Processing the Seasons of Life by Steph Beth Nickel

 

Fountain Pen Note Notebook - Free photo on Pixabay

It's my guess that you're facing challenges of one description or another, no matter what season of life you're in.

You may be a young person wondering what the 2025/2026 schoolyear holds in store.

A 20-something just getting started with your adult life. So many decisions to make!

Maybe you're in your 30s, 40s, or 50s, deep in the weeds of "adulting." (I wasn't sure about that word when I first heard it either, but it's grown on me.)

And then, there are those of us in our 60s and 70s and beyond, facing the fall and winter seasons of life.

Whatever our age or our situation, there is one thing that will help us all process our thoughts and feelings.

And that's...

Writing.

Of course you may be writing for "the public." Books. Articles. Blog posts.

But there are several types of writing we can do that others will never see, not if we don't want them to.

Julia Cameron developed the idea of "morning pages," three pages of uncensored, unedited streams of consciousness put to paper before we officially begin our day. Because there is a psychological difference between writing by hand and writing on the computer, she encourages readers to use pen and paper. I did so for awhile and found it super helpful. I may have to return to the practice.

I'm currently making a brief entry in my journal at the end of most days. I first heard about line-a-day diaries from podcaster and author Kendra Adachi. This is perfect for recording 1-4 sentences that sum up each day. No matter how tired we are or how unmotivated we feel, most of us can bring ourselves to complete this exercise.

And then there's what I call "rambling until we stumble upon truth." I haven't done this type of journaling in several years, but I found it a great way to process my thoughts and feelings while encouraging my inner editor to take a break. Sometimes, I was surprised at what ended up on the paper.

These are only a handful of the ways we can process where we're at in our particular season of life.

I made a number of false starts to this post because I'm currently processing my way through imminent changes and those that I anticipate will occur within the next year or so. How much should I share? Would I just be filling the page? Would it actually benefit readers? 

I decided to save those rambling thoughts for my personal journal. 

You may find it helpful to work through the challenges you're facing in the same way. And those thoughts just may motivate you to share with others who are facing the same challenges.

Steph Beth Nickel is the former Editor of FellowScript and the current InScribe Contest Coordinator. Steph is an editor and author and plans to relocate to Saskatchewan from Ontario to be close to family in 2026. (Headshot Photo Credit: Jaime Mellor Photography)

When We Listen by Steph Beth Nickel

When the words mean even more than the writer knew they meant,

then the writer has been listening.

And sometimes when we listen, we are led into places we do not expect,

into adventures we do not always understand.

Madeleine L’Engle

“Rambling until I stumble across truth.” That’s how I refer to journaling.

Sometimes, we simply have to “shake loose” those “places we do not expect,” those “adventures we do not always understand.”

They live within us. Sometimes on the surface. Sometimes buried deep within.

Have your own words ever surprised you? Have they jumped off the page as if that truth, that question, that reality was just waiting to see the light of day? Have those words ever inspired a blog post? A talk? An entire book?

Before we explore further, I want to let you know I’m not talking about perfectly polished prose. I’m referring to that sentence or phrase that flows from the tip of your pen or from your fingertips without forethought.

Yes, we have to “kill our darlings.” Not everything we think is profound and inspirational is meant for anyone besides ourselves. But let’s not deny the importance of words that are just for us either. 

How can we invite these words to impact our lives? How can we travel to those places and have those adventures Madeline L’Engle referred to? How can we listen?

