Hello,
Writer.
Today we're going to be doing a loving kindness practice for all writers everywhere.
We do this in solidarity with other people of words.
We do this so that we can increase our empathy and our compassion.
And we do this so that we can support the work of words to bring medicine and healing to our readers.
Wherever you are,
Please take a comfortable seat.
You are also welcome to stand or lay down.
If it feels good to you,
You can keep your eyes open or you may close them.
There will be some visualization in this practice,
So closing your eyes will be helpful during those portions.
Wherever you find yourself,
Just take a moment to arrive.
Show some gratitude for yourself,
For showing up,
For the writing community today.
You might want to put a hand on your heart,
Take a nice stretch.
Or you may even enjoy a nice big inhale and exhale,
Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.
In the course of this meditation,
We'll spend a few moments in silence finding our center.
And then we'll move on to direct loving kindness toward ourselves,
Writers we know,
Writers we don't know,
And writers everywhere.
When you hear the bell,
Allow yourself to settle like sand at the bottom of a river.
As you invite ease into your practice,
You might choose to have sound be the object of your meditation in this beginning part of our work,
Tuning into the sounds around you,
Noticing their texture.
Everything is welcome.
Or you might notice your breath breathing naturally in and out through the nose,
Finding a point of reference to anchor that breath in the heart center,
The nostrils or the belly.
Or you might enjoy focusing on a physical sensation,
Your hands on your thighs or your feet flat on the ground.
Whatever feels good to you today,
Go ahead and get settled in.
We'll be here for a few moments,
Few minutes just to recalibrate.
Thoughts and sensations will arise.
You can note their presence,
Perhaps labeling them as thinking,
And then allow them to float away on the surface of the river.
Going back to your object of meditation.
If your eyes are open and you feel comfortable,
You might want to allow them to gently close and we'll visualize ourselves.
When we do loving kindness practice,
We start with ourselves so that all of the work that we do on and off the page can come from a place of worthiness and self-regard.
The capacity to build that for ourselves is what allows us.
The courage to extend that to others,
Whether they are our readers or characters or anyone we may encounter.
See if you can imagine yourself in your favorite writing spot.
Use your wonderful writer's imagination to color in the details,
The light,
The notebook,
The laptop,
The chair.
Really see yourself as you are right now today with this body,
This face,
With this ebb and flow.
This imagination,
These words,
The instrument of our mind.
We'll be working with a collection of phrases that will remain the same for everyone,
Including ourselves.
Using that image of yourself to mind,
Take a deep breath in and let it out.
Settle into your writer's body,
Allowing your breathing to be natural in and out through the nose.
Posture is whatever is comfortable.
Now you're going to direct these phrases to yourself,
Speaking quietly in your mind.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I be inspired.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I be inspired.
Do this a few more times on your own.
As you finish,
Allow that image of yourself to dissolve,
Turning the page.
And replacing that image with a writer who is beloved.
They might be living or have transitioned out of life.
They might be someone you know intimately or a favorite author you've never met.
They might be somebody who secretly writes or someone that is part of your writing community.
Any kind of writer that is beloved by you,
Bring them to mind.
Taking a nice deep breath in and letting that out.
Illustrating their image on that blank sheet of paper in your mind.
Picturing them writing.
Picturing them as you normally have seen them,
Or their book jacket,
Photograph.
Bringing that author to mind.
And we'll be working with the same phrases,
Except now we change it to you.
We're directing these phrases,
This loving kindness,
This generosity of heart toward them.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be inspired.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be inspired.
Keeping that image in mind,
Repeat those phrases a few more times.
Just like in other forms of meditation,
If thoughts arise,
If you lose track,
That's fine.
You just come back to the phrases and directing them toward the person of your choice.
Just take a deep breath in and out.
Turning the page and bringing to mind a writer who has taught you something.
This could be a teacher,
A critique partner,
A beloved author who has taught you to write better through their own words.
Someone's newsletter you read,
Someone who said something profound in an interview or a festival you attended.
Any author who has been a good teacher to you.
Bringing them to mind and will direct the phrases to them as well.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be inspired.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be inspired.
Do that a few more times on your own.
Taking a deep breath in and exhaling.
