10 Suggestions for Writing and Life

Listen deeply
to yourself and others,
especially to what is inside the words,
and to
trees, the wind, lions, the ocean, parched earth, crickets and the silence.
Hear the weeping and the love and the stillness.

Be wary of comfort zones.
Let yourself feel how uncomfortable they actually are.

Don’t put it off.
Remember what just happened to ___________________

Writing and living carefully is a cage.
You have the key.
You will regret it in your final days if you don’t use it.

Tell the truth.
Every secret is a knot in your body/mind,
and everyone knows,
and keeps their distance.

Accept
loss
rejection
mistakes
winter
the waning moon
ebbing tides
ambiguity
not knowing.

Don’t relish your stories.
Drop into their essence.
Then feel into what really wants to be expressed.

Write, live
raw
undefended
wild
heartful
the preciousness that you are
free
without labels.

Don’t let the monkey mind
cajole, inhibit, govern, judge, get in the way, interpret, worry, dwell in the past
or the future.
Don’t treat it as an enemy either.
Simply bow to the mind, acknowledging and attending to it when it is helpful.

Open to the luminous field of Being
that includes everything and
is who you are.
Try writing from there.
Abide there.