|
Writer's Voice: Five Places to
Find Meaning
by Melissa A Rosati
Have you seen my voice?
Odd question, I know. Voice is
associated with sound not sight.
Still, I’ve been looking for it
everywhere: writer’s retreats, a
bedroom converted into a chic
writing studio, the
refrigerator, which is filled
with brainpower snacks,
specifically chocolate-mocha
Haagen-Dazs (They say it cures
writer’s block. I’ve dedicated
years to working out the correct
dosage). Yet while my words
arranged on paper proved that I
can hold my own with a comma and
I’m no slouch when wielding a
semicolon, the words themselves
felt to me like hollow echo
chambers; they ran in place
bouncing off the keyboard onto
the page but went nowhere.
Then one day last autumn, I was
strolling through a street fair.
I noticed two women standing
behind a table display of seed
packets wrapped attractively as
gifts. Muse impulse or poor
shopping-impulse control, it no
longer matters which, prompted
me to buy five of them.
So as not to feel guilty for
spending $10 on seed packets
that probably had a unit cost of
eighty cents each, I went home
and found the addresses of five
people I’d fallen out of touch
with for several years. For each
note card, I thought that I’d be
clever and enclose an inquiry:
“Where will love blossom next in
your life?”
Several weeks passed with no
acknowledgement.
Naturally, I pulled out my
journal to bask in rejection.
I’d show them. I’d answer this
query myself and rejoice in my
own smug self-satisfaction that
I was a lone word warrior.
Where will love blossom next in
my life? Hmm. That was a
puzzler. I couldn’t work out the
problem-solving angle or think
my way around it. The emptiness
of the blank page mirrored the
emptiness within me. It was
uncomfortable like scratchy
underwear. I couldn’t turn back
though. I put that query out
there and if I ignored it myself
I couldn’t justify my ego
bruise.
‘Where’ meant going not to a
retreat, my studio or the
refrigerator, but to a place of
vulnerability. Where did I feel
that emptiness in my body? The
question triggered my heart to
race so fast it felt like a
ping-pong ball trapped in my
chest. I took several deep
breaths and allowed it to lead
the way.
I share with you five places to
explore for meaning in your
writing practice.
1. Make a list of five people
whom you miss having in your
life.
Pick up the phone and call each
one. Start the conversation
anew. Don’t allow anxiety about
what to say stop you. Trust that
the words will come.
2. Brainstorm 100 words about a
person whom you love. Next,
imagine that you’re creating a
painter’s palette by grouping
similar words together like hues
of color. Then, with your pen as
the brush and the paper as your
canvas, create a message that
speaks to who this person is in
your life. Send this note.
3. Celebrate laughter. When
people laugh in conversation
with you, ask why what you said
was humorous. Celebrate who
you’re both being in that
moment.
4. Listen with unconditional
love. Where do you see pain
among your family members or
friends? Ask what is hard for
them to be with. Listen without
judgment, a proposed solution or
comment. Simply be there and
share the space.
5. Practice voice play. For one
week, note all the different
voices that surround you: birds,
the wind, children, people and
animals. What are they saying?
What’s your heart saying back?
Without realizing it, my inquiry
planted a self-discovery bulb
last fall. Through the cold
winter months, I felt the
‘wheres’ unfold gradually and I
found that my voice within my
heart. Now with the spring buds,
I am grateful for the journey
and I trust my heart along this
continuous path.
I hope one or more of the above
brings you to a new place in
your writing practice—the place
where your voice lives. Where
love will blossom next in your
life?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Melissa Rosati is a co-active
coach whose clients are writers,
authors and creative artists.
Prior to her coaching career,
she was Director, Editorial &
Production for McGraw-Hill
International (UK). To subscribe
to her newsletter, THE ESSENTIAL
SOUL WRITER, please visit her
website:
http://www.melissarosati.com
melissa@melissarosati.com
© 2005 Melissa A. Rosati. All
rights reserved.
More articles
|
