Greetings and welcome to Writing Muse and Writing Mentor.
I'm Jeanette de Beauvoir.
And today I'm bringing you a meditation to inspire creativity.
So I'm going to ask you just to sit back and close your eyes and relax.
Take a deep breath and out.
And another in and out.
And a third breath in and out.
Now imagine yourself in the woods.
You're taking a walk.
It's springtime.
The sun is slanting down through the trees,
Illuminating leaves and moss and stones on the ground,
Making them all seem beautiful,
Magical.
There's birdsong in the air.
Beyond the trees off to your right,
You can catch glimpses of a pond,
Blue reflecting the blue of the sky.
It is a perfect day for a walk in these woods.
The air against your skin feels soft and gentle.
You can smell pine and something else,
Something fresh,
A sense of promise,
Of options opening up before you.
Keep following the path you're on,
Taking care to observe,
To feel,
To interact with your environment as you go.
You could stop wherever you like.
To feel the rough bark of a tree,
To observe buds on the cusp of bursting into bloom,
To watch the chipmunk running across the path and into the underbrush.
Take your time.
This afternoon is yours.
The path turns and winds away from the pond.
You follow it up a hill,
Aware of your breathing,
Aware of your heartbeat,
Aware of the changes in your body as you make different demands of it.
And then finally,
You find yourself suddenly in a glade,
An open space in the middle of the forest,
The grass thick and spongy under your feet,
Flowers everywhere.
It feels safe in this small space,
Surrounded by trees,
Protected by trees.
Now you're aware of the sound of bees busy in the flowers and you lift your face to the warmth of the sun,
Hot against your eyelids.
In the center of the glade is a flat stone and sitting on top of it is a box.
The box seems out of place here but you know instinctively that it's a good thing,
That it's a gift,
A gift for you.
Walk over to the box.
There's no wrapping paper on it but the box itself is painted with a beautiful design.
Take a moment now to appreciate the design.
Does it remind you of anything you've seen before?
Is it colorful or is it muted?
What are your feelings as you look at this box?
Now reach over to the box.
The lid lifts off very easily and you can feel your own anticipation as you lean over to look inside.
What is it that you see?
Remember this is a special gift for you,
Something to inspire you,
Something to make you smile or sing or dance,
Something you can use or something beautiful and not useful.
What is your gift inside this box?
If you'd like you can take it out,
Touch it,
Examine it.
What gift do you need the most right now?
Because that is what is in your box,
In your hands.
What does this gift give you?
Now slowly replace the gift in the box.
Once there it will become precisely what the next person who comes along needs.
And in the meantime you will carry it away with you in your heart to warm and inspire and delight you in the days and weeks ahead.
Replace the cover on the box and breathe a word of thanks.
And now you are free to continue your walk in the woods.
Take as much time as you'd like.
Stop when you need to.
Sing if you want to.
Reflect on how you are going to use the gift you found in the box.
And when you're ready come back to your breathing.
Come back to focusing on the breath,
Going in and out of your lungs.
Perhaps you can still taste the forest as you do.
Breathe in and out.
Again drawing your breath from deep in your diaphragm in and out.
When you are ready you can open your eyes.
You might want to write something about this experience,
About what you imagine your gift to be.
May it inspire you for many months to come.