1. Before you sit down to write, do your best to set aside distractions. Focus singularly on the task at hand. If you haven’t already, develop a pre-writing routine that triggers the “it’s-time-to-write” mindset.
2. Practice what Julia Cameron calls “morning pages.” Just put pen to paper first thing in the morning and write three pages to rid your mind of the clutter that you’ve accumulated. No judgment and no rewrites allowed. This is the ultimate info dump. Still, you may find gold among the dross.
3. Similarly, you can freewrite regularly. Choose a writing prompt or come up with one of your own. Set a timer. And write as fast as you can. Again, it’s important to silence your inner editor. You may discover an idea you want to pursue.
4. Try your hand at a genre or form of writing that is new to you. While it may frustrate more than inspire, there is a chance that looking at things from a different perspective is just what you need.
5. Go on an “artist’s date.” (This is another of Julia Cameron’s recommendations.) Do something that inspires you. Even in these days of social distancing and lockdowns, you can take a walk, snap some pictures, peruse Pinterest for inspiring images. (When the restrictions lift, you may want to grab a coffee with a friend, wander through your local art gallery, or curl up in a corner at the library and read a book.)

How do you “listen” before, during, and after you write? Have you travelled to unexpected places because of your writing? Have you had adventures you hadn’t understood before certain words flowed from your fingertips?

Steph Beth Nickel began freelance editing over 13 years ago and is currently taking new clients. You can contact her at nurtureandinspire@gmail.com To join her Editing Tips Facebook group, answer the questions here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/418423519384351 Glad to have you join us! Steph is also a blogger, author—and a labour doula. 

In the Shadow of a Bookshelf by Brenda Leyland

"Have you ever picked up a book on writing, exhilarated

to discover that the author has written just what you need to

stimulate and encourage you? Philip Yancey called these

writing masters "shadow mentors" who urge us to improve our

writing style, our thinking, and our vision."

SANDI SOMERS

As writers, we know just how often we need encouragement to bolster our crumbling nerve. Especially in those early days when we are still so unsure of ourselves, unsure of our talent—wondering if we even have any—and whether we indeed have a call on our lives and, therefore, a right to write. And, yes, Sandi, how often I have picked up a book to discover the perfect something I needed to stimulate and encourage me. Here, in this longish blog post, I have gathered six authors who have been writing mentors to me. I want to give a glimpse of how the writings of these good people have encouraged and inspired me, albeit in the shadow of a bookshelf, throughout my writing journey. There are so many more I could include.

 

"Read all the good books you can..."

C.S. LEWIS

Long before I dreamed of being a writer, I read C.S. Lewis. I was drawn to this man's gentle approach to life. I was drawn to the fact that he lived in Oxford, was a scholar, a Christian believer, and an author. I read everything I could find of his work, including his volumes of published letters. My now vintage commonplace notebook is filled with words of wisdom from this man, including the advice he freely gave aspiring writers who wrote to him. One such word stood out for me: read all the good books you can. It was a seed planted and amazingly watered over the years by many other successful authors advising young writers to read, read, read. I embraced this advice wholeheartedly; my path was set.

"Don't be led away by those howls of realism. Remember—pine woods

are just as real as pigsties and a darn sight pleasanter to be in."

L.M. MONTGOMERY

There are so many things I could share here about what I have learned from L.M. Montgomery. Looking back, she was a shining star—a mentor from afar—for most of my life. She taught me to appreciate the joy and beauty of the world around me, regardless of happy or unhappy circumstances. I shall always remember sitting with pen and paper in hand, trying to capture something of the twilight beauty of a long-ago summer evening. I had hoped to emulate Ms. Montgomery, for by then I was captivated with her ability to bring something of the beautiful to everything she wrote.

We live in an upside-down world where beauty and goodness are often forgotten, hidden behind misery and meanness, tragedy and trauma. Some people say, well that's life, that's the reality. Of course, we know sadness, cruelty and ugliness are real, but I have so often pondered why these should carry more weight than the reality of love and beauty and kindness. Mr. Carpenter, Emily's schoolteacher in one of the Emily novels by Ms Montgomery, entreated the aspiring authoress not to heed her critics but to press forward and continue to write from that place of beauty she saw in her own mind. He told Emily, "Don't be led away by those howls of realism. Remember—pine woods are just as real as pigsties and a darn sight pleasanter to be in."

