Writing can be medicine for our modern ills. It can be a tool to help us excavate our lives and begin to understand ourselves and others. It can help us grapple with desire, navigate change, cope with stress, celebrate, offer thanks, grieve, heal, and inspire others. Writing can be a means of escape, or a way to arrive fully in this moment,

Writing is both sacred and ordinary if ordinary means part of our day-to-day life, and something that anyone can do without any particular training, or money or experience. Yet when we make it sacred in the simplest of ways, by giving it our full attention, we send ourselves an important message about its place in our lives.

I like writing at my desk, but I don’t make it a condition of writing. I like lighting a candle first, but I don’t make that a condition of writing. I like the rhythm of showing up early before the day begins, but I don’t make that a condition of writing either. While routine and a dedicated writing space can encourage you to write, there is value

Breath is a bridge between body and mind. KAZUAKI TANAHASHI1

To write in service of the writing, not the ego, is a radical act. What if we gathered up all the energy we usually spend worrying about what other people think and poured it into our writing? What if we really lived our lives, moment to moment, and wrote about that?

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

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.

When embarking on a great project, start where you are with something small. JAPANESE PROVERB

When embarking on a great project, start where you are with something small. JAPANESE PROVERB