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Angels Engage Winter Holidays and Wordsmiths

Angels help writers take flight.
Angels are found in both sacred and secular places and can also inspire writers to grow their flow.

Angels Move Feast Days and Writers

Today’s word-of-the-day selection is angels: (noun) – From the Old French, angele.  Furthermore, borrowed from the Latin, angelus. The Latin term is from the Greek, angelos, meaning messenger. (The Dictionary of Word Origins, by John Ayto). 

Angel examples? They’re everywhere! For instance, many churches feature angels in stained glass windows or statues. In addition, infants and children’s graves often illustrate angels. Certainly, they are printed on everything from greeting cards to wrapping paper. Above all, angel-themed entertainment hovers over this season.

And, a touching example is Richard Paul Evans tale, The Christmas Box. The book became a movie by the same name. In turn, Evans’ tender story inspired an event. Grieving parents each year can remember their children. It is celebrated tomorrow, December 6. See more here: https://www.eastidahonews.com/2018/12/christmas-box-angel-vigil-to-be-held-thursday-for-parents-who-have-lost-a-child/

The Connotation of This Heavenly Term

Looking for a miracle? Break this word down to the words an and gel. So, can you hear the words at work? Here is hope for any creative. Indeed, the word sounds like a cooking term for thickening. Why? Because, writers find relief when a project takes form. (And, this particular blog post is coming together after fits and starts with my site’s account. Finally, it is coming together!)

The Message of the Term Angels

Most importantly, this ethereal word’s message floats lightly from my fingertips to the screen: When you are most frustrated with the work, then that is when we are most at your side to assist you. Keep writing. Get it down. We are here to help you!

Your Turn

Light a candle. (If you missed yesterday’s post on the importance of candlelight for inspiration, see here: https://wewriteitright.com/candle-illuminates-holidays-and-writing-practice/  Next, open your journal. Quickly, free-write about a problem you are having with your writing for 10 minutes. Now, reread what you have written. Often, the answer is found in these speedy writing sessions begin to form – with angles.

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

 

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Clepe Names Writers by Their Work

Journaling is a wellspring of ideas for multiple projects.
Daily journaling help you to get out of your own way to allow more creative flow into your writing.

You’re a Writer? Keep on Cleping on!

Today’s word-of-the-day selection is clepe (verb) –archaic to call, name. Do you call yourself a writer? Both professional and hobbyists alike can find more time, subject matter, and purpose by naming what they do. First, declare your writing hours. Hone them so you are working at the most productive time of day. Next, journal every morning to get ideas down for multiple writing projects. For professionals, this leads to more diverse work. For hobbyists, daily journaling creates pockets of deeper inquiry while documenting family history or memoir writing. Finally, understand your purpose by daily writing. Professionals may find a deep satisfaction in grant writing for non-profits due to the direct line of funding to those most in need. Hobbyists may find satisfaction in leaving a written history of their family to their own heirs.

The Message of Clepe

The message of this term is one of boundaries: Take time to journal to give definition to your hopes and dreams. These free-writing sessions bear seeds to much creative work. 

Your Turn

Take your journal out. Write for 15 minutes about when you are most productive. Take time to consider ways to make your writing space more inviting. Do you have a special mug, gel pens that reduce drag on the paper, or a candle to light for inspiration? Try one or more of your ideas out in the month to come.

Coming Up in December

The word-of-the-day selection will get festive in December. As much as I like my mother-in-laws mother’s Random House English Language Dictionary, it is over 50 years old. The pages are fragile. So, I am going to put 31 terms in a basket. I will draw one and write it daily. I did a free-write this morning and listed well over 31 terms associated with the holiday season. Each term will be related to the year-end festivities as well as its connotation with a writer’s life.

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

 

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Make Flow an Act of Recipience

Gratitude leads to flow.
Recipience leads to flow by being open to that which is at hand.

Recipience and Gratitude Promote Flow

Today’s word-a-day journey took me to the term recipience: noun, 1. The act of receiving, reception. 2. The state or quality of being receptive; receptiveness. Also recipiency. If the term receptive in this definition caught your eye, then you are on the ball! Receptive, an adjective, was the first word of this exercise of blindly choosing a daily word from the dictionary. The draw of my fingertip to recipience literally took my breath away, because the terms are so similar.  If you missed the post on receptive, then read about it and its message here: https://wewriteitright.com/receptive-nature-flow/

Why Flow is Found in Recipience

The nature of flow is to move creativity freely from its source (the divinity or nature of one’s belief system) through its conduit (such as a writer) by applying the medium of choice (such as a journal entry or a blog post). If I am always concerned about helping, supporting, or carrying for others without regard to my own creative care, then I crimp my own flow. Flow is found in recipience, because it is a means of receiving creative bursts or trickles with gratitude. Daily practice, such as finding a word each day within a dictionary, and entering it into a journal, encourages even grater flow. Also, I am convinced that I chose variations of a word receive two days in a row for emphasis.

