Deep Longing

Each venture starts out with small steps.  The birth of an idea, the promise to try something new, or the offhanded remark to a friend all start you on the path.  Several months ago, I decided to start writing so that I could write beside my students.  A blog offered me a chance to combine writing and art which are both processes with similar steps or components.  I justified the blog, which feels slightly narcissistic, by saying it was a blending of artistic, writing, personal, and professional elements.  It would serve as a writing portfolio, showcase my art, provide examples for my students to read, and the list went on.

My husband and I started the process of creating a blog site.  He patiently found themes, asked questions, and built the structure for my words.  Imagine my surprise when his time frame didn’t fit my time frame and impatience to write.  Again, I justified my feelings.  Those students needed me to write.  I had to show them the writing process, that blogging is serious writing, and that writers are real people like you and me.

Then it hit me like a blast of cold wind off the ocean in Monterey, I wanted to write because I love to feel the words beneath my hands.  I wanted to craft an image on paper that could only be seen with a person’s imagination, the words being read, and the process of taking ideas into the heart and mind.  Suddenly, I had to face the fact that I had this deep longing to write.  All those years of morning pages and journaling were because I was, am, and will always be… a writer as well as artist.  My friends, family, and colleagues cringe at the thought of writing, and I love it.  I love the writing, the crafting, the challenge, and the puzzle of the words blending together in an expression of the mind and soul.

Please join me on the journey of process.  Below the fold of each post, we will find the process of creating art, writing, and living are all intertwined.  Together the mingling path will help us to uncover the process of answering our deep longing.