Any where is a here with a W

In a season of change or decision? Use this prompt.

Anywhere, art by J.E. Serait

Do you ever pay attention to your process of paying attention? Or, as one thinker notes, observe your “way of thinking about thinking”?

¹

I have a practice, perhaps you might call it a prompt, that I lean on in certain times. It’s a stream of consciousness exercise in which I simply blacken the page.

I use it as a writing hack, but also a spiritual hack too.

When I lead workshops with creatives at the start of projects I utilize it. Especially when people feel like they’re in a jam. And I also use it for myself, sometimes, to gauge what’s going on within.

If you’ve got a creative or spiritual block, you should try it.

Here’s how it works

Get out a piece of paper and a pen. Set a timer for 1 minute. Put aside all other distractions.

Once you start the timer there is only one rule. You must write. Just blacken the page. Move the pen. The words don’t have to make sense. The sentences don’t have to be coherent, poetic or prosaic.

(When I lead the workshop, I permit people to write “I hate that Andrew is forcing me into this corner and demanding I write, etc…” if they need copy).

Usually what we discover together is that the minute rushes by, and we spend more time writing things down.

At the beginning of a project or a life decision, there is a lot of noise. And I find this exercise is an incredible way to tap into the inner dialogue, to enter the stream of consciousness and to see what’s flowing.

Outside the structure of a creative workshop, when I’ve used the prompt to capture what’s in my heart and head, I’ve found it has freed up my thinking and outlook.

So, when I lean into this exercise, I find that incredible things emerge. Including the truth I discovered that serves as the title for this post.

As I started to blacken the page of my journal with the question of Where? and then simply let myself write without editing or overthinking, I discovered a deep truth that was already present in the syntax:

Any where is a here with a W.

The more I scribbled and chased the thought, the play of words whispered aloud helped me to hear the “double you”.

Any where is a here with a double you.

Wherever I go, God is with me.

God’s presence transforms any place. Anywhere I go, with Him, will be meaningful. What a freeing thought! And a generous starting-point any time I need to make a life decision.

Here for it, art by J.E. Serait

Where are you going?

This is a season of change for so many. In the month of May, I always think of graduates who are about to embark on new pathways, people who are asked in most every conversation, “What’s next?”

Where do I go and what do I do? can be an agonizing question.

So many people I know are coming to the end of one season and moving into something different, whether they’re finishing school, switching jobs, or faced with new challenges or circumstances.

Do you relate?

Perhaps all you need to do is blacken the page. If you need some direction or fresh ideas, set aside a few minutes. Free yourself to scribble out some thoughts. See what’s already in your heart and in your head.

Perhaps you’ll find an answer right where you are. A prompt that will nudge and free you up to step into the next thing.

1. Richardson, Joan. Pragmatism and American Experience. Cambridge University Press, 2014.