365 Inspirations—12: My Writing Group

 The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers and cities; but to know someone who thinks and feels with us, and who, though distant is close to us in spirit, this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden. —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I've been meeting with my writing group for almost four years I think!  When I made a commitment to publish my book, I felt I needed the support of other writers. I wasn't sure who would be in this group. I mentioned out loud at school one day that I wanted to form a writing group and two of my co-workers at the community college where I teach ESL piped up that they wanted to be a part of it.

We started out meeting weekly, but now we meet once a month. Our enthusiasm for meeting each other and sharing our writing and our dreams has not dwindled over the years. If anything, it's grown stronger. We even had a writing weekend getaway at my family's lake house in November last year. We had so much fun and I hope we have a chance to do that again one day! Above is a picture of us collaging together which also helped give direction to our writing and goals.

We are currently writing a novel collaboratively. Whenever we get together, ideas for this book seem to spring forth effortlessly. I have no idea if this book will ever come to be, but boy are we having fun writing it.

I think inspiration is contagious and if you have a group of like-minded people to share your ideas, interests and dreams with, it really does help to speed things along. And when you do succeed in your endeavors, your community or group will be the ones who are right there next to you. This has been my experience and I feel so fortunate to have these people in my life.

Last night we met for yet another session. We hadn't seen each other since mid-December. Everyone came to my house and I made a Crockpot of chili, one friend brought corn bread and a big tossed salad and the other friend brought some dip and crackers and some dessert.

Not much writing happened in the meeting because we needed to catch up with each other and find out what was going on with everyone. We enjoyed the food and chatting and planned our next meeting time and place. I have a feeling we'll be writing and sharing quite a bit in the next meeting.

Do you have a community or group that you meet with regularly that shares a common interest? What is it and what do you usually do together? 

365 Lessons-Lesson 26: Let Go of Fear

I must be in sync with some of my other blogger friends because they have also touched on this subject. It's a big one, so it's worth addressing again and again. Right now my Facebook status update reads, "What are you afraid of?" I'm sure some of my friends had an idea that one of my intentions of asking that question was to gather thoughts for a lesson here. The answers people wrote were: spiders, being a bad person, getting old, losing my loved ones, failure, success and severe pain (success and severe pain were mine and I questioned if those are separate things or if they go together). The list of what we all fear could very possibly be a endless blog post. Everyone fears something.

I have another blog called Writer's Rising. It's a collaborative blog for writers. Recently there have been several new authors added (If you are interested in writing for Writers Rising, leave a comment or send me an e-mail). One new writer named Sai from New Delhi, India (his blog is Waves Upon The Shore) really struck a cord with me about fear. Just as I was about to post this, he also posted on this topic in his introduction. He talked about how he used to be afraid to write because he worried about what others might think of his writing. He would edit his writing so much that nothing was left of himself. He let go of this. The result is beautiful. In his intro on Writers Rising, he talks about a chant he says to himself. It is "Aham Brahamsmi" or "I am the universe." I LOVE this. Basically this means that all the strength of the universe is ours.

It's no easy task to learn to let go of fear. Fear blocks us. It creates a shield and I believe it blocks our ability to realize that we are, in fact, the universe. That there is something beyond what our tiny minds can perceive. There is a greater force at work...call it God, higher consciousness, grace, or whatever you wish.

For me, when I realize that I am just a small dot in a much bigger picture of things, I lose a lot of that fear. In deep meditation, many of the parmeters of "myself" start to disappear. I start to expand. I no longer know where I begin or where I end or if there is even this "I" I speak of. There seems to be just space which encompasses all things within it.

I still have fear. I am not immune to it. I am human. It comes and goes. I still worry what people might think of me or my writing. It is still scary to open myself up. It's risky. Yes, it's a very big risk. But, I'm willing to go there. Why? I have learned so much by diving into this fear of mine. I have met other people, like Sai, who also share this fear. I feel that by opening up, I start to actually let go. I realize that there is not much difference between you and me and what we fear. It may be different things, but it's all the same. It's fear.

