AN INTERIOR LIFE JOURNEY by Sheila Webster

 

I declared this as my beach in ancient times.

At the end of a small southern Saskatchewan Lake,

I rest on silent silky sand.

Shorebirds call in twilight,

familiar languages I have heard.

Summer solace.

Often solo I crave 

the cacophony of nature

and silence of man.

The land is owned perhaps

by more than myself.

I don't see it this way,

in my interior life it is mine.

I brave bracken, weeds, old barb wire.

My own fears, 

and interior terrors.

To claim this moment,

of time.

In it,

I am - 

Past, Present and Future

tenses of myself.

The sand

and prairie wind

driven surf

are mine.

They restore my soul.

Like endless grains of sand

I count my daily gratitudes.

Few friendships

are sacred enough to share

this spot, but by firelight

in twilight I have.

Silent we listen

to the echo of ourselves

driven by the desire

for peace and perfection.

so is the interior journey

that feeds 

my writer's soul...

pictures taken June 25, 2021

Spirit Beach exists at the end of a lake

but in name only in my interior life

It's All About the Follow-Through by Steph Beth Nickel

Follow-through is important even for those of us who aren't golfers.

Distractions are part of everyday life. But if we want to achieve our writing goals, we must first make a plan and then follow through with that plan.

Of course, there are times when life happens and we must revise our plan. That doesn't mean, however, that we should set aside our goals and dreams indefinitely.

At this stage of my life, I have to seriously consider all the things I'd like to accomplish and prayerfully determine which I'm going to focus on. I can set lofty goals of pursuing a plethora of my eclectic interests, but I know full well I'll only be able to follow through on a relatively small number of them.

I need a plan. And so do you.

What steps can you take to increase the likelihood that you will achieve your goals?

• Determine what your ultimate goals are and then break them down into tasks you can achieve in relatively short increments of time.
• Schedule writing sessions in your planner and treat these sessions like you would any other appointment. (You can make amazing progress in even 15-30 minutes three to five times a week.)
• Set a word count or time goal. When you achieve the goal, you can call it a win. If your situation allows and you're on a roll, you can keep going. (Word of Warning: Resist the temptation to write for countless hours for a day or two if it will leave you drained, reluctant to get back to writing for day, weeks, or longer.)
• Identify what keeps you from achieving your writing goals and determine how you can minimize distractions. (I'm thinking more of social media and those seemingly urgent household chores, not playing with your children, going for a walk with your spouse, or meeting a friend for coffee.)
• Speaking of social media... Some people install programs on their computer that won't allow them to surf the Web for specified periods of time. Others have a different computer for writing on, one they don't use to access the Internet. 
• Do you need music playing in the background? Go for it.
• Silence? Hang a Do Not Disturb sign on the door and shut yourself away in your room for half an hour ... after you've explained to your family how important your writing time is to you.
• Give yourself permission to write a messy first draft. If you take the time to edit as you go, it will be hard to get to the point where the words are flowing.

So, set your goals. Formulate a doable plan. And remember the importance of follow-through.

My writing path defined: Illumined by the light: Jesus by Martina Keast

 

My topics cover Emotive Expressive Art Adventures, Inner Healing, Recovery from Childhood Sexual Abuse & Codependency, Spirituality, and lately, Releasing Creative Streams.

My writing path began in December 1981, forty-one years ago.

I don’t know why, but I bought a journal. My first journal entry was: Nicole has her first tooth. 😊

For the next few years, my journaling consisted of prayers and lists of bills, payments, and what we needed but didn’t have money for; there was always a list of carry-over items. My heart was heavy, and my mind carried many burdens.

In 2002, my journaling changed. I drove across Canada to Thunder Bay, On, and onto Wawa and then Missinabie to work.

I lived alone in a cabin, desperate for change. I begged and pleaded with Jesus. I cried, missing my children and grandchildren. I began to listen to Jesus and wrote down what I felt in my heart. (At that time, I did not know about dialogue journaling, yet I was engaging in this practice.) The twisting and turning and the wrestling were tangible and painful. I cried every day.

In 2004, I took a course called Addiction Worker. I began drafting papers. My papers were awful. A bunch of thoughts put on a paper without connection or flow. I don’t know how I ever passed my courses. Much grace was extended, I am sure.

This writing style would continue until 2009, when I experienced my first stream of consciousness writing, From One Soul Sister to Another. My love for the mission church, the co-workers and co-ministers became evident. I also began my journey with spiritual formation, not realizing I would study this in later years.

After accepting help from Pagemaster Publications, the Beaumont Book Writers Group, Elim Book Writers Club, and mentoring from Ruth L. Snyder and Kate Nash, I am becoming more proficient. I would not have passed my courses if it had not been for all the readers and commenters who contributed to my writing. I am truly blessed.

