8.1.09 altars
Some days, when we wake up tired, frustrated with the mundane, hardly able to get inspired about everything we have to do, who can be creative? It sounds like too much work. So what can we easily do on those days to stimulate our juices?
Let me suggest building yourself an altar for just such occasions. According to the dictionary, an altar is "an elevated structure before which religious ceremonies may be enacted or upon which sacrifices may be offered."
Sacrifice: "the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim."
So this altar will be a place to conduct a ceremony to surrender to a higher, more creative part of self. Consider it a place in spacetime to make an actual statement of intention, a boxing of one's compass, as it were. Light a candle and tell the universe what it is you want to create.
Part of the power of the altar, of course, is that the ceremony forces you to state your intention. This guides the course of the day like a little mission statement. How many of us rush out the door, still half sleep, not sure where we are going or what we need, too busy to remember to ask for help? Before you know it, life's chaos has descended and it's tough to get a handle.
So, ask yourself, what do you want to create today? Do you need extra time? Peace of mind? A resolution to a conflict at work? Say it…I fully intend to create … fill in the blank to suit your immediate needs.
The other part of the power is redirecting your Intellect, that monkey mind, onto engaging in something other than recounting stories from the past, constructing possible grim futures, and/or magnifying doubts and fears. Because I'm telling you, that monkey mind can lead you straight to hell in a hand basket once it gets control, sapping you of energy and natural creativity.
Just stating your intention is an action that brings your focus back to regenerative activity. Instead of thinking about what you don't have, can't do or how wrong things are going to go, you think about what you do have and want to create. How empowering this is. I am continually amazed, when I set an intention, that I can always find the way. Even if I have no idea how I will achieve this intention, I can always intend to find the way!
This summer I made my first official altar. I went on a scavenger hunt to find candles and holders, and any other objects that might assist me in sacrificing whatever I think is so important (worry, doubt, distraction) for the sake of bringing in a higher vision to my daily activities.
At the Thrift store in Washburn I found a perfect candleholder, an earthy, tribal wire figure dancing over the little platform that holds the votive. A half a block down, the next store magically had another candleholder in the same motif! This black wire figure was smaller, but definitely part of the family.
At the next, I happened upon two large butterflies. What a find!
But the greatest moment of the search was back home at my friend Holly's gallery (www.imaginegalleryandstudio.com). Tucked back on her storage shelf was yet another mate to the two tribal pieces! I couldn't believe it, and yet…of course.
See, what inspires me is not so much the ritual at the altar; yes, of course, that's good, too. But it's the creative ways I find to manifest my desires that set me spinning. I ask the Universe, and then sit back and pay attention to my inner voices guiding me to exactly where I need to go to accomplish my goal. Using intuition to reach the goal reinforces how magical life can be if we pay attention.
And when I get to that place, I feel like a child again, one who believes in magic. And from there, the sky's the limit. I'm having tee shirts printed: "I can do anything I set my mind to and you are too."
Get creative. Make up your own rituals and ceremonies. Start speaking up and articulating what you want. Building an altar may not be the end-all, but it certainly can help steer you back into your own creative self.
I gave my friend the atheist a little statue of Odin from one of my trips to Oslo. He put it on his mantle along with his Celtic cross, his gargoyle, his old necklace, and assorted other "sacred" objects. I consider his mantel an altar.
When I asked him why he, the atheist, would have crosses and gods, he replied, "Hedging my bets…
LOVE RITUAL
I find practicing this focused intention gets me out of my clogged up Intellect and into the whole of my power and energy. It also reminds me of the sacred space within me, that child who believes in magic.
Get 7 candles: Light red, brown, pink, blue, black, dark red and white.
Line them up on your altar and begin with the light red, working in order to the white. Quiet yourself down and go inside, listening to your breath and meditating on any question you need answered and intention that you wish to set.
