The needy whine of the unfinished drags you down; your creativity chained and reined in by words not yet written. You know that you’ll get to your writing “soon"...
Except that “soon" never seems to arrive. Instead it is swallowed up in the vault of other people’s priorities, the daily drudgery of life and random sneaky distractions that keep you busy, but far away from your brilliance. Tomorrow never comes!
Carving out space for writing is tricky as we devalue its value in a thousand tiny ways. We treat writing as a luxury, or a hobby that doesn’t pay, rather than the immense gift it is.
What is writing? It’s a marvellous creative expression of who we truly are. It’s a container for the conversations we can’t have out loud. It’s a soothing balm, an unexpected exploration, a quiet, intriguing entrance into being all of you without apology.
Crafting a DIY writing retreat that is about more than word count or ‘getting it done' is a brave, bold choice to excavate what is true for you. You’re saying yes to the universe within you, at the expense of the thousand tiny threads the outside world uses to draw your attention away from the truth of your knowing.
When I don’t write I feel the loss of expressing who I am. My life is less colourful, less creative, less connected to the raw, wild energies that lead me into the unknown. When I write, I become satiated with the sweetness of living, immersed in my authentic awareness and absorbed in the curious, unexpected adventures that I am drawn to explore.
Creating your DIY Writing Retreat is both simple and complex. You can start by deciding on your writing target. Here are a few of my favourite *reasons* to tuck myself away and write. (Not that we ever truly need a reason... but sometimes it's a great inspirer of possibilities!)
Why might you create a DIY writing retreat? Here's a few of the adventures I've explored during my personal writing retreats...
- Space for nurturing your inner world.
- Tapping the energising resonance of deep self-expression.
- Finishing a writing project.
- Immersing yourself in words for pleasure and play.
- Honing your craft.
- Creating a new future or change the world.
- Indulging in the unique self-care and deep nurturing that literary bliss creates.
- Escaping into a different world.
- Resolving your writers block.
- Organising your writing projects.
- Engaging with other writers or your readers.
- Editing a manuscript.
- Reading! Or listening to podcasts about writing & creating.
- Excavating the gems from old notebooks.
- Creating a photographic essay that you can put words to.
- Feeling better? More energised, creative, pleasure-filled and inspired…
- Day-dreaming about your finished projects.
- Connecting with your creative muse.
- Bringing writing into your everyday life.
- Prioritising writing above the daily tedium of living.
- Experiment with new ways to write or new mediums.
- Explore old stories in new ways.
- Something else...
Once you have a target, make some space to start, even if its just ten minutes when you wake up. It all makes a difference!
Love you, love your writing!
xo
Lisa
P.S. If you don't want to go it alone (or you just know you won't ever start), join me for an online writing retreat. Writing together creates magic!
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