“The deepest secret in our heart of hearts is that we are writing because
we love the world.”
Natalie Goldberg

In her wonderful guide, The Right to Write, Julia Cameron has a chapter simply titled “Happiness.” In it she shares her belief that although, many nonwriters see writers as angsty and troubled, in fact, much of the writing we cherish as both writers and readers comes from a place of joy and love. Julia definitely has my vote on this one!

Writing isn’t easy and finding the strength to stay motivated and keep at it when things aren’t well can be challenging. But what work worth doing well is ever easy? And what’s more satisfying than tackling and wrestling to the ground something difficult that you’re really passionate about?

Sure, there are some days when I find it tough to tackle a thorny writing problem. But there are many more days when I feel blessed to be able to do work that I love and tell stories that I long to share. Here’s what my friend Sally, who’s a wonderful painter, said to me once: “As a writer, you put words to feelings and some of us can’t do that — and we need it. So keep going!”

Consider the Bronte sisters, Charlotte and Emily. Their novels are full of stormy passion and angst — and their own lives were often marked by hardship and sorrow. And yet, from their earliest days, they and their sister Anne and brother Branwell created imaginary worlds and chronicled them in incredible detail in tiny books filled with tiny writing. Words and stories seemed to just pour out of them all and onto the page. Surely, there was much joy and pleasure in these spontaneous acts of creation — in summoning worlds and kingdoms out of the air and making them dance for their pleasure.

So as we turn to the page this week and tell our stories, large or small, let’s write from a place of joy and thanksgiving. Surely we are blessed to call our craft our own. Write on!