The essence of those words became a touchstone. No matter what was going on in the world around me, Mr. Carpenter's wise words, through the pen of L.M. Montgomery, fixed my focus on how I wanted to write. You see, they matched those lines I love in Philippians: whatever is lovely and of good report, think (write) on these things.

"Today, in a world where we pride ourselves on our efficiency

and practicality, there is still precious time to cherish quality

and savor the splendor and charm of the more enduring things

in our lives—a return to loveliness, if you will."

THE EDITORS, VICTORIA, PREMIER ISSUE, 1987 

 

I cannot write about shadow mentors and not mention, not so much an author, but rather an influence that has also overshadowed everything I have ever written: the original Victoria magazine under the direction of former editor Nancy Lindemeyer. From the premier issue in 1987, I knew my heart found what it had been longing for in my young life. Here was a magazine that spoke to the softer, gentler side of life. It celebrated the creativity of women who followed their dreams. It recognized the intrinsic value of and need for beauty in our lives.

Two lovely blog followers recently contacted me to say that my style of writing happily reminds them of the Victoria magazine. Seriously? Oh, my goodness! "Reading your blog this morning made me realize that you have become my gentle moments of Victoria magazine. I spent many cherished moments with Victoria magazine and have missed the peace and grace it brought. I'm grateful to have you in my life to take me back to those treasured memories." I am in awe and deep gratitude. In the early days of my writing, I had so longed to be able to make words sing beautifully—just like the women who wrote those lovely articles in the magazine—never ever dreaming I might one day find some measure of success. I am so grateful to the Lord for the privilege to follow my heart in this way.

"As humans, we all have the right to make art.

We all have the right to write."

JULIA CAMERON

My husband's aunt introduced me years ago to The Right to Write by Julia Cameron. A godsend. What a stroke of genius to have those words right in the title. You see, for whatever odd reason, I needed permission to write; I needed to know that I had a right to write. That it wasn’t just for folks who knew they were destined to write since they were five years old....being the late bloomer that I am. I loved Julia’s words of affirmation when she said that as humans, we all have the right to make art. We all have the right to write. And with those words ringing in my ear, I had the courage to step out into my destiny.

This book introduced me to Julia's personal writing tools, tools I found helpful in my early writing days: Morning Pages (three pages of stream of consciousness writing first thing every morning); Narrative Time Line (writing out the story of your life in five-year intervals, from birth to present); and Artist Dates (making dates with yourself as a way to devote time to your creative self, such as walking in nature or visiting an art supply store or museum—anything you find creative and enjoyable.)

"At last I understood that writing was this: an impulse to share

with other people a feeling or truth that I myself had."

BRENDA UELAND

I knew from the outset that Brenda Ueland’s book If You Want to Write was another godsend to me. It came into my life in 2008, around the same time I started blogging, and it was a book I would reach for over and over. Because Ms. Ueland was so confident in her belief that "everyone is talented, original and has something important to say", I felt compelled to believe her for myself.

Brenda Ueland realized writing was, for her, an impulse to share with other people a feeling or truth that she herself had experienced. She used a little story about Vincent Van Gogh to illustrate, and it resonated with me. As a young man in his early twenties, Van Gogh was

"in London studying to be a clergyman. He had no thought of being an artist at all. He sat in his cheap little room writing a letter to his younger brother in Holland, whom he loved very much. He looked out his window at a watery twilight, a thin lamp post, a star, and he said in his letter something like this: It is so beautiful I must show you how it looks. And then on his cheap ruled notepaper, he made the most beautiful, tender, little drawing of it."

Like the artist himself, I yearned to share the beauty I experienced with those around me. While the artist took up his brush to express what he saw, I took up my pen. And so I write to inspire, to encourage, and give joy. All with the hopeful desire that my readers will look around, see the beauty, and learn to live with a measure of joy because they, too, have caught glimpses of heaven in unexpected places here on earth.

 

 

"If God has given you a dream, you'd better get cracking

because He wants you to use it. That's why He gives

them to us in the first place."

JAN KARON

I cannot close without mentioning Jan Karon, creator of the beloved Mitford novels. Years ago, I found her photo online and downloaded it to my desktop. Whenever I turned on my computer, there she'd be smiling at me, this woman who dared to believe a dream God had given her. 

Not only have I delighted in her novels, but I have taken courage from her own story of how she, at age 50, left a successful career in advertising and moved to a small town, so she could finally be a novelist. Not that I left a job to take up writing, not that I had any dream to write a novel, but I felt something of her courage as she stepped out later in life, trusting God, to follow her dream. Today we see Jan as a successful New York Times bestselling novelist, but her writing journey to get there had many discouraging setbacks. For two years, she struggled to find a suitable idea for a novel, and then when she had that breakthrough at last, it took a couple years to find a willing publisher. Through it all, she'd learned to lean into God, trusting that He was there in the midst. Seeing this beautiful author on my screen every morning during those early years of my own writing journey helped me to keep the faith, just as she had done.

* * *

I am grateful for these authors, just a few who have been a part of my personal mentoring team on a bookshelf, ever reminding me that I am not alone, cheering me on, offering their expertise, and always inviting me to join them in sharing the gift of beautiful words with our world.

Photo credit for top: Image by 9883074 from Pixabay

Photo credits for C.S. Lewis, L.M. Montgomery, Jan Karon: Unknown

A long-time InScribe member, Brenda writes from her home in Alberta, Canada. She works away on her memoir projects and shares her love of the beautiful in everyday life with readers at It's A Beautiful Life and on Facebook. 

Tools to Keep You on Course by Susan Barclay

I can't find it in the archives here, but I was certain I'd written about this before. I was hoping I could just direct you to the original post since nothing has changed (insert smiley-face). 

Here's the list:

First there are the physical tools: the writing instruments (pen, paper, computer, laptop, tablet) and the space you write in (separate office, niche in one of the room's of your dwelling place, library, cafe). Do you write best with or without music/background noise? Can you write in a cluttered environment or must it be clean and tidy? Make sure you have what you need before you get started - many of us writers are easily distracted!

Now onto the books and online resources:

The Writers' Market - specific guides for different types of writing: poetry, novels and short stories, material for children. These tools provide helpful articles as well as a variety of places you can send your work and agents who can help you with the submission process.

Writer's Digest Magazine - a monthly publication with helpful articles, columns, writing prompts, and contests. Also the Writer's Digest website.

The Inscribe website and listserv. Maximize your membership by utilizing these and reading the current issue of Fellowscript, which contains articles by the members as well as columns, contests and market information.

The best book on writing I've read so far is Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself into Print by Rennie Browne and Dave King. It's been a long time since I read it, but I found full of  helpful advice for the revision process.

Participation in writers' groups. I've been part of a writers' group for fourteen years now and nothing beats the feedback and encouragement of fellow sojourners who know a thing or two about the writing and publishing processes. If you can't get together with writers in your local area (every Fellowscript issue lists Inscribe writers' groups), try to find an online critique partner and shoot your work back and forth. Nothing has improved my writing more than the practice and discipline of writing and receiving constructive criticism.

 Most importantly for writers who are Christian: be in God's Word daily and be in prayer. We want to be in the centre of God's will for our lives and for our writing. We can't be either if we're not connecting with Him. As it says in the notes of my Transformation Study Bible (Warren Wiersbe, NLT), 

"Our relationship to the Word of God indicates our relationship to the God of the Word."  

