Hello friends,
Welcome to this writing meditation.
Please have a pen and paper with you as we move into a writing practice.
We are going to work with a series of writing prompts and questions that act as a niggle,
A nudge,
Even a nuisance to your consciousness.
All you have to do is write out the writing prompt and see what happens next.
Allow yourself to write easily and freely.
Try not to overthink or stop to read what you've written.
Don't worry about punctuation or grammar or spelling.
Just let the words spill out from you.
Remove all judgment as you write.
Keep your hand moving on the page and when you get stuck,
Just rewrite the writing prompt or mentally repeat the question to yourself again and go off on another tangent,
Even one that is oppositional to the writing you've already done.
See if you can write in different directions.
Answer the questions from many angles.
Enter through a range of doorways.
I will give you a series of writing prompts or questions and you'll have a few minutes to write into each one.
The writing practice will begin and end with a gong.
Writing prompts activate our deep inner awareness.
They are contemplative guides.
Some of the prompts are questions.
Remember that not all questions are asking for answers.
Some questions are placeholders for the soul.
You're not looking to solve a problem or resolve anything.
You're just seeking a thread,
A crack through which to enter an ongoing conversation with yourself.
Today's writing meditations are a contemplation of impermanence.
They're based on the Buddhist meditation,
I am of the nature to get sick.
I'm of the nature to get old.
I'm of the nature to die.
Far from being morbid,
These reflections bring us into deep appreciation of each precious moment.
Our practice today consists of just three questions.
You will have two minutes to write into each one.
Are you ready?
Let's begin.
If you had a year to live,
How would you spend that time?
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Your second prompt is,
If you had a week to live,
How would you spend that week?
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How did you find that writing meditation,
Friends?
Were you able to connect with the preciousness of this flickering moment we call our lives?
This writing practice helps me to live beyond Mary Oliver's piercing question,
Are you breathing just a little and calling it a life?
I hope you found some joy and urgency to lift you into the next moment of your precious existence.
Feel free to let me know how you went with this exercise in the comments.
Your writing is always there for you,
A door where you just need to open when you begin to move your hand across the page.
Begin.
Begin.
