Are you a writer who hasn't heard your calling?
Dear friend,
Well, maybe today is the day.
Maybe you are a writer who doesn’t know you are a writer.
Maybe all you need is someone to get you thinking you might be.
Sometimes all it takes is a good question
So let me ask you:
Do you love words?
Do words reach your heart?
Do you remember the words that move you?
Do they stay inside you for years?
Do you keep the words people write to you?
Do you pour your heart into choosing the words you write back?
Do you need more than a few words to express yourself fully?
Do you love books?
Do you have treasured books you keep near you?
Do you love and admire particular writers?
Do you read about their lives, their homes, their writing rooms?
Do you wish you had the gift they have?
Do you wish you could reach and inspire others the way they do?
Do you need a lot of time alone?
Do you spend a lot of time in deep thought?
Do you love to be at your desk in your own room?
Do you prefer to think and read rather than to watch TV or go out?
Do you write down your ideas, feelings and inspirations
in notes and journals?
Does it make you happy when you gain a new insight
and reach a deeper understanding of life?
Do you love to listen and observe?
Are you sensitive and aware of the human beings around you?
Do you love to sit and people watch,
noticing how couples and families interact?
Do you listen deeply and with compassion
when a person speaks to you?
Are children drawn to you?
Do you perceive the unique nature of each one?
Do you find life fascinating in all its dimensions?
A late blooming boomer
My answer to all these questions is yes
but it took me many years to read the writing on the wall.
I grew up in a family of writers and poets.
All the signs were there in me from the git go
yet I didn’t hear the call for a long, long time.
Two people along the way tried to tell me.
A fellow psychologist at the psychiatric hospital I was working in
took me aside one day, closed her eyes and said to me:
“Deborah, you are an artist with the written word.
I fold my hands and pray that you will hear your calling.”
Some years later,
the manager of the Ralph Lauren boutique near Washington, DC,
where I was working as a high fashion stylist,
took me aside and said:
“Deborah, you are very talented at what you do here.
But you don’t belong here. You are a writer!”
I still didn’t hear the call until I was shaken to the core
by the attacks of September 11, 2001.
I have to find a way to respond to this assault on free civilization
I remember thinking.
I have to summon the best I have to offer.
I spent years trying to figure out what I could actually do
that could make a difference.
I had a deep well of insights to offer but no avenue to transmit them.
I applied for many positions of political and intellectual work, to no avail.
Eventually I decided to become a writer
putting forward my own original ideas
and reaching out to a wide online audience.
I would write letters and other material
to build and strengthen people
psychologically, spiritually and politically.
I would seek to immunize them against extremist ideas
coming at them from the inside
and from the outside.
From the right
and from the left.
This is what I do here in Solutions.
I write letters to you.
I write to each one of you who is serious
about becoming strong and brave and free
so you can contribute your gifts to the world.
So let’s talk more about you
I surely hope that if you hear the call today
to become a writer
it won’t take you so long to pick up your pen!
All I can tell you, though,
is it will happen when you are ready.
If being a writer is who you are
it’s your destiny.
You may need to do many other things along the way
for income or for other reasons.
But ultimately,
only writing will fulfill your soul.
If you are a writer
you have light inside you
that you need to share.
A possible path
Reading and commenting on other people’s writing
is a natural way to begin.
You may already be subscribed
to a number of excellent Substacks
and are part of each writer’s community.
This is a great way to learn about writing
and the many creative possibilities open to you–
essays, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and more.
Being a participant and contributor to another writer’s journey
is great preparation for your own.
I learned the ropes from being a regular commenter
on Slack Tide, the fascinating creation of Matt Labash.
When you are ready,
why not graduate from commenting to creating?
Build a home of your own
constructed for your own unique purpose.
Become a writer with your own community of readers.
Reach the very souls who want and need to hear your voice.
Be the light
I do believe Christ was speaking to all of us
to all persons with faithful hearts and love to give
including all potential writers–
when He said:
You are the light of the world.
A city set on a hill cannot be hid.
Nor do men light a lamp
and put it under a bushel,
but on a stand,
and it gives light to all in the house.
Maybe you have never thought of yourself
as a lamp that can give light to others.
But maybe you are.
And maybe now is your time to shine.
As always well prepared advice. I wish to share with those who have thought about writing but have not yet picked up a pen figuratively or literally. I published my first book at 81 years of age. My life’s motto was learned from my favorite university professor, “Motivation is the secret of it all”. If you are motivated but think your work might not be accepted, don’t let that keep you from expressing yourself. Why look in the mirror years down the road and say, “I shoulda, woulda, coulda”. Don’t leave any of life’s pages unturned, that you are capable of turning.
This is perfect advice and you have spoken to me.