If our writing isn't going well, it's possible that we have gone off-centre and God wants us to refocus our attention on Him and what He wants.
____________

Post-script: I still haven't gotten around to reading Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, but I recently noticed a couple of other books in the form of guided journals: 300 Writing Prompts and Complete the Story. These look like fun resources to get the creative juices flowing!
_____________
Please visit my personal website at www.susan-barclay.blogspot.ca

On Journals and Writers’ Notebooks by Sandi Somers

This month our writers discuss their experiences with writing in journals and/or notebooks. InScriber Violet Nesdoly gave us a prompt when she wrote: "the very act of noticing and writing things down makes us more observant, alert people—all part of the package we need to be successful writers.” 

“Write the vision…” Habakkuk 2:2

My journals and notebooks

Over my life I’ve had different kinds of journals: travel journals, including one from my two years in South America; several binders full of cultural perceptions and classroom interactions while teaching ESL; and a journal of praise which focuses on the positive side of writing. I keep a notebook handy for writing ideas for this IWO blog.

I also have an almost-daily journal, in which I explore and process dilemmas and how God is speaking to me through scripture in my quiet time. Writing helps sort through my thoughts, and I come to a deeper understanding than I would have without writing.

A wonderful benefit of journal writing is that often gem thoughts become the raw material for articles and blogs. For example, while writing an article for our InScribe Christmas Anthology, my writing seemed flat. With divine timing, God led me to a forgotten version I had written some years before. There I found more vivid descriptions, more immediate emotions and clearer details which strengthened that article (it was accepted, by the way).

On the Values and Varieties in Journals/Writers’ Notebooks

Journals and writers’ notebooks are very individual, and the varieties and values are endless: ten minute freewrites of "moments in memory "; an idea journal which you can carry with you; a quotation journal; a submission journal; a dream journal. Or your journal can be the first draft of a memoir, story or other article.

           

Over the years I’ve collected a number of journal/notebook ideas and approaches from various writers. Here are a few.

Julia Cameron, in The Artist’s Way, advocates “morning pages”: three pages of free writing first thing every morning. Doing so, she says, taps into our left brain’s creativity and inner wisdom without concern for that “inner critic”.  Many writers follow her advice.

Judy Reeves advocates another daily approach: writing practice. Her book, A Writer’s Book of Days, includes focused prompts, one prompt for every day of the year.  Writing from prompts, she says, is a discipline that improves writing as well as gladdens our spirit and adds to the quality of life. 

Violet Nesdoly switched from journal writing to a writer’s notebook. Rather than a process of fluid writing of journals, she said a notebook is a place to keep track of: details of life, ideas for future projects, lists, dialog, telling details in a scene, and more. (Read her article filled with practical ideas here.) 

Joan Didion’s notebooks are a “flotsam and jetsam” of ideas. She often wrote just words, locations, time of day, or brief notations—sometimes wondering on rereading why these details had been so important in the first place. She would probably never use these erratic thoughts in her writing, but they often brought back vivid memories and moods from those earlier times--memories she was otherwise likely to forget. (Read her article, “On Keeping a Notebook” here).

Writers have creatively woven journal entries into books or articles. Madeline L’Engle and her family spent one summer on a USA cross-country camping trip. At the end of each day she pulled her typewriter from the car and journaled the family’s excursions. Later this trip became the basis for a children’s adventure novel, The Moon by Night. (As I read the novel, I easily noticed the connection between her family’s travel and the adventures in the novel.)

As Christ followers, we often journal our daily devotions, spending time alone with God and opening ourselves to whatever God want us to hear. Janice Elsheimer, in The Creative Call, called her journal the “artists’ daybook” (a name I’ve adopted). Writing daily for ourselves alone, we come to hear the voice of the Spirit and “understand more clearly the relationship between journaling and listening, between listening and being an artist.”

Jack Popjes, past-president of InScribe, has incorporated a unique approach to journaling daily devotions:  he writes his regular prayer requests as conversations with God—question-and-answer format. Writing his prayers this way helps him keep track of his requests and God’s answers.  The additional benefit, he wrote, is that he’s also practicing his writing craft. (You can read his article, “Let Your Fingers Do the Talking,” in our InScribe anthology, 7 Essential Habits of Christian Writers.)