Now bring to mind a writer who is totally neutral to you.
Maybe you've never read one of their books.
Maybe it's someone you met once at a conference and never saw again or someone on social media.
You don't have any feelings about them.
You don't know them.
You're not familiar with their work.
So whoever that person is,
Bringing them to mind.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be inspired.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be inspired.
Do that a few more times on your own.
Breathing in and out.
Now we're going to stretch our heart a little wider.
Bring to mind a writer who's difficult for you.
It could be someone whose books you dislike.
It could be someone who gave you a harsh critique.
It could be a writer who rejected you somehow.
Who you find yourself jealous of.
It could be a writer whose ideas you disagree with or who puts things on social media that frustrate you.
First thought,
Best thought.
No need to traumatize yourself here.
Just someone who gets under your skin,
That pebble in your shoe.
Bring that person to mind.
Imagining their avatar or their book cover,
Whatever brings them to mind for you.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be inspired.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be inspired.
Do that a few more times on your own.
Taking a deep breath in and exhale.
If you have any lingering tension from that last one,
You can breathe a little bit into that space.
Recognizing that the best villains in a story are the ones who can get into our hearts.
Recognizing that the more we stretch the muscle of the heart,
The deeper we'll be able to go with our work.
The more we offer to our readers.
So take a moment now and use your vibrant,
Unique,
Powerful imagination.
We're going to give loving kindness to all writers everywhere.
That includes the ones you like and don't like,
The ones you love,
The ones you don't know,
The ones you know well,
The ones you've lost touch with,
The famous ones,
The ones whose work will never be seen,
The dead ones,
The alive ones,
The sick ones,
The scared ones,
All writers everywhere.
You might want to imagine pulling out as though you're on the ISS looking down above Earth,
Envisioning writers in all the different continents with their typewriters and keyboards and notebooks,
Scribbling on the backs of receipts on napkins,
Spray painting words on walls,
Drawing stories in the sand.
Writers who can only imagine their stories and never write them down,
Writers who speak their stories and sing their stories.
Writers who are well regarded,
Writers who are exiled,
Writers who are in prison,
Writers who are free,
Writers who are talented,
Writers who are terrible at craft.
All writers everywhere create some sort of image or physical sensation.
It might be helpful to put your hands palm up if you write with your hands,
Appreciating this instrument.
Maybe you write through dictation,
Noticing the feeling of your mouth,
Whatever this instrument of the body you use to tell your stories.
Just notice that for a moment.
Think of all the fingers typing,
Scribbling.
Think of all the lips opening and speaking stories into the world.
Think of all the bodies moving to form story through the language of our human form.
In the basements,
In the stages,
In the offices,
On park benches,
Sitting on top of a counter in a laundromat.
Driving taxis,
Working the night shift,
Rocking a baby.
Writers speaking into apps to remember a plot line,
Playwrights speaking words to actors,
Songwriters strumming guitars.
Writers in the air,
On airplanes,
Writers on trains,
In cars,
On foot.
Writers in nature,
Writers in cities,
Writers on boats.
Writers climbing mountains,
Writers in houses,
On lawns,
At resorts.
Writers at the Eiffel Tower,
Writers walking across bridges.
Writers scribbling on prison walls,
On their skin.
May we be happy.
May we be healthy.
May we be safe.
May we be inspired.
One more time together.
May we be happy.
May we be healthy.
May we be safe.
May we be inspired.
Holding that feeling,
Those images.
Seeing yourself as part of that great moving mass of words and stories and truth.
Noticing how you're a part of it,
Not separate.
When you're ready,
You can let that image dissolve,
Taking in a deep breath in and out.
Noticing sensations in your body.
Checking out your heart,
Your mood,
Your spirit,
Just sitting here for a moment in the silence where the stories live.
When you hear the bell,
You can gently allow your eyes to flutter open.
Before you stop this work today,
Think of one writer that you would like to somehow support.
What can you do?
What action can you take to support another writer today?
What action can you take to support your own writing today?
Support your writer's body,
Heart,
Mind,
Spirit.
Before you get up,
Think of those two actions and just like the best of magic,
Set an intention and bring it forth.
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