Writing
Down the Bones
Natalie
Goldberg's "Writing Down the Bones"
 Posted
May-21-2006
Freeing the Writer and Artist
Within
I am on page 124 of this classic work by Natalie Goldberg
titled Writing Down the Bones. This book, published
in 1986, has been lauded in a number of creativity,
spirituality, and writing books that I've read.
Now I understand why. It's not really a how-to writing book
in the technical sense; it's more of a how-to writing book
in the spiritual common-sense. It points us to what we already
know deep within us, and encourages us to give it life
through our written words. (The visual artist in me is also
learning much from this book.)
From the back cover:
"The secret of creativity, Natalie Goldberg makes clear,
is to subtract rules for writing, not add them. It's a process
of "uneducation" rather than education. Most people
are baffled at how to teach this, since teaching and "uneducation" appear
contradictory. But Natalie's experience in Zen meditation,
which is essentially a subtractive process, has provided
her insights."
I wedged a sticky Post-it
bookmark on page 32 in the chapter titled We
Are Not the Poem. This simple truth about how we express
ourselves through writing (or art) on any given day
is so liberating.
The chapter begins:
"The problem is we think we exist. We think our words
are permanent and solid and stamp us forever. That's not
true. We write in the moment."
And it concludes:
"Don't identify too strongly with your work. Stay
fluid behind those black-and-white words.They are not you.
They were a great moment going through you. A moment you
were awake enough to write down and capture."
When I write from my core, creativity and spirituality become
one. Everyday I am different. This book facilitates a wonderful
journey in celebrating the details of our lives and manifesting
our individual truths in the moments that they arrive. For
me, writing and art is an expression of the soul and of the
spirit, a creative outlet
and inlet of
the collective wisdom surrounding us, permeating inside us.
I hope that every aspiring writer and artist
reads this book. •
© 2006 Chris Dunmire www.chrisdunmire.com.
All rights reserved. |
