PRECISION AND SOUL

For me, writing in an intricate dance between the scripted and spontaneous, somewhere between a proper waltz and instinctive groove. The idea is to have the message all mapped out [1,2,3, 1,2,3] but more often it takes on a rhythm of its own.

Writing, like dance, is a matter of precision and soul. It’s the mind calculating every step while the heart simply lets go.

The seasoned instructor will caution to never look down at your feet. “Close your eyes and feel the music.” Isn’t feeling the only way we ever really learn?

Sometimes the only sensible move is to allow emotion to take the lead…like when you say something and really mean it, or when you listen to someone’s story and feel every word.

To share what’s in my heart is the mandate every single time I sit down to write—Still, I am mindful that sharing emotion and being emotional are two entirely different things. One creates a level of intimacy and the other breaks down trust.

Even though i write alone, I imagine you near. And with every sentence there's an acute awareness that what I want to say is not nearly as important as what you may need to hear.

What do you need to hear?  

I pray with an embarrassing measure of frequency, “Dear God, just don’t let me get in the way.” It’s sometimes just too easy to become captivated by our own impression of what’s important, or interesting, or real—

I often use this silly phrase, “The thing is not the thing.” It reminds me that my agenda may have nothing whatsoever to do with the real mission underway.

Preparation is necessary but intuition is everything.  If I listen to what I see, and then see with my heart, there is always an opportunity to embed hope into the story that seems overwhelming, unchangeable, hopeless.

That gut feeling we often dismiss was embedded as a lifeline to cut through all the chatter in the brain that too often holds us back…from reaching out, from embracing, from taking a chance.

When I sat down to write this morning, I was stirred by the revelation that writing, like dance with its slants and curves, is a free-flowing expression of the human spirit that transforms movement into art. Every exquisite moment starts first by allowing the mind to listen to what the body and spirit have to say—

 ~ Sometimes, we over-value what we know.

~ Often, we over-think.

~ Sometimes the most extraordinary outcome bears little resemblance to what we planned.

~ Often, the greatest gift we can give to ourselves and others is to alter our course.

~ Sometimes life's most exquisite moments are discovered not in holding too tightly, but in gracefully letting go.

*In the waltz it is necessary to listen to the music not with the ear but with the soul.
Partners stand only a shoulder’s distance apart.
To hold another and follow their lead is a sacred act of trust.