Advent

I love the season of Advent, that arrives with December each year, and invites me to look back over the year in the quiet darkness of the northern winter, in       preparation for the turn of the new year and the return of the light of Spring and warmth of Summer.  It is the time of new beginnings.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and He used His words. 

In the beginning, I was.  And yet, as I quietened through Advent last year, I found myself wondering if I had been gradually lost over the years.  And so this year I decided to re-find myself.  And I, too, decided to find myself in words.  Writer was my word for 2024, and writing was my intention.  My blog was born and my search began.

I love the idea that writing words and speaking words aloud aren’t just patterns on a page or sounds in the air.  It is the opening of a place, the making of a space, somewhere that I or another could step into or pick up and make ours if we choose.  And when I write or speak, these words that I have join creation and fill the space that was left for them, so that they become a part of completeness, a part of the story of the world, and so do I.

Perhaps my words will inspire you to explore who you were created to be too.  Perhaps they already have.  For through my journey of words this year, I have  discovered words that are just for me.  Pathfinder.  Mapmaker.  Light.

I think the most important thing to do is to begin.  To begin where you are.  God began His creation of the world when all was formless.  What helps me to begin writing is finding the quiet moments at the start of the day.  It’s the flow of words that just come, and the joy of feeling the words appear from the end of my pen.  I am writing; I am already a writer!  A blank page to a page covered in the pattern of my handwriting, almost without realising it. 

I wonder if the pressure for me comes not from writing but from then believing that my writing is publishable?  There are so many writers already.

I think that this may be the way of all dreams.  That to dream something, we  already have a future memory that brings us joy, excitement, anticipation,    fulfilment…  Putting our dream somewhere where it can be seen by others, that’s altogether slightly different, because it creates an invitation for someone else to engage, and perhaps they may do or say something to crush it, and even a slight crushing can feel intolerable for a dream. 

And so writing in my quiet time is something that I love and something that helps me to see myself as I am.  Publishing is an act of bravery.  And inviting    someone to subscribe is an act of even greater courage!

What are you dreaming of finding or doing?

Let’s feel the fear and do it anyway.  There are many writers, but there is only one of me.

Let there be writing.  Let there be a path found.  Let there be a map to guide.  Let there be light. 

Would you consider sharing the journey with me? 

What If I Fall? Erin Hanson; 2016.