There’s a saying in yoga or, at least, among yogis — the mat is always there for you.
What this means is that it doesn’t matter how long it has been since your last practice, you can always unroll your mat and go through the poses and learn what you need. People forget that yoga, in addition to being a great way to keep in shape, is a spiritual practice and, as such, has much to teach you. One of the things taught was sit in discomfort. Only then will you be able to use thoughts to make decisions rather than emotions.
Writing is a practice that I have left and returned to several times in my career. It keeps bringing me back when the universe remembers that this writing practice, the unending process of becoming a master storyteller, is what I was made to do.
Recently, I spent some time with a graduate-level creative writing class at the University of Houston — Clear Lake. I was invited by their teacher and it was probably the best hour I have spent on my writing. These wonderful students of the craft asked questions about the themes I explore in my work and the patterns that they read in it. I don’t think I have been seen in quite that way and it was a reminder that it was time to return to the practice.
Another reminder: my significant other affirmed that I needed to write more.
And so, I am or at least trying to. I am trying to make sure that I have some time, at least most days, of some writing. So, I’m starting here, writing this blog post and hoping that it is going to springboard me into some other work, deeper work. Or return to my memoir, which is two weeks and a cabin stay from being completed. Or wrangle down a short story that I’ve written three separate openings for.
Any of these would be amazing. I don’t know which one I’m going to chose but I’m happy that I’m sitting at this keyboard typing something other than a module or a lesson plan or grading a paper.
Not that I don’t enjoy it, but there has to be more to life than just doing things for other people.
There has to be.