The Message of Recipience

The message that I received when finding this word was very straightforward: Be open to that which is at hand. Like most women, I have a complex juggling act that includes my relationships with family and friends, the care of an elderly pet dog, my professional and volunteer work, and my mundane, but necessary, upkeep of a household. What is at hand is often messy, loud, or pouting. Yet, what is at hand can also be curated, whispered, or smiled upon for being here. Gratitude for the mix of what works and what can be improved upon is today’s gift.

You Turn

Can you relate to the call for recipience? Do you need to be open to what is there before you? Consider writing about it in your journals to see how it might increase your sense of creativity.

Until tomorrow, here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

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Receptive Nature of Flow

Find Flow By Being Receptive to Intuition

Learning receptive writing practices can naturally lead to flow. Experimenting with a form of lectio divina, or divine reading, can help build an appreciation for the weight and power of words. The ancient art form is gleaned from holy scriptures or writings by saints. Let’s take that practice for the month of November, and give it a modern twist. All words are sacred utterances. The use of common words as transmitters of inspiration is a way to play along with divinely lead inspiration.

Where to Begin

Two days before I began this take on the Grow Your Flow blog, I took the practice for a test drive. I used my mother-in-law’s Random House  Dictionary of American Language and opened it randomly with eyes closed. I placed my fingertip on one of the pages. It landed on the word, supple. The idea of being pliant and yielding appealed to me. Don’t break or snap. Remain supple. That was the message that came to me as I wrote in my journal. Also, supple has the prefix sup- in it that sounded like street talk from my former high school students: Sup, Ms. M.? The prefix reminded me of other words that begin with those letters like support, suppose, and supersede.

Then, yesterday, I tried the practice again. Opened the book with eyes closed, and placed my finger on – nothing. As I opened my eyes I saw an empty half-page of the words beginning with E. I chuckled to myself. It was Halloween and that word and its spiritual denotations and connotations needed no embellishment. It stood solidly all on it’s own. It shimmers on its own, seemed to be the message.

Fast-forward to this morning in the pre-dawn hours when I again went to the dictionary for guidance. Receptivity was were my finger landed. The message seemed very clear to me: Are you ready to follow? Yes, I am willing to quickly receive knowledge and ideas. I am willing to have a receptive mind.

What to Observe Along the Way

November is associated with gratitude and the holiday of Thanksgiving. It has been overshadowed by the commercial overthrow of the Christmas season, but still exists on the fourth Thursday each year. I am receptive to being grateful for this new practice. I am curious to find out what messages will come up with each word every day. I will be sharing the word and its message with you in the Grow Your Flow blog.

Your Turn

Might you want to try you hand – yes, the pun is intended – at this practice? Give it a go and let me know how it works for you. The gratitude that exudes from this practice is palpable. Words carry weight and power. Seek to find the words you need to guide your creativity to the next level.

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

 

 

 

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TinMan’s Gratitude Grows Flow

Register Emotion with TinMan’s Flow

TinMan is literally rusted in place when we meet him along the Yellow Brick Road. He knows he needs help, but is literally and figuratively stuck in place until help arrives. And arrives it does in the form of two travelers going to Oz with problems of their own. Haven’t we all had a sense of grinding writer’s block that seems to freeze us in anger, fear, or resentment?

Want to grow your flow? Take a cue from the TinMan, who used appreciation to lead to flow.

Grab the Oil Can of Helpers

Just like us, Dorothy and Scarecrow are vulnerable. TinMan is no exception. They find  him rusted shut. Yet, TinMan is tenacious in his quest to speak and repeats, “Oil Can!”, in muffled speech until the Scarecrow recognizes the TimMan’s need for oiled joints. Upon application of the oil, TinMan is grateful to be moving again. He may be creaky, but his radiant smile shows his gratitude to his peers as he links arms with Dorothy and Scarecrow and dances down the road. In a sense, we all have had experiences like TinMan. We stay stuck until we find a critique group or writing mentor or online workshops to help move us forward on our creative trail. It all begins with the willingness to ask for assistance along the path. One great resource is found in the International Women’s Writing Guild’s Digital Village. Learn more about the Digital Village here: https://www.iwwg.org/digital-village/

Risk Heartbreak for Experience

In the last scene shot in Oz, Dorothy, her friends, and Glinda are all on the platform where Professor Marvel’s balloon has just launched. Glinda lets Dorothy know Kansas is as close as a few clicks of her heels. She begins her tearful goodbyes. As she hugs TinMan, he exhibits a flow of painful emotion, which most of us would call grief. Now I know I have a heart, cause its breaking. Dorothy hands him back his oil can so he won’t rust up again. In doing so, we know he and his friends will go on with their duties in Oz. He has come a long way from his frozen state to one of deep flow. My how he’s grown for the better.

Your Turn

Who can you ask for help in a writing project – or in any life matter – to regain your forward momentum of flow? Take out your journal and list friends and family who would be willing to lend a hand. Then, risk the awkwardness to write on the subject of your choice once again. You need not share the early work with anyone. Simply write to get back into flow.

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa