Spiritual Development and Writing

CORRECTION "Tell-All Exposé" is next Tuesday the 29th. As for my interview Friday the 25th, info is as follows:

This Friday 9-25 I interview at Day By Day Writer with Samantha Clark. The interview focuses on how Original Faith took shape, including the effects of meditation and the impact of illness and disability as well as the creative process and my writing routine.

Next Tuesday 9-29 I interview at Writers Inspired with Mary Jo Campbell. Mary Jo’s line of questioning leads me to “tell all” – about where I’m at today on writing and faith and on the topics of trade publishing and self publishing. For those of you interested in writing as well as spirituality, this is a guest post that may contain information you can use, and I’ll be happy to answer follow up questions that anyone may have in Mary Jo’s comments thread. Not till Tuesday though. Meanwhile…

Writing as Spiritual Exploration

On the Hand, There’s Content, but then…

It happens that I’ve mostly written in the religion and spirituality area. Since that was my subject, naturally the time that I spent at my writing desk had a spiritual focus.

I’ll add that it really was a desk - or, more precisely, a large table. Most of my work on Original Faith and most of my poetry was written from the early eighties through the mid-nineties, pre-computer, at which point I was derailed for ten years by the onset of a rare progressive disease while continuing to work full time and all that this entailed.

There’s Also Process…

Yet it seems to me that independently of my subject matter, there were certain features to the writing process itself that made it an activity conducive to my spiritual growth and well being.

Practical Life Priorities and Organization - Perhaps especially because I was writing while holding down a career, writing made me streamline my life in ways that were helpful. I had to set priorities and boundaries around areas like my social life and time spent on entertainment.

The Things That Matter – Writing helped me see more clearly what kinds of experiences held most meaning for me. I especially noticed this with my journal. I found myself steering clear of the “Dear Diary” approach. That would have forced me to make entries that I would have found boring myself!

I don't mean to cast aspersions on the logging/dear diary approaches of others – I can see this working in some lives or during certain periods of a person’s life. For example, one of my uncles kept a diary while serving in WWII. But personally, I found that experiences meaningful enough to serve as fodder for my creative writing occurred to me on their own and from time to time and not on any schedule that I could set.

Reflective Time – Writing is a thoughtful, reflective process that qualifies as quality time alone with yourself. It’s relaxing at a number of levels. There’s a sense of space and unhurriedness that comes with having carved out dedicated blocks of time for writing.

I even recall my sensory enjoyment around using the “tools of the trade,” which for me back then included number two pencils, a good quality eraser, and paperweights that were mostly stones I’d picked up at the beach. Over the long run, writing leaves you open to wonderful experiences and insights that you might not have known otherwise.

Ego-Editing – When I first started writing, I used to have a high opinion of almost everything I wrote right after writing it. But then, when I’d have some reason to refer back to it some weeks or months later, my reaction was often, “Ugh…”

Over the years I was able to spot my self-indulgent writing more and more readily – it would take maybe two days for me to notice that something was bad. Eventually, I pretty much stopped writing junk at all.

I'll bet there’s a high correlation between low-quality writing and coming at it from an egotistical place – trying to be new, different, clever, showcase one’s sensitivity, profundity, logical abilities – whatever… To become increasingly adept at self editing and to eventually truly lose your taste and enthusiasm for the written products of your own ego – that’s personal growth!

What has your experience of writing been, especially in relation to your inner life and personal development?