Heading for three months of daily blogs & being so close I’ve been thinking today about the writing process. Have I got to a state of serenity with my writing? I use that word deliberately. Some times I’ve sat down to write with the piece already flowing through my mind, writing hurriedly to catch it all on the computer screen, excited to see where the words were taking me. Other times my mind has been blank, completely empty and seemingly determined to remain so. In between have been the days when it seemed ideas dropped in every second but never made it to posts. I have a long list of them which can fill the blank minded days. Or where a good idea was expressed in sluggish, erratic dribs and drabs.

Serenity – the state of being calm, peaceful and untroubled – only applies to my writing sporadically. I hope that as I continue my blogging & the other articles I write the familiarity of the activity will bring a sense of peaceful, purposeful effort. And as I continue to explore the ideas my mind throws up I will be calm about putting my opinions and experiences to a wider audience. There may even be a time when my writing is in such a great balance that every piece I write will be created in a serene way. Especially as I have a muse on hand should I ever get stuck.

I was walking back from my office tonight wondering where to start with my blog and the word serenity popped into my head. It has been a rather less than calm day in some respects so I wondered what had inspired that word. Then came the familiar tingles at the back of my head. My philosophy Guide had decided to get involved in my writing today. She only puts in appearance when there is a spiritual point to be made about something and she can be a bit of a hard taskmaster. She likes to encourage debate so often plays devils advocate. She actually followed up the word serenity with the question why do we try so hard to find it outside when it can only be experienced inside? Then she pointed me to my writing so I would think about my own creative process.

Is it useful to create something in a calm and peaceful way? Many great writers, musicians and artists were tortured souls; visionaries who struggled to share their inner world with other people. We experience the struggle they had with their work through the bliss or perfection they have managed to include in their pieces. Yet there are also great works from those who crafted with an untroubled energy to produce masterpieces. So do we need to be emotionally stirred by our creations or can great works be inspired by an atmosphere of calm? It seems to me my Guide has got me in a bind again. I acknowledge that whatever words emerge I am passionate about writing. In the struggle to say what I mean and mean what I say I have to find a balance where I can step back from judging my work. Endlessly editing, reworking and reviewing what I’ve written would probably result in nothing appearing in the blog at all. So there has to be serenity with what I write. The calmness to send it off into cyberspace to travel where it will. Ah ha! Light  bulb moment. Whilst I have been talking about writing my Guide wants me to understand that creation (of anything) involves two opposites. The inclusion of  emotion sets passion against calm. Creation, an inner journey, and production, the outer journey. It is the merging of these two streams of emotional energy that, if properly balanced, bring out the best possible piece of work.

There is always an underlying message with this Guide. Instead of discussing my writing I could have been discussing my mediumship, my cooking, my anything. Life can be serene if we use our efforts to bring forth the passion and inspiration from within, shaped in whatever way may appeal to us, to honour our creative abilities. For that is the  inner journey – to understand the way in which we use our inner world to shape the outer world. Serenity is available to all of us. We can have a peaceful, calm, untroubled life so long as we embrace our passion for creating and get on with doing it.

At the end of this blog I have no idea if what I’ve written will make sense to anyone else.  I have spend a peaceful, thoughtful hour considering the word serenity and what it means to me. I understand more than I did when I started to write. I have changed slightly through the process of writing. Is it time for you to start creating the inner dialogue with your Guides? Will you find a peaceful discussion or a passionate debate?

Day 86 of my blogging challenge.