The Ritual of Writing: Writing as Spiritual Practice
Personally, I am with Orwell on this one. In his essay Politics and the English Language, he lays out six rules for writers, one of which we have already encountered in Chapter 6. What Orwell is concerned about is clarity, that the reader understands absolutely the point you want to make. However, Orwell’s final rule states: ‘Break any of these rul
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The tendency to provoke each other rather than communicate clearly is a worrying trend. I was discussing this topic with a friend recently, a fellow vegan. The conversation started with the notion that some vegan groups had drawn comparisons between eating meat and the holocaust. Activists point out that 6 million Jews, and millions of people from
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We all seem to be ranting at each other from our deeply entrenched positions rather than discussing topics rationally.
Andrew Anderson • The Ritual of Writing: Writing as Spiritual Practice
So many opinion articles and online forums are filled with blunt comments which are designed to create more anger and ill feeling among people who think differently.
Andrew Anderson • The Ritual of Writing: Writing as Spiritual Practice
So much writing today is designed to shock and offend others. We seem to have stooped to a new low where people feel they need to be rude to others and close down dissent, rather than engage in considered and constructive debate.
Andrew Anderson • The Ritual of Writing: Writing as Spiritual Practice
If we try and ‘rise above’ an issue, to look beyond it, we are doing little more than ignoring it and leaving it for other people to sort out. Don’t we, as part of our spiritual practice, have a duty to fight for what we love?
Andrew Anderson • The Ritual of Writing: Writing as Spiritual Practice
If our primary focus is the Earth, surely, we have to fight, to challenge the injustices we see in the world around us.
Andrew Anderson • The Ritual of Writing: Writing as Spiritual Practice
However, a pagan spirituality requires a close engagement with the everyday world, not being divorced from it.
Andrew Anderson • The Ritual of Writing: Writing as Spiritual Practice
Spirituality for many is about being thankful and acknowledging the beauty in the world, it is about sensing the deeper meanings and looking beyond the everyday.