For the LOVE of Writing

I’m aware that not everyone who blogs writes. It sounds kind of contradictory since you’re obviously writing, but people have many different reasons for blogging so that’s probably none of my business.

When I browse the pages of various blogs,  I sometimes see many writers complaining about writing. In many ways I am quite confused about this, but maybe that’s just because I’m in love with writing, and that’s what I would like to offer you. While Blogging is a topic in and of itself (as some of you are probably still trying to balance writing by way of the blogging medium), writing is the gift you would obviously like to offer to those in which you are blogging for so that’s what we’re going to talk about. That, if you could learn to fall in love with writing, it wouldn’t be a tedious process. OK, perhaps I’m being a bit selfish; it may not be that easy for you. After all, I am in love with writing.

Sad writer

What does it mean to be in love with writing? First of all, like I said, get the idea of blogging out of your head, we’re not talking about that right now. Being in love with writing doesn’t have much to do with how frequent or less frequent you blog. However, if you do love to write, it can help you to blog. I just wrote a post on “The Brilliantly Untalented”, in which we discussed how sometimes the most introverted “untalented” people (from the POV of self); make for the best artists especially as it relates to writing. These people are not so overwhelmed with fear that they cannot write, it’s just that these people love to write. They wake up writing, they go to bed writing, and all they can think about is writing and the message they want to put out into the world. Will the world want to hear it? Who cares! The point is that when you love something (or someone), you don’t have to make yourself be a part of it. So stop it! Blog Writers, stop trying to make yourself write and just write. Let it be as smooth as brushing your teeth in the morning; let it embrace your thoughts, and in the words of Mark Strand let your words bathe in the blank wake of your passion, and be kissed by white paper. I don’t have to force myself to lay next to my husband because I love him. You don’t have to remind yourself to make the children breakfast because you love them, it is instinctive. The same is actually true for writing. There are mistakes that are made in the process of course, but when you love to do something, whether you get paid or not, it is not a long drawn out and daunting process. The key is that you want to do it. You shouldn’t have to make yourself write. It’s not a punishment; it’s just what you do. In the end, after falling in complete love with what you do, the process will be deliciously enticing. You will find yourself looking for any excuse there is possible just to write. And as with any gift that you exercise and use on a regular basis, you’ll notice that you’ve become quite good at it too, after all, there is someone out there just dying to read your content. Yes, YOURS. You untalented ball of clogged up words, there’s even a reader out there for you.

The Power of Purpose

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“The obstacles you encounter rarely have a coherent purpose of their own. They are just there, inconvenient and troublesome to be sure, but with nothing of substance to sustain them.
You, on the other hand, have the extreme advantage of being able to choose and follow a definite purpose. By so doing, instead of randomly scattering your energy and efforts, you can sharply focus and powerfully concentrate all that energy, all those efforts in a consistent direction.
Soft, gentle raindrops falling over a wide area will always yield to the contours and obstructions of the landscape. Yet when those tiny drops of water are concentrated into a mighty river, they have the power to cut through any obstruction.
In the same way, when your thoughts, feelings and actions are centered around a clear and consistent purpose, nothing can hold you back. The random and disjointed exertions of circumstance are no match for a living and unwavering purpose.
The problems, the frustrations, the challenges and the difficult situations come and go. A steadfast, meaningful purpose will carry you successfully through them all.
Give your life a decided advantage over all the burdensome circumstances you encounter. Live each moment in the service of the highest and most positive purpose you can imagine.”

— Ralph Marston

You Can’t Leave…

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You can’t leave me
not now
not ever
not while my kiss is in your bloodstream
and not when your tongue has danced on the insides of my mouth
not when your teeth have carved “I luv u’s”
on my heart like hieroglyphic images
to remember when were far apart from each other
like
long standing memories
And if I 4get to say I love you just use the seal of my kiss and put them in parenthesis
but not for a Greek tragedy
so you see
there aint no leaving me
Not unless you wanna leave you
and then our bystanders can tell stories of those days back when life made sense
back when you were already a man of pride
and serious eyes were already making love to the tears of my innocence
Not unless you want them to weep at our footprints
But if your heart continues to cry my tears
And my heart continues to cry your tears
Then it will be impossible for you to leave me
Because our hearts will be tongue tied for years.

Why Poets Are Poor

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I am NOT your Sonia Sanchez, your Langston Hughes, your James Baldwin or Maya Angelou. In fact, my name may never find itself uttered among the world greats. And I’m fine with that. No, I LOVE that.

Not ALL poets are poor, but I think the best ones are. They are the people who still keep notebooks, who carry life, love, frustration, and pain; an endless conglomerate of emotions, a pencil and pad in their purses and suitcases. These people write during lunch, on blog posts, and between rocks and hard places. They are not baptized by the lens of cameras and they publish books because they want to read them.

Yes indeed, poor poets are the best. Though money can be made, I wouldn’t recommend someone dedicate poetry to a career that forces one to write or be restricted to certain topics. I think a good poem takes patience. That one must wait and listen. As a career, this may require one to write on demand. This, I believe, robs the poet of all sincerity, and degrades the passion of his piece. Rainer Maria Rilke said it  best:

“To be an artist means not to compute or count; it means to ripen as the tree, which does not force its sap, but stands unshaken in the storms of spring with no fear that summer might not follow. It will come regardless. But it comes only to those who live as though eternity stretches before them, carefree, silent, and endless. I learn it daily, learn it with many pains for which I am grateful: Patience is all.” – Rainer Maria Rilke