In conclusion, Phyllis Theroux in The Journal Keeper wrote that your journal or notebook “should be a wise friend…Choose what you think has some merit or lasting value, so that when you reread (it) in years to come, it will continue to nourish you."

 What varieties of journals/notebooks do have, and what value do you place on yours?

PS Writing this blog has been inspiring. My daily journal had come almost to a standstill, but last week new ideas began flowing and I resumed my morning pages with a renewed vigor. Hmm, I think I’ll try Jack’s conversations with God, too!

Further resources In her blog on notebooks, Amy Ludwig Vanderwater’s guests explain different ways they use notebooks. (Check it here)    Famous authors discuss the importance of keeping a journal (Read here) Here’s another read on keeping a notebook or three.

Finding God, Finding Vision by Connie Inglis

An Artist's Date. Hmmmmmmm. What does that mean in my life? I must be honest. I don't go on Artist's Dates that often--at least not intentionally. There have been a few intentional ones. Last year my husband bought me (us) tickets to four ballets throughout the year. We wanted to do something cultural that we had never done. Those evenings, the live orchestra, the dance telling a story, were truly inspirational.

However, on a day-to-day basis, my life is not that extravagant. Still, that does not mean I can't find inspiration--that I can't be refreshed daily. The simplest things send me on an Artist's Date, if not physically then mentally and/or spiritually. To me, it's all a matter of perspective. It's all about seeing God, finding God in the ordinary.

Many years ago I helped with a missionary conference. The theme was, "Where there is no vision the people perish." Excellent challenge then and now for becoming involved in missions.  However, as I have started to focus more on my writing and the purpose of writing as a follower of Jesus, that verse has taken on a whole new meaning. I have started to see the world with new eyes--to see the story in everything from the pink cotton ball clouds at sunrise to the anxiety in my son's eyes in battling a mental disorder. There's a story in there--a story to tell the world. A story of God's beauty and love and redemption and HOPE. A story that the world needs to hear, so that they will not perish.
 

So what does that mean when it comes to rejuvenation in my writing? I am finding that I get refreshed by simple everyday things. The sunrise. A piece of Scripture. Words in a book. A song that comes on the radio while I go get groceries. The artwork of my daughters that hang on my walls. Going out for breakfast with my husband. I can see God in those things, if I have correct vision.

In those moments, the trick is to pause and make a mental note or a physical note, and not forget. Or just simply sit down right then and there and write. My poetry often happens that way. I am still learning the importance of this. Otherwise, the vision, the moment, passes and I forget.

That is not to say that I don't need those artist date inspirations. Going for a walk is probably one of my favourites. Reading is a given, especially poetry. Going for a drive with a worship CD and singing LOUDLY (and not caring what other drivers think). And then there's fine art...to see the world the way the artist sees--the brush strokes, the colour combinations. And I see God.

In thinking about this post, I did find a website that had a list of Artist Date ideas. Even reading the ideas was inspirational and I think I will return to that list on occasion when I find my well is dry. I laughed at one of the ideas: Spend your whole day naked. What??!!! How many of us have tried that one! But there was one that intrigued me that I decided to try. It actually came as a result of having my 7-year old granddaughter with me this past weekend. She is definitely one of my main inspirations. I think to see the world through a child's eyes is often the way God sees the world.

One of the things we love to do together is draw/colour/paint. Crafty things. So, I decided to do # 30 on the Artist Date list: Create a self-portrait. Lately I've been energized by Pablo Picasso's work and the way he viewed his world so I thought I'd do a crazy cubism self-portrait. My granddaughter

laughed at the nonsensical curves and angles of me but when I was done she exclaimed, "Grandma, it looks like you're praying. The way your hands are together." I looked. She was right. It was not my plan. It was the Spirit encouraging me--giving me a vision of how He sees me. I was in awe--and still am. I can still hear my granddaughter's words in my head. The Spirit won't let me forget. So, for the past three evenings I've continued my Artist Date. I scanned my pencil drawing and now have three different self-portraits but I think I will stop with three.

