A Life Lesson from Writing

I used to believe to be a great writer one had to be very smart. Had to have a good handle on diction. Had to have a vocabulary equivalent to what can be found in a thesaurus.

I used to wait until I had something profound to say or would try to write something great that sometimes I was afraid to write. Sitting and pondering waiting for that epiphany to hit me. That bolt of lightning to come out of the sky and strike me with that chance of a lifetime story to tell. Until my son reminded me that I have a one in 7 million chance of being hit by lightning. And that’s when the light bulb went off in my head. That if I was going to write and continue to write every single day I just had to do it. I had to put myself in that grouping of 7million if I had any chance of being the 1 that got hit.

So I started to write from my heart. To write what came to me first rather than trying to direct my thoughts. Rather than trying to come up with some clichéd piece of writing. Something clever. Something profound. I let my heart guide me rather than my head. Silencing the ego that keeps trying to tell me there is no way I am a good writer. That there are 7 million others out there doing what I am doing. Not letting my ego stop me from doing what I love to do, write.

Because what I realised was that while I was waiting to be clever. For something profound to hit me. I was missing out on writing and enjoying the journey. Once I stopped looking for the destination, I discovered there are so many gems presenting themselves to me every day. There are miracles in just about everything we see and do. The mere fact that we exist is a miracle.

And then I realised something else even more profound. It is not the most intelligent person. Not the most sophisticated person. Nor the person with the greatest vocabulary that becomes the greatest writer around. It is actually the person that simply writes. And continues to write every day. The person that believes she can write. The person who recognises that in everything we do, everything we see, there is a story to be told. And believes he is a writer. Who knows she doesn’t have to be clever. He doesn’t have to be the best. They know if their writing comes from the heart, it  will come with ease.

And then I realised something even more satisfying. Life is not about waiting for the next best thing. Just like writing life is about capturing the best thing that comes into our lives every single day in the simplest and most unexpected way. And just going for it. Turning it into the pearl that it is meant to be.

Life like writing is all about being in the moment and loving and living it like there is no tomorrow. The most successful person is the one who doesn’t think too deeply about what happens next. No they just do right there and then. Taking advantage of life’s abundant miracles and turning them into gems. While others are sitting on the sidelines waiting for the perfect and right moment without recognising every moment is perfect and right.

Life is a lot like writing because it is all about discovering and appreciating the abundance that comes into our lives every single day.