The Value Of Being Still And The Art Of Writing

Writing through fear and worry

Chaos — thoughts are flickering from here to there — no way to stop the endless parade of fears and worries.

Medical situations are the worst.

A thousand questions repeat themselves again and again.

Of course, fear becomes the dominant emotion once the worst scenario takes precedence.

Am I going to die? Can I even get in to see my doctor? I don’t want to die? My aunt had something similar. She died. Am I going to be bedridden? I don’t want to be a burden! Where is the money going to come from?

Should I try this or that?

What about drugs? There has to be a treatment. I don’t want to die.

Round and round we go. Nothing gets settled. We feel tossed — a boat adrift in a storm.

Even being gifted with good health, I have fought this battle several times.

One instance, in particular, comes to mind. I experienced persistent dizziness that led me down the road that it might be brain cancer. It wasn’t.

At the time, though, I thought the situation was serious, and I went down the road of what if. What if I was in a deteriorating state that was not going to get better? What if I died? What if I had to have an operation and chemo? Would I?

How do we stop and find the stillness from which to sort out the myriad of options?

Some folks can read their way out—Book after book, article after article. I cannot. I get confused with the varied opinions and contradictions.

When Marilyn Flower suggested that I respond to the question of writing through fear and worry, I started my process of mind-mapping my thoughts. I had a pretty solid article beginning to take shape.

Then in my daily read, a verse from Thich Nhat Hanh’s My True Home and verse 26 of the Tao te Ching( as presented in Wayne Dyers Change Your Thoughts-Change Your Life.) hit home.

Today’s verse from Thich Nhat Hanh:

Returning to the present moment, using our clear mind right here right now, we can be in touch with liberation.

Verse 26 of the Tao:

If you let yourself be blown to and fro, you lose touch with your root.

To be restless is to lose one’s self-mastery.

Interesting how one talked about liberation and the other about being in touch with your root. Both apply to the topic at hand. I read the verses to mean freedom from being blown to and fro comes from getting in touch with our root self.

How?

How do you return focus to the here and now? How do you get in touch with your root self?

My process is pieced together from the writings of many wise authors I read through the years. It is a form of guided meditation.

(The App Insight Timer has many guided meditations that might help.)

The Process:

The only place to start is from where you are now.

Breathe in the recognition that you feel fragmented — unable to process- chaotic.

Just acknowledging what is happening begins to put you in control.

Breathe out, knowing that each breath is going to help calm the waters

Breathe in — feel the waves subsiding just a bit

Breathe out — feeling more at rest.

Keep focusing on the breath. If your mind wanders gently, bring it back.

When you feel a sense of calm, start delving deeper into whatever thought or feeling is present.

First, acknowledge the thought or feeling. The probe a bit as to what is behind what is happening.

Little by little, you will begin to understand. Things get clearer.

If you begin to panic, focus on your breathing. Setbacks are bound to happen, and you are moving forward.

Ask yourself what is next?

You already know the answer. It has been buried inside of you from the beginning.

Just explore what your heart and mind are trying to say. Breathe in — Breathe out.

Trust yourself.

Whatever the next steps are, they are going to take time.

There are going to be surprises along the way.

As things develop in real-time, go back to your breathing, check in with your core, be still, observe, then decide.

One breath at a time. You will get there. AND when you do arrive, you will be at peace.

How do we write through our fears and worries?

By being still, getting in touch with our core, understanding our true self, and letting our core knowledge guide us to the next thought, sentence, or word — that is how we continue to write.

Dave Karpowicz is the creator of AbundantEverydayJoy.com.