These remind me that my relationship with God is reciprocal. I seek Him in the everyday things of life, I seek His vision, and He enters into whatever I do. My prayer is that His presence enters my writing as well. That I can share His vision of love and hope in my writing to a dying world.

Artist’s Date by Sandi Somers

“Any extended period or piece of work draws heavily on our artistic well. Over-tapping the well, like overfishing the pond, leaves us with diminished resources.” So writes Julia Cameron, who says that the way to fill our artistic well is to go on a weekly “Artist’s Date” which will stimulate our senses and feed the artist in us. We must go to a movie, a play, an art museum, the library, the park, the beach—anywhere that will recharge, energize and inspire us.

Prompt: Do you have “artist’s dates”? Do you have a regular system for becoming recharged for your writing?

Oxygen to My Spirit

This last November, my mission trip to Bolivia took extra twists and turns. Due to luggage that got left behind, two of us had to wait in La Paz for several days for our luggage to arrive. On one of the days, we travelled to the beautiful Lake Titicaca, the highest freshwater lake in the world.

Now La Paz and Lake Titicaca are at altitudes of over 4,000 m (13,000 feet).  I experienced for the first time what it was like to live with a diminished supply of oxygen.

As soon as we stepped out of the plane at La Paz, we had to breathe harder to get enough oxygen in our system. The next morning, I forgot about the rarified air and walked up four flights in our hotel. Suddenly I was puffing hard and my heart was pounding. When we walked up the hilly streets of La Paz, I had to stop frequently to catch my breath; I felt more depleted than I had on a strenuous hike in our Rocky Mountains.

Exertion in La Paz was much harder on my system than at lower altitudes.

There’s a meaning here for our writing life. Sometimes our writing can leave us with a diminished supply of ideas and creativity. Our ideas don’t flow as easily. It’s harder to write.

We need life-giving oxygen to our spirits.

For several years now, my weekly artist’s dates have provided that oxygen of sensory impressions and relational experiences. Although I have a variety of “dates,” my most common ones include:

• Browsing through quilting shops. As I browse through the fabrics and explore colours and designs, brush my fingers along the textures of fabrics and absorb the displays of finished quilts, I breathe in rich oxygen of beauty and ideas for my own quilting.
•  Visiting my brother’s farm. I participate in seasonal changes of seeding, growing and harvesting times. I watch or help with cattle needs. As I work in the flower beds, I absorb the country air and the grand view of fields and neighbouring farm sites. I breathe in the oxygen of connection with my brother and an alternate lifestyle to my city living.
• Connecting with other people. Because I live alone, people times are important artist’s dates. A family gathering or a special lunch with friends, or a walk along the Bow River with my friend Jeanie and her dog Dallas, all fill me with the oxygen of relationship and a knowledge of how God is working in other people’s lives.
• Absorbing nature. I watch majestic sunrises on my morning walks, catch sight of mountains as I drive along Calgary’s streets, listen to a vesper sparrow as I walk along a country road in the evening or revel in the grandeur of the mountains on a hike.  The language of landscape flows into me and fills my spirit with the oxygen of God and His creation.

Now it’s your turn. Tell us your experience with artist’s dates.

Reflecting back / Looking ahead by Loretta Bouillon

In the spring of 2014, I joined Inscribe Christian Writer’s Fellowship. This group opened up a whole new level of writing for me as well as many exciting opportunities. I have tried my hand at contests, devotions, magazine articles, query letters, guest blogging as well as being asked to be a regular contributor to this blog.  I have also learned so much being a part of the chat group with Inscribe. I do not always participate in all the conversations but I read them and glean. The group has been wonderful answering any questions that I have had so far. I have met new writer friends (although not face to face…but I am hoping to next fall conference!) If you are a writer, published or not, I would highly recommend joining this group.

