The Way of the Fearless Writer: Mindful Wisdom for a Flourishing Writing Life

Any time I ask my children if they want to play something or have a dance party they always say yes. We have journaling club every Monday after school. We cut stuff out of magazines, stamp with our fingers, draw maps and houses, write about our dreams. We are not trying to achieve anything; we are just enjoying time together creating, with snacks.

I used to lodge with a laid-back Japanese man whose favorite phrase was 気にしないで (ki ni shinaide), which means “Don’t worry about it.” It only recently struck me that the literal translation of this is “Don’t turn it into energy.” Yet this is often exactly what we do with worries. We can get so fixated on a fear-based thought that we turn it into stu

When you wake in the night and the world is still, pay attention. When the wind shows its presence by rustling leaves, pay attention. When you take a slow deep breath and feel the beating of your own heart, pay attention. These quiet moments are secret ways in.

I let go of my own desire, relinquishing any specific ambitions for the book, and I simply focused on the practice of writing instead. I started to treat that practice as sacred. I brought ritual to my work and opened up to not knowing what would happen next. I entertained the paradox that our writing matters immensely, and not at all. In doing so

Even if you never share your words with anyone else, your writing is not just for you. The positive impact writing can have on your spirit and outlook will benefit your loved ones too.

I wrote what wanted to be written, putting it on the page without judgment. I learned that editing was a separate process that I could engage with once I had done the deep work and surfaced the truth of what needed to be said. I abandoned all attempts to force my idea too soon, instead giving it time to be floaty and undefined for a while before ge

It’s really not that complicated. We simply need to choose to begin.

It was only when I was out walking one day that I realized the significance of all of this. Without realizing it I had metaphorically passed through three sacred gates collectively known in Buddhism as the Three Gates of Liberation: Muganmon (無願門) The Gate of Desirelessness, Musōmon (無相門) The Gate of Formlessness, and Kūmon (空門) The Gate of Emptine

The more I tried, the harder it got. Until it all got too much, and I finally surrendered.