I have a T-shirt that says “Music is my Life!” and another one that says “Music is my Religion!” and they get a lot of wear. Neither one of them is wrong, they don’t lie, they’re just not complete.
The truth is that creating is my life. Creating music and stories and poems. And creating is also my religion. I’d call myself a creationist, but that would be misleading too.
The largest part of my creating by far is my writing, because it covers so much territory. And the larger part of the writing is prose in the form of blog posts and online magazine articles, freelance articles (though I haven’t done one of those in a while), short stories, and the ongoing novel.
But there is poetry and lyrics always lurking in my mind, waiting to be discovered and recorded, usually quickly, before it disappears again below the surface of the murky, unfathomable depths of my mired mind.
And this is religion?
Religion, according to the Free Online Dictionary, is: ” The belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers […]” But it is also referred to as: “ A set of beliefs, values, and practices […]” and both those definitions start out sounding like they fit but if you read on, they lose the thread. But if you read on a little farther, you come to the treasure.
Religion is: “A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion!”
That’s the spirit!
And therein lies my life. And furthermore, therein lies my faith.
Oh no, I don’t believe that if I pursue my writing craft with zeal and devotion I will find peace in any afterlife. I don’t believe in anything that I can’t prove, though I don’t disbelieve in anything I can’t disprove either.
But I do believe that the pursuit of what you were made for will bring you peace in this life. And I believe I’ve proven that to myself time and again. I believe I was made to sing, to play, to tell stories and make people laugh and cry at the thoughts I can conjure in their heads.
And I believe I was made to write
I may be somewhat egotistical in some ways, but I don’t think I’m overly good at writing. It’s just the thing I do better than the other things I do. And I do believe that the more I write, the better I’ll write. And so, I write. I write daily.
And I refer to that daily writing as my practice. I got that habit from Natalie Goldberg, picked it up from her book “Writing Down The Bones.” And that fits in with my idea that writing and creating are my religion. My writing practice is my religious practice. I’m practicing my religion when I write, I’m practicing my faith.
So, you could call me a Practicing Writer. In fact, please do.
