Lessons in Intuitive Writing: How You Do One Thing Is How You Do Everything
Are you wondering if your writing is any good?
I don’t even need to look, but I can ask and get a pretty good idea.
How’s your energy the rest of the time?
And…
How do you feel when you’re writing?
How do you feel when you're not writing?
This theme has come up multiple times in the past few weeks. And that’s how I know I need to write about it. The first recent mention was from a business and spiritual mentor. Liana Shanti, in her weekly Illuminations forecast, talked about how she does one thing is how she does everything.
The example she shared was while she was almost done with a workout. Thinking she’d done enough and would skip the last few pushups (paraphrasing here). The second she caught herself quitting, she decided to go all-in and do more.
Same goes for business and writing. If your energy isn’t all in in one area, then there are likely other areas of your life where your energy is off too.
If you feel forced, tormented, and frustrated at the blank page trying to write, where else do you feel that way too?
Energy is everything.
I started learning this lesson when I was still working in my corporate career and desperately wanted to get out and be my own boss. There were days when I resented all of it. The hour-long commute would stretch out to almost two hours on a morning when there were accidents. And then all the sitting through yet another boring meeting that could have been an email.
All the extra work involved in getting the kids to daycare, packing and unpacking lunches, washing bottles, and sometimes logging into work in the evenings to finish that proposal.
And the getting up at 5:00 a.m. many mornings to drag myself through the motions for one more day.
If I had let that monotonous rhythm get to me and become complacent with it, I might have never left my corporate job. I’m grateful the realization hit me back then (around 2016).
My big realization: if I bring crappy energy to my nine-to-five, who’s to say I won’t bring this same crappy energy to my freelance copywriting business?
I started making conscious shifts in how I went about my days.
When my alarm buzzed in the morning, I behaved as if I was getting up to work in my home office, serving clients I love in my business (even though I was going to sit in a cubicle). I also started getting up early to make sure I was dedicating time just about every day to getting my business going.
I’d move through the morning with a little more ease. While showering, I’d imagine I was showering to get ready for the work I loved most as my own boss. I’d write manifestations on the foggy shower door of what I imagined to be my current reality. Scribbling things with my soapy finger, like…
I love being a freelancer.
I love working at home.
I love running my own business.
I’m a million-dollar freelancer.
Next, I’d update my passwords to reflect my goals, working in one of the key words to what I was building and creating with my writing career.
The key was to do this as if it was true already. Do everything with the same vigor. I would really feel into how it feels to run my business, to trek only past the kitchen into my peaceful home office space to retreat for the day.
On days when I’d work from home with my corporate job, I took it even further. Because I’d be sitting in the same spot I’d sit in as an entrepreneur, I sat there all day (taking breaks, of course) and basking in the glow of freelance writing. Even if I was flying through corporate communications plans, bouncing from meeting to meeting, and checking in with my team, I brought the same high-vibe energy to every interaction.
I didn’t know what I was doing at the time, but I now know that I was training my unconscious mind to expect this greatness.
If I could move gracefully through each day feeling so darn good and grateful to be doing whatever I was doing, then I could bring that same energy to anything I wanted to do.
If you don't feel good when writing, ask yourself where else in your life you feel that same way.
Here are some writing prompts to explore where your writing energy may need a shift:
How do you feel when writing?
Are you feeling this way in other areas of your life?
How can you begin to shift that energy toward feeling the way you want to feel? List three actions you can start doing immediately.
If your writing feels like it’s not connecting — where else are you feeling disconnected in your life?
Are you letting energy vampires sink their hooks into you?
Are you allowing family members to encroach on all your boundaries?
Where are you letting limiting beliefs and thoughts run the show instead of consciously choosing empowering thoughts?
Do you let yourself spiral into shame or negative self-talk after just one writing session that didn't seem to flow as well as you’d hoped?
When you explore these writing prompts, free-write and write down the first thing that comes to mind. You can also take these prompts to your next morning pages session. I suggest pen to paper to help you get out of your head and into your body. It’s also helpful to slow your brain down. No judging or editing of what comes up as you meander through these questions. You might uncover something that surprises you. Here are some FAQs from the creator of morning pages, Julia Cameron.
Whenever something feels off in my writing practice, I look to other areas of my life. I don't necessarily focus on improving my writing. Writing is only how the negative energy manifests itself at that moment.
Maybe you found this blog in search of fixing what you deem to be a “writing problem” when really, it’s an energy problem.
Managing my energy is an ongoing practice, and I’m always working to improve. When I slip into a pattern at home and sense a rut coming on, I can see where I start to resent household things like making dinner or moving the wet laundry to the dryer. If I bring negative energy to my meal prep time, who’s to say that same energy won’t seep into other areas? Before long, I might notice I’m resenting a client or a particular business task.
Want more energy practices and practical advice to shape your feel-good writing life? Get my new book: Intuitive Writing: The Remedy for Writer’s Block and the Secret to Authentic Communication.
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