Every Day for a Month

“It’s that thing I can’t not do.”

“Then you need to do it. If you’ve found that thing then definitely pursue it.”

I went to a retreat this last weekend put on by my school. I’m still in awe at how Divine it is that I ended up at the school that I did—I had no idea about St. Thomas. The retreat was a guided, spiritual retreat to pursue God’s will for your life and vocation and a time dedicated to figure out where your giftings lie and how they are designed to interact with the world around you, however locally or globally.

I went because one of my Professors in Rome recommended it. I went to lunch with this Professor and her husband in Rome one day after finals and picked her brain about her relationship with God because I could see it and wanted to understand it better. She’s one of those truly alive people and I wanted, no needed to know her better. She recommended that I go and so I did. A very good decision.

So much happened, and I’ll be writing more about later, but one significant “epiphany” was that while I’ve kind of been in denial about it for years (simply because I’ve chosen to never see myself this way) I am coming to grips with the fact that I do have an artist’s soul. Finally I'm realizing that I'm not just an appreciator or sympathizer, but in fact even though my “art” is very amateur it’s there. Because indeed writing is that thing that I can’t not do.

The spiritual director of the University of St Thomas School of Law met with me for a salient half hour this weekend. She mostly asked questions and gave me very little definitive advice except for this: Yes. Write. If that is how you feel about writing then pursue it. She identified, she said, for she herself wrote…and she reiterated the above encouragement later that day.

This was all actually just a confirmation of something that’s been stirring in me for the last couple of months. I’ve felt lately a series of "releases" in different areas of my life to just be who I am and love what I love. This is one of them.

So, I’m going to write. I’m going to write more. I feel as if I’ve essentially been given permission to do something that until I’ve only allowed myself to keep on the back burner. I’m excited. And slightly apprehensive, but never mind.

I’ve felt one more thing in this regard—I need to have some discipline about it. That said, I’m going to start with this: I’m going to write every day for a month. I will do my best to post what I write, for the action of posting what I write on my blog is a degree of accountability for me. But regardless, however short or long I will be writing and posting every day until September 19^th. 

(This should be interesting when school starts).

À demain.