How Did We Get Here?

We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect."
--Anaïs Nin

I have written the wrong story most of my life. I was good at telling other stories until one day, I ran out of pages. When I had nowhere to go, I was reminded to let go.

Today, I am discovering how to develop an intimate relationship with stories that pull me into a dark pit of emotional hell. These stories, like many others, are not true.

They have been fed to us by generations in pain. They are not written in stone and are no more than protection mechanisms stamped on hearts from lost souls in transition. And if we find the courage to flip back a few chapters, we will be able to see wisdom within the pages of our life.

Editing our script in life starts by first loving ourselves, then those around us. This method of editing is unconventional and messy; but allows the wounds to surface while we discover how to fine-tune every word, verse, stanza, line, paragraph, and chapter.

I know how impossible it may seem to edit your life, especially if you’ve been writing someone else’s story, but none of us are destined to tell one story.

When we learn to edit our stories, we choose to love the parts of our lives that need the most attention and affection. And most of the time, that is all any of us ever need in times of hopelessness.

It’s time to discover how to write beautiful stories in life again.

I want you to close your eyes and envision your story as a blank notebook. Almost as if you were given the skills to be the most brilliant storyteller in the world with no limitations or expectations. See if you can feel new landscapes, villains, and heroes emerge within your heart space.

Take another deep breath, open your eyes and look at the empty pages before you and begin to write. As you begin, see if you can locate the parts of you longing to make this real. What words speak to you as you write a beautiful story? How does it feel to hold space for the strongest parts of you coming forward? Can you see how in this space, nothing else matters but the love you have for yourself and the life you want to create?

See it clearly for what it is and do not hold judgments about what you desire.

Instead of sitting with this part of you that does not want to write when the darkness visits, I want you to place your hand on your heart, grab a journal, take a deep breath, and surrender to what life is trying to show you. This is where you will find your true calling.

Here, you will feel the rhythm of your heart and story that needs to unfold. This is the side of you burried beneath rough drafts and unedited stories.

Stay here in the discomfort. Come here when you feel yourself playing small in life. When you feel lost. When you feel broken, unseen, and unheard. Cross our words, verses, characters, and stories that do not serve who you are. Rewrite what does.

Often, when we feel like we have nowhere to go, we forget to look at our story with love. We forget that we have the power to write the script. We get caught in reading the same pages over and over, which makes us feel as if we have come to the end of our lives.

But when we edit our stories, we give ourselves permission to face our shadows and open up to what the Universe is trying to show us. Return here often, and soon enough, you’ll see life through a different lens.

Until next week