Video- in a scene from one of my fave movies, Midnight in Paris, Ernest Hemingway tells us what it means to be a writer.
‘Aspiring Writer’ was the title of a thread in a writers group on Facebook recently but the comment section had me trawling through wondering where it all went so wrong. There were some nasty comments and some very defensive responses.
Who cares if someone calls themselves ‘aspiring’? A lot of people apparently. People were getting very worked up, fist-thumpingly declaring that a writer is a writer even if “they just write a shopping list”
Hemingway would agree, at least his character in Midnight in Paris would. If you’re a writer, declare yourself the best writer…
The shopping list thing was a bridge too far for me though!
I think people call themselves aspiring until they have something published not realising that it’s the act of writing that makes one a writer. (But surely not shopping lists…?)
Spirituality it seems, has a similar dichotomy. My bio describes me as a seeker (not as in Quidditch sadly.) I’ve been searching for meaning since early childhood.
I think – believe- we’re all here for a reason but I feel like the answer to my 40 year search is always just around the corner…
Anyway, I was listening to Terry Patten today who stated that at some point the Seeker must become a Practitioner. Just as the aspiring writer, through experience and learning, hopes to become a writer worth reading, the spiritual seeker must one day choose a practice and follow it to reap its benefits.
Benefits?
Like creative pursuits, spiritual practices challenge us and encourage us to reach our potential and making our life meaningful.
If you have a spare five minutes, grab your dictionary or google the word ‘dichotomy’. What an interesting word in all it’s guises. While you’re there, look at Paradigm and Hegemony.
Your challenge is to use them in a sentence over the next 24 hours. That should confuse a few of your friends.
I wish I could say this is me, but I can say I’m working on it.
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