Writing as Meditative Practice: In How Many Ways Could Writing Improve Your Life?

If I just mentioned meditation in conversation, what would you think of?

Something like this?

But what if I told you writing is a form of meditation?

What if, I also told you that you don’t need to be a professional writer to get the most out of writing?

Generally, people have this idea of writing as a purely academic pursuit because it’s something we’ve been taught in schools since young. Hence, people fail to realize the positive effects this practice could have on their lives if incorporated into a routine.

If you need help creating a routine, perhaps this post could be of help.

Let me tell you what happens when you write — at least if you’re focused on the task and avoiding distractions.

You are forced to finally clear the fog out of your head. If you’ve been avoiding things that you ought to do, you’re going to have to confront them, or at the very least, you’re going to realize what those problems are. When you don’t stipulate the conditions for success, there are no repercussions for failure.

What happens as a consequence of this is that you remain foggy about your plans for the future, and that is not a spot you want to be in when attempting to achieve your goals. Considering one doesn’t stumble on success by accident, one should have a plan. You don’t have to be the Professor from Money Heist but you should work out a plan of action.

For instance, if you were attempting to spend more time outside. Your mind is going to think just that, “I want to be outside”. And that’s fine if you just began setting the goal, but after some time, you’ve got to be more specific. If not, how do you know when you’re in the optimal state of goal attainment?

Alright, you identified the problem. “I’m inside too much”. How much time would you have to spend outside before you feel satisfied with your progress? 10 minutes? Half an hour? Two hours?

You don’t know, and the reason you don’t know is because you didn’t specify the prerequisites for success. So, essentially, all you have is a statement and not a goal.

For progress to occur, there needs to be a direction you’re moving toward as well as a direction you’re running away from. The reason for the creation of a goal is to ensure that you’re moving in a positive direction. But if you haven’t detailed that out, it becomes difficult to gauge where you are in your journey. So, even if you are in the optimal situation, you wouldn’t know that because you kept your goals foggy. On the flip side, if you fall short, you also wouldn’t know because you didn’t detail the conditions for failure. And I understand why people do it, “ignorance is bliss” after all. However, is that an approach you want to take on something as important as your life?

If so, cheers. If not, writing is a good starting point.

And you may be thinking, “I’m a really bad writer, I didn’t finish school, I don’t know how to go about this, the task seems too daunting, I don’t have enough time for this.” There may be various reasons as to why you’re hesitant.

It’s alright, take baby steps. You have to be willing to be ignorant in order to be enlightened. And if you’re just starting out, you may feel ashamed and even chastise yourself.

“DAMN, 5 MINUTES? THAT’S ALL I CAN DO?”

And the answer is yes, that is all you can do — at the moment. This isn’t checkers, it’s chess. You play the long game, and you may start out at zero. But do you know the best part about starting at zero? Any progress becomes good progress. And even though you may not be at your desired level yet, maybe, just maybe, you may now be able to float as opposed to sinking.

So, start off at an optimal level — one challenging enough to test your capabilities but manageable enough to sustain.

Once you’ve gotten past the initial phase of finding your feet. As you specify your goals, the possibilities start to open up, and it becomes easier to spot those activities you should engage in and those activities that don’t serve your better interests.

Writing is a form of formalized thinking, so if your New Year’s resolution was to become a better critical thinker. One of the tools has been made available to you if you’re willing to use it.

FINAL THOUGHTS

To experience the benefits of writing as a meditative practice, you first have to bypass your original fears and engage yourself with formalized thinking. As you start to detail your goals, you start to eliminate factors that aren’t related to the attainment of that goal. As you eliminate those factors, you start to notice an increase in positive emotion because you’re making advances towards worthwhile endeavors— by your own standards. And as you start to notice these positive changes, your worries begin to reduce and your life proceeds to become more meaningful.

That’s what meditation is for innit?

SIGNING OUT

TONY

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