All I Want to Do is Walk and Write… How about you?

My life feels like a cartoon right now. I am the caricature of a writer, a wife, a friend, mother, counselor, coach. Remember the character Gumby? I feel stretchy like that; pulled at all angles like some ridiculous animated creature.

The force pulls me out from my center. I am called to stay balanced and centered… to be aligned, but my personal alignment feels what? Out of whack? In between? Ah, yes… that in-between feeling is here again (or still). I am nudged by a force that says move forward without knowing the destination.

All I want to do is walk and write. That’s about it. The age old question: Can that be enough? At writer’s group last night we were given a poem called “Alphabet for a Writer” by Pat Schneider. We were invited to read through the poem and see what shimmered to the top for us. Then our facilitator offered us the opportunity to select a random “angel” card. The angel of Abundance chose me.

All I’ve wanted to do for several weeks now is write and walk. Everything else seems secondary, so I wasn’t surprised when the lines that shimmered for me were about going forward without knowing a destination and following my instincts. These are the same messages that followed me before, during, and since Paris. I don’t know where I’m going, but writing and keeping my body healthy seem to be of utmost importance.

            Again I ask the question: Can that be enough?

Returning to the writing exercise, I pause and consider what it means for me to be a writer… to share these stories of pilgrimage, life, and the times in-between.

Sandwiched in between “Go without knowing your destination” and “Instinct rather than rules” lies Abundance as to ‘Have in…’

This leaves me breathless and excited… truly, deeply, wildly… Excited.

@ Pere LachaiseMy angel graciously spreads the fruits of my writing… in abundance. There is the whimsical side of me who ponders and makes connections between all things. While I thought I might shift away from this style I know now it is a signature of who I am. Who I BE… in abundance.

There is the ever-growing risk taker. The one who forges into fiction and creates new worlds every day… in abundance. Fluid with color and metaphor, magical realism, stepping over and through boundaries. Following instinct rather than rules.

And then there is the contemplative. The one who sees and seeks meaning in everyday life. Who longs to walk for hours without destination or goal. The one who weaves our stories together and notices the threads—Abundant threads—connecting the world’s layers through fiction and fact. Celebrating life abundantly. Making meaning. Finding connection. All the while faithfully going forward without knowing the destination. Following instinct rather than rules. Listening for the call. Stopping. Pausing. Beginning each day having, being, living in Abundance.

All I want to do is walk and write and share my words.

“Just write,” whispers my sweet angel. “Write and move your body. Follow the call…”

That is enough for now.

What would be 'enough' for you today? What would it look like to follow your shimmering edges?