MissMeliss: Escribition

Written for and presented at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Oak Cliff, Dallas, TX, 19 July 2009.

True confession: I’m a failure at sitting meditation. Whenever I’ve tried it, I’ve either fallen asleep, or ended up with a mind so full of ideas that I had to stop right then and find a notebook and pen, or a computer, so that I wouldn’t lose them. I admire people who can sit and count their breath, but some of us – like me – just aren’t wired that way. Our minds are never still, never silent. How, then, can we find some of the peace and awareness that meditation offers to others?

Well, if you’re me, or if you’re at all like me, you find it through the written word. In my case, I use a technique outlined by Natalie Goldberg in her book Writing Down the Bones, which was first published twenty-three years ago. It’s a form of meditation that applies Zen techniques to timed free writing, and it’s called Writing Practice, because, like sitting meditation, you do it every day, for a specific period of time, and with total focus.

But how is it meditation? It actually works in much the same way as guided meditation. By opening your mind – writing whatever comes – you clear away whatever mental obstacles might be there. I’m going to ask you all to join me in a brief session of writing practice in just a moment, but first I want to share the basic rules, which are my modifications of Ms. Goldberg’s originals.

1. Keep your hand moving. This means once you begin writing, you don’t stop to read what you’ve written until the time is up. Don’t self-edit. Don’t worry about grammar, spelling, or punctuation. Don’t cross anything out. Don’t even worry about staying in the lines. Personally, I often write on graph paper, purposely ignoring the grid lines.
2. Be specific. If your writing involves colors or scents or shapes, describe them. Are you writing about a memory of a bird? What kind of bird? A robin? A parrot? A grackle? In writing practice, the devil is in the LACK of details. Specifics give you the definition you need to really enter a memory, or savor an idea.
3. Don’t think. This really means don’t analyze. The idea is to keep the flow of words going, without any hesitation. They don’t have to be complete sentences, and you’re not writing for publication. The only wrong answer in writing practice, is not writing.
4. Lose control and go for the jugular. If something comes out that makes you feel naked, vulnerable, afraid, don’t shut it down. Dive in and explore it, and use the energy it provides. You may surprise yourself.

Now that you know the rules, we’re going to do a five minute session. When you do writing practice on your own, it’s generally best to start with five or ten minutes every day, and work up to half an hour, even an hour. Five minutes is a good starting point though, because most of us can find five minutes sometime in their day.

You should have a couple of note cards and a pen. (You can use your own pen, if you’re a pen snob, like me.) For daily writing practice, I recommend using a spiral notebook. Nothing fancy. I’m using this cute purple one one right now because the paper is pretty and it fits in my purse, but you can get perfectly good notebooks in fashion colors at the nearest dollar store. Today, we’re using note cards because they’re stiffer than paper, and a little less threatening.

For most people – me included – the easiest way to begin is to start with a single phrase. I like, “I remember.” If you get stuck, don’t stop writing, just repeat, “I remember,” and keep going. If you change memories, that’s okay. Just keep going.

So, I’m starting the timer.
Ready. Set. Write.

Tags: Essay, UUCOC, Writing

This entry was posted by MissMeliss on Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at 10:30 am and is filed under Essays, On Writing, UUCOC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.