But there is also the temptation to sit and question if it's the right thing to do. Should we even try to uproot them from our innermost being in an attempt to paint a picture for anyone else? Will they travel intact through the myriad of translations and detours (because maybe the right words don't even exist yet) - or do we run the risk of those life-changing emotions being trivialized on their journey to finding expression accurate enough to allow someone else to begin to grasp the magnitude and grandeur at the root of what hungers to be shared?
I suppose that if every writer gave into the temptation of futility whispering that the task is too big and/or impossible, or that nobody could possibly ever "get" what's really trying to be said, how many wonderful life-changing books would lay still unwritten but simmering in the depths of countless timid hearts?!
I envy the writer who has a vision at the core of his or her being, epiphanies that won't stay silent and entire worlds that won't stay hidden. They HAVE to find expression, and there is no such thing as "can't" or "impossible" or even "why"...they just spill out of the writer's pen and keyboard and find their rightful home in simply being written.
I want that. I too hunger to write about things that matter. About things that bring hope, like the Light and Joy and Companionship that has candled me out of some very dark places and filled my deepest gaping wounds with Mercy and Love.
But most of all, I want to find the words to help others understand how tenderly Someone understood my most haunting hungers and led me to places and people who have made such a life-changing difference in my life. I am constantly awed by the beauty of the people He has put into my life, by the richness of their wisdom, by the joy they bring into my little corner of the world through their laughter and caring presence. How did He know? How did He know how profoundly my heart and soul would be touched and graced by each one and the unique gift of wisdom and light that each one radiates from within their own collection of emotions and epiphanies?
Perhaps not all heart expressions need - or even want - to find their way into a book. Perhaps they write themselves on our hearts one exquisite word at a time...a witty joke yesterday, a word of encouragement today, a wise epiphany tomorrow.
My heart is full. I am profoundly immersed, touched and overwhelmed with emotions and epiphanies that would have seemed impossible not so long ago. I know with absolute certainty and exultant joy that I have been blessed and enriched (beyond adequate articulation) by others who have not allowed their epiphanies and worlds to stay silent and hidden. I am so much more than who I used to be before these people came into my life and brought with them their words, worlds, wisdoms and light.
To all of you who have allowed me to be a part of your life and epiphanies, thank you. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you!
Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born. (Anais Nin)
Isn't it amazing how the right people find us at the right time? And how we can enter someone else's life at the right time for them with the right message? I love how that works for those of us who are paying attention!
ReplyDeleteSo glad I found your blog...or...I think you found me...I just followed the bread crumbs back to you. I love your musings...they make me think...delightful!
ReplyDeleteRuth, It has taken me decades to be able to accept that flow (and ebb) of people in and out of my life. And yes, what an amazing gift that they find us - and we find them - at the exact right time. Makes me excited, because now every encounter is a gift from God, even the ones that seem weird and uncomfortable...or perhaps I should say ESPECIALLY the ones that seem weird and uncomfortable...means there's a lesson in progress.
ReplyDeleteJane, welcome, and thank you for finding me!! I'm enjoying your writings too, and am glad we found each other!
ReplyDeletePippies, that's what Jane and I call them. I love how you let it flow and all hang out. Nine times out of ten, you say what I want to say, but couldn't find the words. Not the right ones. So glad to have you reside in my spacehood. Yes, I just made that word up. Work with me. Loving you in Alabama, QJJ
ReplyDeleteSpacehood works for me...as long as we're both in the same one, whatever (or wherever?) it is.
ReplyDelete