I cannot write the book I am working on using the same methods (time commitments, structure, rhythm etc.) that I used with other books. It doesn't work. Nor (apparently) can I quit. When I try to write the way I used to- or when I try to quit- in both cases, I get sick, I get 73 day migraines, I get tachycardia, my back goes into spasm. . .
The body does not lie -although sometimes it's hard to know exactly what is being communicated- but in this case, minimally it is, "This is not working!"
Surrendering is about listening with every cell in our being. It's about watching to see what happens- When do I lose the thread of the story? When does my energy plummet? Where do I get easily distracted? When does the process flow? Where does the energy want to go?
This book is deeply personal. It is a memoir. Some of the stories are hard stories. That's okay, because (spoiler alert) it works out well. I've started to think of the stories as small squares in a quilt. I am gathering squares. I will piece them together later- and the pattern they form will reveal itself then.
I can surrender to finding and making squares. I can surrender to listening deeply to what works- what feeds life and love right now- and what does not.
In surrendering we find the piece of the story that is ours to embody, to carry, to share and bring to life. In surrendering we find our way of weaving or quilt-making- which is to say, our way of participating in the Sacred Wholeness that is what we are.
~Oriah (Gratitude to Karen Davis at https://www.facebook.com/OpenDoorDreaming/?fref=ts for this photo.)
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Many thanks, Oriah, for this post. It's so helpful for me in understanding and moving into surrender. Thank you so much for your personal sharing that so often speaks to me.
ReplyDeleteSo glad it is helpful Sharon. Thank you. :-)
DeleteHow do you surrender into that piece of the quilt you are weaving when the colors get so dark and fear is all you feel?
ReplyDeleteI write the fear. I do not leave it out. I make room for it and write it onto the page, into the square, including it in the overall quilt. The only way I know is to keep writing. :-)
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