and ultimately the death of one of them. (Although, when I do rewrite, I’m thinking of being like God to him and resurrecting him. We’ll see if I ever do get there.)

So, while I read that so many folks taking part in this years NaNo are panicking and feeling all sorts of pressure and angst, I think that I’ll have an opportunity to meet some new friends. Maybe we’ll sit and have coffee. And, who knows to what wonderful worlds we may travel together and what amazing experiences we’ll share!

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