When you are ready, light the light red candle and invite love into your space. It can be self-love, divine love, a specific person, that yet-to-be-revealed soul mate, or all of the above. You decided.
Next light the brown candle and ask that this love be grounded deep into Gaia.
Light the pink candle and ask that all obstacles to making a commitment be healed. This can be a commitment you must keep to yourself or someone else, or a prayer for someone else to find their commitment to themselves, or you.
Light the blue candle and ask for justice to be done and that everything aligns to manifest for the greatest good of all involved.
Light the black candle and ask that all negative energy be fused with all positive energy to create a unified whole.
Light the dark red candle and ask that these wishes be made manifest...NOW!
Then light the white candle and clear the air.
6.15.2009 wild mind
Don't you hate writer's block? Believe me, I've had more than my share of sitting at the computer and staring into a blank monitor. Minutes tick-tock by with no inspiration in sight. No sentences. Not even thoughts. Just a whole lot of blank. What to do?
Whatever you do, don't panic. Trust me, there's nothing wrong with you. Even if your publisher is demanding to see the first three chapters of the book they've already paid you to write, there is no need to panic.
Every one of us has what I call an Inner Editor. This is a voice that wants it exactly right before it even hits the paper. It's the perfectionist in us, not a bad thing, but certainly not the aspect we want running the entire show. Editing is an essential part of the writing process, but all in due time.
While you are writing, you should not be editing. You should be engaging your Wild Mind, that creative, feral you that craves expression as a way to relieve itself of the pressure of the pent-up creative energy, longing to be heard. Everyone has a Wild Mind, what does yours crave?
Wild Mind the Writer longs with such severe passion to articulate itself that it will say anything. No style here, just raw information, to eventually be chiseled together by Inner Editor. But if Editor emerges too soon in this sloppy, sometimes uncomfortable process, demanding perfection, Wild Mind is stricken dumb and frozen solid.
There's your writer's block. So how to we silence Editor and allow Wild Mind to spill out the beautiful beans?
First, we call in a third party, a Witness. Like the director of a play who sees the whole stage, Witness has the authority to tell Editor to step back into the wings until cued.
Witness can then coax the Wild Mind back out into the light and give the cue to write to its hearts content. Write about ANYTHING. Just write.
First, write something you can finish so you can say you did it. Write a paragraph about something you love, something that moved you. Write nonsense. Be a child and open up to whatever comes down your arm to your wrist and out your fingers onto the page. Even if it's clumsy, silly and completely impertinent to the project at hand, just write something.
When Wild Mind is done with the romp through the raw stuff, unleash Editor and have a field day. I personally find self-editing such a joyful part of the whole process. Here's where you get intimate and turn the meat into style. Don't just read back what you wrote and call it crap; turn it into something better.
Separating and working with these two aspects in this way can help break through the blocks and get the process rolling again.
Here's my prescription for your case of writer's block:
First thing in the morning, spend 15 minutes writing three or four paragraphs describing what you plan to do that day, or whatever short topic inspires you. Describe how the cat just moved across the room, or your dread of going to the dentist. Then set it aside and go about your day.
Before bed in the evening, re-read what you wrote and take 15 minutes to edit it into something better than when you started. Don't over-think it. Just tidy it up and then sleep on it. Then ask for inspiration for the next day. Pray to whatever god or goddess turns your crank and go to bed savoring the time you spent writing that day.
Repeat the process with a new topic every day for one week.
At the end of the week, re-read all your entries and then burn everything you've written in a small ritual. Don't set the house on fire, but give thanks for the gift of writing, and celebrate that you wrote every day for a week.
Being a writer is not about the end product, it's about the act of writing. Write with the wild mind, with passion and authenticity, and then self-edit with a sharp knife, and the end product will create itself.
If this doesn't help, remember a watched pot never boils. If all else fails, forbid yourself from writing. Go do everything else but write! Don't LET yourself write.
Whatever you do, give yourself a break. The best among us have had blocks. Count yourself in good company.