As an Expressive Art Practitioner [1](WAO), I see more hope, faith, and love in my writing. The darkness lifted. The light is shining in. Thank you, Jesus.

The new path I am on opened last year. The Dwelling Place project: Reflections on my journey toward wholeness, based on papers I wrote for Spiritual Formation and Adult Learning Courses, needed a special drawing card.

I spontaneously had the idea to add Sloan and Esther, an elderly couple, to the storyline.

I fell in love with both right away. They both feel safe and secure in their relationship. I like the way they support and care for each other.

I enjoy writing their conversations in various places on their hobby farms.

Today, I can see how writing about their relationship opened my heart and mind so I would be able to enter a relationship based on respect, honesty, and transparency, and it leaves me feeling safe and secure.

I invite the readers to share their thoughts on leaving the darkness and entering the light (life with Jesus), experiencing love, joy, and peace.

 

Martina Keast, MTS, EXAP, GCSICA

https://www.elimoasisofinnerhealing.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/martina-keast-45546275/

---

[1] With Dr. Markus Scott Alexander. World Art Organization, Edmonton AB. 

Beginning with ABC - A Writing Path Defined by Joylene M Bailey

 

Oh hello! Hi.

I understand you've come to find out about some of the key moments that were crucial in defining and growing Joy Bailey into the writer she is today. As someone who knows her as well as she knows herself, I think I can help you.  She would say that some key moments were small while others were astronomical in boosting her confidence.

Do you see this book? It's her first defining 'moment.' And it's a big one. I can't even exaggerate how much she LOVED this book. It was her introduction to those enchanting letters that all stood for something. And those letters spelled WORDS! How she loved words.

As you can see, if you turn the page, she practiced and practiced making the letters and then making the words. Words were Alluring. Beguiling. Captivating. And manipulating a pencil to make those words was Delightful. Enthralling. Fascinating.

Once she discovered that words could be strung together to make a story, well, her appetite for reading them soared. Her three younger brothers became her audience as she read book after book to them. I'd have to say, those early years of reading aloud were another defining 'moment' for her. They were the beginnings of learning what she liked to read, which translated into eventually writing the kinds of things she liked to read.

In her school years, she excelled in Language Arts and English classes, but was always suspicious of teachers who praised her or her work. What ulterior motive could they possibly have for doing such a thing? As a result of that sentiment, she wouldn't now be able to identify any teachers who may have encouraged her writing because she never took them seriously.

She also became an earnest letter-writer in her school years, which carried on into adulthood. I would call this a major defining factor in her growth as a writer. Her signature conversational style was developed and sharpened during those years of penning letters.

As a young mom, she enjoyed making up stories and songs for her three growing daughters. One such song gushed out spontaneously one night as she put her three-year-old to bed. Through the years it became a favourite of preschool children in Sunday Schools across the prairies. She considered it high praise when a child would ask to sing Baby Moses.

Wanting to hone her craft of writing, and to find out if she actually could write, she took a course in Writing for Children and Teenagers from the Institute of Children's Literature. After the initial shock of getting IN, she hunkered down to learn all she could from the instructor assigned to her. But she was frustrated with all the praise. The instructor only seemed to have good things to say about her writing. Was she even qualified to be an instructor? Surely a real instructor would be critical all over the place.

Joy finally trusted that this teacher knew what she was talking about when a children's magazine published her first article. The moment she read her name in Nature Friend is forever etched in her mind. So big was this moment that she barely held it together until her husband got home from work, when she  waved the open magazine in his face and squealed, "This is me!!"

Since then, she's written for children and adults, winning awards for her short stories, poetry, and children's stories along the way. A few years ago she began blogging at Scraps of Joy, where her conversational style has bloomed and thrived. As well, she has just begun to write a regular column for an online newsletter, encouraging parents of young women who struggle with life-controlling issues.

As far as defining moments go, Joy would say that her most monumental ones these days are comments she receives from her readers. One recent reader compared her writing to something they would find in Bella Grace magazine. Considering that Bella Grace is one of her favourite publications, this comment will stick with her, proving that she IS writing exactly what she loves to read.

I hope that gives you some idea of Joy's writing path. From ABC to Scraps of Joy and all the writing in between, building beautiful and joyful works is her goal, one wonderful word at a time.

~~~~~

As she wrote this post, Joy was rather shocked to discover all of the things she's had published over the years, and some have even won awards. Who would have thought?! Joy is now living with The Cowboy in their new home in the country and loving the early mornings in her North-East facing library where she spends time with the words she loves. Find more of her joy-infused writing at Scraps of Joy.

Feature photo and last photo by Pezibear of Pixabay.

Book photos by Joy Bailey