Beautiful Words

While I was an MLitt student at the University of St. Andrews, I was continuously told that I could not write. For someone who writes to sustain her soul, to keep herself afloat amid the stress and turmoil of the surrounding world this was felt on a deeply personal level. Fortunately, I have recovered, for the most part, from this criticism--choosing to be brave and write as I feel led. I still have moments when the panic, fear, and anxiety stop me and make it incredibly difficult to move forward but I am healing from that experience and grateful for all I learned while I was there.

No matter how much that criticism hurt, I could not and would not stop writing. I love words, I love stringing them together to create sentences that then create paragraphs. And I LOVE COMMAS. I love observing and experiencing this life and then getting to share it with others. And goodness, I am thankful for beautiful words that flow from others.  

Last night, I was in a melancholy place. So I drew a bath and decided what I needed to cure the blues were beautiful words. I wanted someone else's beautiful words to stitch me up. I wanted to read about their experiences, to allow their vulnerabilities to brush up against mine, and for our spirits to have a sense of camaraderie--even if they never meet in person. 

This morning, the beautiful words have been drawing me back in. I am curled up in my morning chair, eating bread made by my own hands, drinking tea, and reading someone else's take on life. It is healing, it is holy, and it is stitching me together in new ways. Gosh, I am thankful for the call to write; I am thankful for the people who choose to answer it and are brave enough to share their words--I pray my words might be beautiful to some eyes and hearts and I pray that I continue to answer the call even when voices tell me I cannot write.

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." --Vincent Van Gogh 

There are always loud and powerful voices that tell us we cannot do something, sometimes those voices are our own, but what might happen if we chose to do the opposite? What if we chose to ignore the voices that tell us we cannot do something and did them anyway? I think the world would rejoice because a little more laughter, joy, love and passion would be added to the world and that is certainly what we all need.

Grace and Peace and Love.

All my heart,

Margaret