Day 1 - And so it begins...

Once upon a time I was a writer. Or, at least I aspired to be a writer. Okay, I still aspire to be a writer. There’s just one problem: writers write. I used to write all the time. Constantly. I’d fill notebooks upon notebooks with poetry and prayers, ideas and inspirations, hopes, fears, dreams, tears…and everything in between. It didn’t matter what I was writing, it only mattered that I was writing. Therein lies the challenge of being a writer…most people think beautiful ideas expressed in beautiful words just flow freely from a writer’s mind. While there are times at which that is true, more often than not it is discipline that fills pages. In college I had an enlightened professor who assigned The Artist’s Way as one of our required texts. The Artist’s Way is a brilliant book aimed at helping the created (all of us) create. One aspect of the book was an exercise called Morning Pages. Every morning, before getting bogged down with anything else that your day might hold, you opened a notebook and filled three hand-written pages from top to bottom. It didn’t matter what you wrote, it mattered only that you were writing. If you couldn’t think of anything to write, you filled three pages with “I don’t know what to write today. I don’t know what to write today. I don’t know what to write today…” As silly as it sounds, it worked. Never did I fill three pages with “I don’t know what to write today.” Something always came. It wasn’t always profound, but there was always something. A problem worked through, a prayer expressed, and sometimes, if I was really lucky, there was something really special. A little gem that could be expounded upon to create my next poem or story or paper. The whole point was being disciplined; writing every day, even when (or especially when) you didn’t feel like writing. Though I aspire to be a writer, I say things like, “Someday I’ll be a writer” or “when my kids are older I’ll write.” In reality, these are excuses behind which I hide my lack of discipline. Which brings us to where we are…a blog. A blog with no readers – just a blog with a writer. A writer who writes! Inspired in part by my sweet sister who innocently asked, “Do you ever write?” Inspired in part by my dear friend who shared her own desire to use her gifts. And as much as I hate to admit it, inspired in part by the movie Julie and Julia, wherein a writer writes…with no ulterior motive, no desire for publication, not even seeking for readership; simply a writer who finds her outlet and embraces her discipline. So here I am, a writer creating an outlet…and a challenge. I hereby challenge myself to write. Every day. No matter what. Whether it be a sentence or an epic…just write! I thought I might set a minimum, like the three pages in The Artist’s Way, and maybe at some point I will. For now I want to set a small, realistic, achievable goal. For the next month, I am going to write every day. I have no idea what this blog will be about, or whether it'll be about anything at all. The purpose is simply to practice the discipline of writing. I’m looking forward to the journey!