I attended Surrey International Writer’s Conference with my daughter (article featured on my own blog as well as in the February issue of Fellowscript magazine).  The networking experience as well as the information that we took away from the conference was invaluable.

2014 was a year of input overload and a very fast learning curve. Now that I have a little more understanding of the writing and publishing industry, I feel God slowing me down and realigning my focus. I don’t have to enter every contest that comes my way! Write that novel. Work on one project at a time. Develop my writing skills. Read that book and apply it to my daily life. Polish my skills. Practice, practice, practice. So this is what I will do.

Two resources that have come my way are ‘The Artist’s Way’ by Julia Cameron and  ‘The Writer’s Book of Days’ by Judy Reeves. I have begun reading both of them and this is what I am applying so far:

Morning Pages – You write three pages about anything you like. It is not to be edited (unless you want to later). Basically, you write to unclutter your mind so you clear the brain drain, to unblock and recover the artist in you. The pages are to be written longhand and not to be an artisitic attempt or written about anything in particular. Get all your worries and mind clutter onto the page. I realize that what I do with my journaling is much like this, only now I write without a “censor”; the critical part in me that is afraid someone might read it someday. I am quite enjoying the freedom of this process.

Artist’s Date – This is a two hour date with myself per week for twelve weeks to do something artistic/creative to develop my creative side. I have to say that I am not as successful with this task quite yet. I am working on it, though, and will save this experience for a future blogpost.

As I move forward into the New Year, I am doing so with a commitment to grow in my writing technically as well as really trying to hear God’s direction as to where it will take me. One day at a time. Like anything in my life, it is about trusting God. My “wake up prayer” every morning is this: “God, I give you my day. Please guide me and help me to be the best I can be at all You are asking me to do. Amen.”

“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:17 (NKJV)

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Hibernate to or Hibernate from - Connie Inglis

To Hibernate (from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary):

1. to pass the winter in a torpid or resting state
2. to be or become inactive or dormant 

Do you ever feel the need or desire to hibernate from your writing--to become inactive and dormant?  With all the Christmas and New Year's activities this past month, I feel like the opposite has been true. While I love the holidays, I also do like returning to routine and writing calls me back like a long-lost friend.  However, it is also true that even in routine I get pulled in different directions and writing gets put on the back burner more often than I care to admit. And thus I must fight to be able to hibernate "to" writing rather than hibernate "from" writing. Is there anyone else out there that has this same dilemma?

Julia Cameron's book, The Right to Write, has some excellent thoughts and exercises for writers. I recently read the chapter entitled, "Loneliness" and felt it spoke to this "hibernation" subject. Here's a quote from the beginning of the chapter:

"So much has been written about the loneliness of the writer's lot that it feels like heresy to report the truth as I know it: in my experience, not writing is a lonely business. The minute I let myself write, everything else falls into balance. If I get a dose of writing in my day, then I can actually socialize with a clear conscience." 

Her words got me thinking--maybe my issue is that I'm NOT writing and thus easily pulled into other things, things that sometimes are of no value. Part of my problem is that I feel like I need a big chunk of time in order to write, which isn't true. Half an hour here, 15 minutes there. Even if it's just a quick writing exercise, it's still writing. When I've done this is the past, it rejuvenates and refreshes me and yet I seem to easily forget that. Needless to say, I am still working through all this. 

Cameron also goes on to say that writing is a "balm for loneliness"--that it connects us to ourselves and then to others. I would agree but I would also like to add to that. As a follower of Jesus, I also believe it connects us to God. He is our Creator and He created us to write. He put in us this desire, this need, this "gift" (If I may say) to write. So when we write, we are glorifying God and praising Him for the way He made us. 

THAT'S the right perspective--and THAT'S the way I need to view writing.