Walking through the gorges of Karijini, I was chatting with someone and they said to me that they were always muddled in their mind and were never decisive about anything and never knew what choices to make and said even when they spoke, their thoughts always seemed jumbled.
After some time this person said to me that they could tell that I was decisive and I had a clarity with my decisions and words which they had never observed before. This person asked me what I did and how I came to have such clarity of thought and expression.
I shared with them that I had spent many years getting to know who I am and made a commitment to certain practices which helped clear my mind so that I could best express clearly what I wanted to say in any particular moment…and also have the space for my intuition and inner voice to speak clearly.
My daily meditation is one of the practices which I find is important (see earlier posts on meditation), and also I have found – and would recommend – writing as a tool for gaining clarity.
When one writes, only one thought or word can be written at a time. Of the hundreds of snippets of thoughts which flash through my head, I choose to draw the words which somehow are attached to the thread of what I need to examine. Writing trains the mind to be focussed on a thread of thoughts, and to discern which thoughts to leave aside. When there is something concrete to read, it is often quite illuminating to see what I have written…and then I can explore my words further. Sometimes my words reveal what is important to me…and sometimes my words reveal that I am skirting around something and I need to wade more deeply into my thoughts and feelings.
I would suggest using writing as a tool to gain clarity. Why not give it a try? If there is something which you are confused or indecisive about…start to write….let the words draw the threads of thoughts and feelings to the surface. Just write whatever comes into your fingers.
In the coming months I will post some other ways writing can assist with clarity, self-awareness, creativity and expression.
Paul Perton
May 09, 2012
Hi from down on the Southern Tip.
As you say, writing can be cathartic and certainly helps me clear my thoughts and stops those emotional, angry or otherwise knee-jerk responses that we all eventually come to regret.
I’d love a £, or a $ for every word I’ve written, edited, perfected and then binned 😉
Best,
Julie
May 13, 2012
Thanks Paul…. yes I too would like a $ for every word which has been the recipient of the ‘delete’ button… and a $ for every clear thought after spending the time writing something. 🙂