What Does "Write the Vision" Mean to Me?

As I approached my birthday this year, I spent some time (ok, lots of time!) reflecting on what I wanted to experience in my next year of life. During that time, I was given a life assignment to spend one year (at least) writing daily. Firstly, you may be like "what do you mean you were given a life assignment," so I will definitely take a moment to explain. I consider myself a Christian and have a heavy focus on the spiritual aspect of my faith rather than a strict focus on rules and dogma -- I think these things certainly serve a purpose, but at this time in my life that honestly is not a direct focus for me. Instead, I focus on the exploration and the development of a spiritual practice in which I experience sensations and manifestations of the presence of God and am able to feel thread lines of a unique spiritual relationship with the supreme, divine being that I have come to know and identify as God. I am very interested in developing the value and appreciation of the tradition and dogma of religion through my own personal and unique experience and encounter with it.

One way that I feel I have experienced the sensation of the presence of God, is what is commonly referred to as a still, small voice. Sometimes I hear it when I am reading the bible or watching/listening to a sermon. Sometimes I hear it when I am about to make an important life decision. Sometimes I hear it out of the blue in an exchange or encounter with someone on the street. In any case, it always feels like something within me speaks to me and serves as an internal guide. It was this voice that led me to this year long writing assignment. Writing throughout my life has brought me a great deal of clarity and has helped me uncover aspects of myself I felt were hidden. After a period of my life that was very devoid of personal, reflective writing, I felt lost and uncertain, and as a result this voice of God drew me back to a practice that I believe will help me get to a new place of deepened clarity and discovery.

That being said, I am certain that this journey will be like a winding road. I am sure that my writing will look different everyday. Even in my "test-run" before my official launch it has differed greatly day-to-day -- Sometimes a word and sometimes a poem and sometimes a ranting, stream of consciousness. I will accept my writing and share it in whatever form it comes. I will also partner with people in my writing -- Christian or otherwise -- and explore what partnership in writing will bring this journey.

More than anything, I am just excited to see what is revealed to me through this writing practice. What insights I gain about myself and the world around me. I am also excited about what writing those discoveries down will mean and how the written word will impact and engage others. Please share your responses and comments to my writings whenever you can. I look forward to sharing in this experience with you, and I am sure that the element of forming a community in this practice is one that is essential to the growth I hope to experience. As mentioned before, I am so grateful for your support on this journey, and I hope that your engagement would be as much of a blessing for you as it is for me.

So, here's to getting things started...

Love,

Candace