Writing as a Calling

“Do you feel called to write?”

“Writing is not a profession it’s a calling. It’s almost holy.” -Jamaica Kincaid

I think highly of writing. If you’re dedicated enough,

  1. writing can make you question all you thought you knew.
  2. It can be a doorway to adventures of your choice.
  3. You can use writing to challenge yourself and liberate yourself from the person you were when you started.
  4. It can wake you up to new possibilities.

And that’s all great but

We can wake up to all the possibilities in the world, but when it’s time to write, none of that other stuff matters.

The space you create for yourself as a writer is the same place where all else falls away. Doodle all the dreams you want outside of precious writing time. Make amazing plans but do it at a different time. There’s only one thing asked of you as a writer during writing time and that’s to write. Not marketing. Not editing a cover. Writing. That other stuff needs separate time slots.

If we spend all our writing time doing things other than writing, we’ll lose trust in our ability to show up and write. On the flip side, if we show up consistently for ourselves books will be written and edited, novels, poetry, short stories doused in prose and symbols will pile up. And when we have piles of work because we showed up, we can gain a better understanding of the craft and we see all that we can accomplish.

This in my opinion is what makes writing holy and separate from all else. It calls you to show up for yourself. And when you show up for yourself as a writer, the world will be blessed by your work. You have no idea who is being inspired by you living out your calling.

There’s one very important thing that you need when your writing session begins and ends. The truth is, and you must feel this deep in your bones, that writing serves you so that you can serve the world. If you can’t write, you can’t serve. Period. Honoring your craft is one of the greatest gifts you can give to yourself and those around you.

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” -Marie Curie

-Saschia ✨Jayne✨ Johnson

Finding the Stories

“Give moments in your life value”

“I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value.” -Hermann Hesse

We can take what life gives us and make art out of it. And like Herman Hesse says in this quote we can give it value in a new way. I think all life experiences are valuable. We grow and learn so much just walking out of house and chatting to people on the way. Or cruising through new towns. Or just hanging out with friends. It doesn’t have to be some big event. It can be learning that bees nap and getting to see one snoozing the day away on a flower. Imagine the stories that could come from a fuzzy snoozing bumble bee.

What writing are you working on?

Thank for reading. 😁

A Bit of Dabbling Perhaps?

“Struggling to write in a specific form? Try a new one.”

”Without words, without writing and without books there would be no history, there could be no concept of humanity.” -Hermann Hesse

Writing makes the world go round. It’s true. The trick is figuring out what kind of writing you can commit to for a lifetime. I don’t think the type really has to stay the same and dabbling to see what you like and to spice up your writing life is inspiring. But it’s good to narrow it down for a time. I like the novel. have an appreciation for the short story and a little prose but not as much as I like writing novels. Well, at least for now.

When I started calling myself a writer, (I think that was ten years ago), I didn’t realize the vast number of ways that writing held our world together. It tried a little bit of everything but one thing for sure was that I did not enjoy journalism. With that being said, I’m not opposed to trying any kind of writing over again.

As writers, the best way to find your place is to explore it all. If you’re forcing yourself into a form of writing, try a new one. Find a way to make it work for you. It won’t make it easier, but it might make the process more enjoyable.

What form of writing do you prefer? Do you have a desire to switch it up at all?

-Saschia ✨Jayne✨ Johnson

Thank for reading. 😁

The Day is Over, Time to Let Go

“Starting each day new”

Some days we wake up exhausted and maybe a little dehydrated but at the end of the day we get to let it all go. We got to let tomorrow be a new day filled with new beautiful things to appreciate.

When I was reading 6 different books at the library the other day, I was in my happiest place. I had nonfiction, new fiction, and classic fiction only inches away from me all at one time. There’s not much else that can light my fire the same way a library can.

However today I woke up exhausted. I didn’t want to do much of anything. That doesn’t take away from how amazing I felt the other morning at the library. And the library trip didn’t take away from me waking up exhausted today.

What if we allowed ourselves to let go of our bad days so we could wake up stepping into something new and filled with possibilities?

Thank for reading. 😁

Full Moon Confessions

“A poem”

Swollen with all the words

I’ve clinched between my teeth.

Whispers dripped out

as I pounded the part of my brain

that made me see the world different.

My belly stuffed to the brim with dreams

that fill the all spaces of those who left me

to rot away except

I came back to life the same way

the moon always returns from complete

darkness.

-Saschia ✨Jayne✨ Johnson

Writing Environment

“Our Writing Spaces Matter”

“It’s nice to be able to put yourself in an environment where you can completely accept all the unconscious stuff that comes to you from your inner workings of your mind.” -Bob Dylan

This is something I have been thinking about for a long time. For me there’s a difference between the time I actually write and the time I’m absorbing all these different ideas to make it into something new. The second one doesn’t ask me to put it into words. It’s just thoughts mulling around in my head growing into new perceptions and ideas.

There’s a million other things to do but the most important thing we do in this life is to find ways to play. We gain more from playing than people are willing to admit. We aren’t supposed to outgrow the things that get our minds moving. Play is like oil. It makes the gears run smoothly.

My first novel started out as play and often I go too serious. I had to back up and remember why I started writing it in the first place. Don’t forget how much fun you had writing in a way that lit up your world. Now that I’m writing this, I realize how easy it is to forget how much fun I used to have.

If this is anything, it’s a reminder that this is supposed to be fun! Lighten up. Find your inner child and coax him out with some play! That’s where your creativity lives.

-Saschia ✨Jayne✨ Johnson

Thank for reading. 😁