One word at a time...
“Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know.”
– Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast
I read this quote and feel the tension slowly ease off my shoulders. It's been too long since I've been able to find time to write.
How often in a day does a word become a sentence? Before I know it, I am floating off from the work I should be focusing on, distracted by the thoughts forming in my mind.
Good thoughts… thoughts that have the potential to create reflections I would be eager to share.
Writing may be difficult when a week (or two) comes along and life overwhelms me with details beyond my control. This doesn't last too long before I feel stressed.
For me, writing is like dreaming. Dreaming is essential for processing life’s events and the emotions these events can stir. Dreams help work out unfinished business in a person’s life; unreleased emotions which could quickly become a problem without them.
Writing, in many ways, provides that same kind of processing.
When life gets too busy with details beyond my control, I return to Hemingway and his quote. I start with one sentence on paper or in a new document on my computer.
One sentence… and let it go. That sentence will be waiting for my return. It will gently invite me to sit (when I am ready) and let my thoughts follow.