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

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

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.

It’s about listening. It’s about opening. And it’s about accessing what lives below the surface so that the ink spills beauty, insights, stories, and truth.

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

But you will never be alone with your heart as your compass and writing as your guide. Fewer fears will arise, you will fear less often, and the intensity of your fear will reduce with practice and experience. If your path opens up new fears, you will know to return to your heart and deal with them too.

If you are struggling to find time to write, it may be because you aren’t clear on why you want to write.

When I thought about why I write, I came up with many reasons. I do it because it is how I make sense of the world. I do it because it makes me feel connected in a profound way. I do it because it feels good. But perhaps most significantly, I am a better, more awake version of myself for having written. I feel recharged, and I have more patience, c

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

When we engage with our breath and our bodies before we write and as we write, the experience of writing is elevated. We can retreat from the chatter of busy mind and reach into the depths of wild mind, shifting our stuck energy and transmitting a sense of aliveness into our words.