dropping into the moment
weekly story work exercise
If you’re new here, Story Work is the name of my current book-in-progress. It describes a process of reflection, reclaiming, and reimagining the stories of our lives. It involves looking at your life experiences as creative material that you have the power to shape. Paid subscribers receive Story Work exercises every Sunday night at 8 pm et.
A time-sensitive reminder before we dive in to the exercise, if you’re seeking a soul-focused creative mentor and community, today is the last day to join the Inner Story Writing Circle at a 12% discount by signing up for the full year of 2024. You can learn more here.
Read on for a preview of our weekly exercise.
So far we have looked at creative courage three ways:
the makings of courage - as we are seeking deeper courage and fuller expression, we should be aware of our body’s energy centers, specifically the throat chakra, and how our creative tools and practices open it.
the right invitation - finding an inviting path out of your comfort zone that adds meaning to your life and doesn’t feel forced can make all the difference in how you approach creative risk.
a form of constancy - the connection between courage and consistency and what daily habits, activities, and patterns of behavior help you build courage over time.
Today let’s explore the courage it takes to drop into the present moment and value it as a snapshot of our one precious life.
Writing is daunting for many reasons. We’re afraid that our words won’t adequately capture our ideas, and we fear what we will discover about ourselves. In the words of James Baldwin, “All art is a kind of confession, more or less oblique. All artists, if they are to survive, are forced, at last, to tell the whole story; to vomit the anguish up.”
What will our confessions require us to face? Revealing your honest creative expression is a naked experience, laying yourself bare in the light of day. Your truth on the page reveals blemishes, wounds, and vulnerabilities that weren’t visible when hidden in the dark of your subconscious. Often we face blocks because we realize that we’re revealing this nakedness, and we don’t know what will come from it.