Writing as a Sacred Art

By C. J. Stegall-Evans

On Friday, I was driving my car happy as a clam (that is if clams are really happy), on my way to the University of North Florida Writers Conference. I have been waiting for this conference for months; looking forward to all the speakers and the wine and cheese reception.

Although it is a three day conference I could only get a ticket for day one because day two and three are sold out; that’s how I know this will be a totally amazing conference. I am so excited just ridding along and my car makes a noise like gravel hitting the undercarriage.

Nothing going to stop me from having a great day so I keep going. Pretty soon the noise is just too loud to ignore. I exit the expressway and make my way to a plaza parking lot. I pop the hood and notice the drive belt seems to have been almost completely eaten away by rabid squirrels. 

This is okay I am at peace with the world.  I wait two hours for a tow truck, knowing I can at least make a half day of the writer’s conference. I make it to the car dealership and by noon I give up hope and call the conference to cancel; the receptionist giggles and I hear the faint sound of music. Soon after, the customer service person tells me the cost to fix my car. I just burst into tears because this feels like an August conspiracy.

To make a long story short, I am sitting in the waiting room with an urgent need to scream or writing. Since writing is more appropriate I write. I begin to think about the conference and how much fun they are having within me, which makes me want to cry.

I know this year at the wine and cheese reception this year they break out the loud music and strobe lights and everyone just lets their hair down.  Usually these functions are a series of lectures, seeing old friends, getting to know new people, a great networking tool; but this year since I am not there I’m sure it’s more like Bookworms Gone Wild.

The thing that really gets me is at the next conference everyone will pretend it never happened. I assure you this is not my writer’s imagination taking hold. I look around the car dealership and I am so disappointed, I just want to scream. The writer in me knows writing will make feel better and it does but I will be looking for tell-tell signs of the wild party at the next conference.  

© 2010 C. J. Stegall-Evans   All Rights Reserved

Designed by Tim Sainburg from Brambling Design

By C. J. Stegall-Evans

I meditate on a daily basis in order to feel grounded. I either sit low to the ground, on the floor, or with my feet touching the ground. When I feel grounded I am as much a part of nature as the birds in the trees.

Writing makes me feel grounded too. When I am writing I am able to lose me, and just be. The ability to be at one with nature is a gift, one that I hope all writers possess. It’s a very freeing aspect of being a creative person.

It allows us to put everyday life on hold, for the time we are writing we can get in the zone, and become a pure creative instructive instrument. Sometimes writing inspiration calls to us at times when it’s not always convenient but it is always worthwhile. 

Answering this writing call helps writers to feel more stable in our everyday lives. Writing can sometimes be all consuming but finding balance and writing about our joys and pains allows us to keep our lives in proper perspective.  

Writers have to work hard on being grounded which is sometimes difficult when your profession requires that you keep your head in the clouds. Daily writing and meditation may not be the cure all but it may make finding your place in a world in which you don’t fit in a bit easier.

© 2010 C. J. Stegall-Evans (All Rights Reserved)

Designed by Tim Sainburg from Brambling Design