This is Why I Write

People occasionally ask how long it takes me to put together the pieces I write for my weekly reflection or for posting on social media. Sometimes I can craft a piece quickly in as little as 30 minutes, but for more significant pieces it can take upwards of a few hours. Every once and a while someone will follow up and ask me why I spend as much time as I do creating pieces of writing that are essentially worthless from a monetary standpoint. I am nowhere near where I need to be in terms of followers for my writings to be something that I can monetize to a significant degree on an ongoing basis…. yet! 

I have told a number of good friends over the last year that my dream job would be to write a regular piece for a progressive publication like The Atlantic and to have that job produce enough revenue so that I could use the rest of my time to do the men’s community work and other pro-bono work to help others that I love so well. Perhaps putting that thought into writing and sharing it in a public domain will help me call in the support of my Ancestors and Angels that I need to make that or something like that happen more readily. The fact of the matter is that at this stage in life, none of my vocational paths are more satisfying to me than my writing. 

So what is it about writing that makes me feel so enriched? 

One of my favorite theological writers is a woman named Meggan Watterson. Watterson is a brilliant writer who is one of the world’s foremost voices on the Divine Feminine in general and the history of Mary Magdalene in particular. This excerpt from the About page of Watterson’s website speaks volumes about why I connect so deeply with her work. Watterson writes: 
 

“To me being spiritual is less about learning something new and more about remembering what I have always known. Being spiritual is a process of stripping down to what is authentic for me, for my life. Getting spiritually naked is about having the courage to be radically open about the truth of who we are with no exceptions and no apologies, to reveal ourselves without judgment or shame.” 
 

This paragraph speaks to nearly everything I believe about my own spirituality. I am a student of the religions of the world. I happened to be born Roman Catholic and I love the ritual and celebration of Catholicism in general, even if I struggle with some of the ideology and the politics. To me religion and individual religious figures/spiritual teachers are conduits to a deeper connection with the Divine, but they are not required for one to have an immense and glorious relationship with God and the parts of God that always have and always will reside within Self, regardless of the amount of theological studies one does or the particular path they choose to follow. 

As much as I love what Meggan Watterson writes about Christ Jesus, Mary Magdalene and other figures from religious history, I think my favorite thing she has ever written was something she wrote just yesterday in the email that she sends to her own mailing list. Watterson was speaking to the fact that she knew from the minute she went back to school to get her Masters in Divinity that she was not doing so to become a minister, but rather so she could become a theologian who writes. She then goes on to describe what it is she feels inside when she writes: 
 

“When I write a sentence that says something real to me, I feel a sense of completion I can’t even explain. Like hearing a sudden gospel choir within me, I feel this immediate and immeasurable praise. No external or financial compensation compares to it. It’s this inner state of knowing I am doing exactly what I am meant to do.”
 

I have never read anything that more accurately expresses the exact same feeling I get when I sit down and create a piece of writing. When I write I feel complete. When I write I feel that I am in alignment with my Soul’s true calling. When I write I am tapping into my magic and medicine as I let my inner artist come out to play on the playgrounds of life with his eyes wide open and the wonder of an innocent child. When I write I feel that I am making a difference and creating my legacy, regardless of whether or not what I have written is read by the masses or only by one. The end result makes no difference at all. 

To sum it all up, when I write, I have that same inner sense of knowing that Watterson described that I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing. In the piece she sent out yesterday, Watterson also references the directive Ernest Hemingway used to offer to aspiring writers: 
 

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.”
 

Think about that for a minute, ONE TRUE SENTENCE! How could I have been going about this all wrong for so many years? When I was in college and for the next two decades after college, I had a dream of writing the great American novel. It appears that I was approaching the task completely backwards. If I had been privy to Hemmingway’s insight and wisdom at an earlier age, I might have realized that there was no need for me to create an entire epic masterpiece, but rather I needed to focus on writing one true sentence at a time. 

When I started my JimsWhimz blog almost 15 years ago I had no idea that it would inspire me to create hundreds of stories over the years that followed. When I started sending out my weekly newsletter/reflection almost ten years ago, little did I know that I would continue the practice of creating a new original piece each week for almost 500 weeks! Since I am seldom shy with the number of words that I use, it would be a conservative estimate to say that my average post is 1000 words. 

That means that over the last ten years I have written nearly one million words, and that one million doesn’t even include the speeches that I have written for myself and others, the webinars and courses I have created or my current project of writing a client's memoirs. In totality I have written enough original material in the last 15 years to have published almost 20 average sized books! 

How is it then, that I still struggle with actually thinking of myself as or referring to myself as a writer? Maybe it’s imposter syndrome? Maybe it’s because I haven’t yet made it to the New York Times bestseller list? Or maybe it’s because in my mind, I have yet to write the truest sentence that I know how to write! 

A close friend of mine named Wendy who frequently comments on my work will often point out one or two excerpts from the pieces that I write as the parts that resonated most loudly with her. She has an uncanny ability to recognize the exact same sentences that I often feel are the heart of a particular piece. Maybe the truth is that every single piece I write has at least one true sentence and maybe that’s enough for me to accept that I am a writer at heart. That I always have been a writer ever since I wrote The Ant and the Dinosaur in Mrs. Mcgloughlin's 1st grade class and I always will be a writer, no matter what level of fame or fortune finds its way to my doorstep.

So I embark on 2024 with one major writing project inching its way to completion, a number of smaller projects in progress and a dream to continue the quest to write that one truest sentence that I could ever hope to write. In the end maybe I will write that great novel or piece of non-fiction after all. Like all things, the groundbreaking achievements in our life only happen as a result of taking one baby step (or writing one sentence) at a time! 

If you would like to learn more about how you could start sharing more of your own stories, please feel free to reach out and ask for more info about content creation coaching. I have a few current clients who have wrapped up or are wrapping up their time with me which means I have a little wiggle room to take on something, or someone new. I also encourage you to check out the entirety of Meggan Watterson's piece titled The Truest Sentence by clicking on the link right here. 

Have an amazing weekend. Love and blessings,