Other things I fear or have feared in the past are not having enough money, severe pain, my health, death of a loved one, having a car accident, technology etc. etc. This is all I can think of right now.

Eleanor Roosevelt said, "You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along. You must do the thing you think you cannot do."

Fear is debilitating. It is restricting. Fear tells us, "Don't do anything because it might be wrong or something might happen." If your intentions are good, how could something be wrong and what could really happen to you anyway? These are all just "coulds". We are saying, "This could happen or that could happen." These are all just thoughts. Nothing has happened yet, has it? If you are fearing a situation that happened in the past, who knows, it might be different this time around.

I have found that the only way to embrace my own fears is to believe that everything will be just fine. That I will be o.k. and so will others. That, as Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." The rest are just projections in my own mind of what might happen.

Ultimately, it is the fear of our own death that we are afraid of, isn't it? Of the extinction of ourselves and others. That everything about the lives we are living will terminate at some point in time. What happens after depends on what you believe. Knowing that we have such a limited time for this life, I intend to face as many of my fears as possible and expand and share with as many people as possible. Time is so precious and the time we have in this life is limited. Who has time for fear?

NOVEMBER WAS GOOD TO ME

November was good to me. I started a new collaborative blog called Writers Rising which now has seven authors and 4 open invitations. I also received two blog awards. I am honored and I will pass these awards along as I know there are hundreds of other blogs out there who are worthy of these. The Best Blog award was given to me by Alone in Holyland. I'd like to give this award back to her, but she already received it. Be sure to check her blog out, she's great!
This is what she had to say about my blog, Lessons from the Monk I Married.

We're almost on countdown to Christmas so I think it is time to share with friends presents and awards...

Award goes to:

1. Katherine Jenkins from - http://lessonsfromthemonkimarried.blogspot.com/

Her blog is an inspiration for me and her posts, well, sometimes they make me cry, sometimes they make me laugh and sometimes they make me feel better. Thank you Katherine, this is the least I can do in return for the light you shed on my humble path.

I also want to thank Artisan of the Human Spirit for awarding me another blog award in November:

http://scholastic-scribe.blogspot.com/

I'd like to brighten the holiday season by giving two awards to some of my favorite blogs. For the Superior Scribbler Award, please check the website as there is a list you can add your blog to there.

Since some of my favorite blogs have already received these awards, I'm stretching out here. Here are my top five picks:

1. Chronicles of Sharnia-I love Sharni. She is an Australian gal who lives in a one-horse town with her child and cowboy husband. She used to be a cosmopolitan woman and can't entirely give that side up, hence her wonderful blog which keeps her connected. She is funny, witty, honest, and real. Check her out.

2. Ruby Ramblings-This woman is always dishing out comments on noteable books, blogs, articles, etc. , but she is a wonderful blogger herself. Much of her blog talks about her time in Asia and she is a great observer of all that is around her. If you are looking for a great book or good place to visit, she has all of this on her blog.

3. Lifeworks- More of a website, but I like this woman's view on life. You can read about how she gave everything up to live a simple life in Mexico. Very interesting stories, ideas, and thoughts on how to live a simple and fulfilling life on the planet and have the courage to do it.

4. 24 and so much more- A fellow writer of mine on Woman's World Magazine. She really is exactly what her blog title says. She is a seeker and is searching for answers to life. I like that. She also has helpful information on a variety of subjects on her blog.

5. Bliss Chick-I just started following this blog and I love her attitude and her posts. They are positive and uplifting and I appreciate that.

Thanks for writing such amazing blogs. I hope to read more. Any suggestions of more great blogs to follow???? I'm always looking! By the way, I follow so many great blogs, it was really hard to choose 5. I have many more I LOVE.

Please be sure to post both awards to your site! Peace to you all and happy holidays,
Katherine Jenkins