Before blogging, I only wrote when I had to, never out of choice. Writing scared me. I started blogging as for my students. That gave me reason and a cover.
I stumbled along. Then somehow, I found a living, ever-changing mentor text. The virtual writing workshop at Two Writing Teachers’Slicing Community. Slicers welcomed me. They read my stories and celebrated my daily struggles, hopes, triumphs and failures. Personal and professional. Slicers became my cheerleaders, my mentors, my colleagues, my dear friends. They have stretched me to places I never knew of; places I never thought I had any business going.
My One Little Word grew out of slicing.
Today my OLW is honored by Holly Muller’s Spiritual Thursday link up.
Admire. A perfect word for these communities that admire and support one another in and through writing.
In January, I chose “admire” as my OLW to focus on and celebrate the gems in life. To find the beauty that is too often hidden by traditional expectations.
Finding trouble is easy. Seeing value in an apparent mess takes a special lens. It isn’t easy. Admiring. My lens gets smeared and distorted in the daily grind. I feel the fast-moving current, ready to sweep me away, and I fail to notice the beauty and sparkle bouncing off the river. I don’t see the golden river rocks below. I’m focused on getting across.
Writing makes me stop, notice, and think.Writing makes me take stock. Re-see, revise. Admire the world and life around me. Writing has become my spiritual journey.
Writing still scares me. But when I’m with the people I admire, who see the road I’m on as worthy, I can breathe easier. I can admire.
Writing with dear friends is a communion. Writing with those I admire is a great gift.
Thank you to the beautiful women of Two Writing Teachers Blog and the slicing community. Read more slices here.
And thank you, Holly, for your weekly link up and thinking about my OLW. Find other reflections on their Spiritual Journey here.
To Read To Write To Be 