Are you a closet writer? …. Today is the day to come out!

Do you write secret things that you never show anyone? I want to see your secret. Please! I wrote little bursts of inspirations for years that I wouldn’t dare show a soul. Then when I first published my paintings as cards, 23 years ago, I couldn’t find suitable quotes, so I just wrote them myself. Surprisingly people really liked them, even though I hid them at the back of the card.

Several years ago I had this dream… I was walking along our beautiful white beach in Perth and as I looked out on the horizon I saw this epic, penned scroll unfold down from the sky into the ocean. It was hundreds of feet high and flooded with light. It was a Moses, 10 Commandments moment. I guess someone was trying to get my attention. All I needed was the chorus of angels singing Hallelujah to make it complete. I thought “ OK, I guess I am going to be writing”. I started writing in newsletter format soon after that, just to get my ideas out.

When I wrote my book last year, I had three months to write all the poems. Again, I had not been able to find anything that expressed what I really wanted to say to go with my paintings. I said ”God, I need at a lot of help here, so I am showing up everyday until we are done.” The poems spilt onto the page, bit by bit. I felt extremely vulnerable opening up my inner worlds and my love life to the world, but that place of infinite love and creativity has a way of using anyone that shows up; it peels back out hearts to the golden kernel, picks up little bits of us as it passes through and enjoys it when we spend time honing our craft. I bet my book could be much better, but this is how it is right now. I am pretty good at accepting my imperfections in my writing because I don’t think of myself as a writer. I am much more critical with my painting. Aren’t we funny the way we get so attached to labels and identities.

So start sharing your writing. It is easier sometimes to attach it to a picture, especially if you post it on facebook. Please share it with me too! Your sharing, will encourage other people to spill their secret words. Before you know it, you will have started your own blog. Open the dam and let it out. The flow will make you feel much better.