[Photo taken by my husband many years ago ~ not sure where.]

My husband and I had an appointment yesterday ~ one of those official, grown-up appointments where official, grown-up documents are drafted, signed, and filed.  There will probably even be some sort of official, grown-up stamp or sticker applied to these documents, but that’s just a guess.  During this appointment, I had to answer the question, “What do you do?” and, without hesitating, I said, “I am a writer.”  I have never given that answer before.  It has always been, “I am an artist,” and if the person I am talking to is interested in more details, I may or may not let it slip in that I am also a writer.  Writing has always felt secondary, like the steamed milk in my coffee.  It was an important part, but it wasn’t the coffee.  It wasn’t the main thing.

While I’m not interested in getting hung up on titles and categories, it was an interesting experience to say “I am a writer” with such confidence, to really feel the truth of it.  I have been inching my way towards my work as a writer more and more ever since I wrote Ordinary Sparkling Moments, and as I look ahead to 2011 I see a lot of wide open space that will enable me to dig deeper as a writer than ever before.  The work I have been doing these past few months to clear out my calendar as much as possible is now beginning to really pay off, and I am sitting in a lovely in-between space ~ behind me I have stacks and stacks and stacks of experiences, stories, and ideas and in front of me I have wide expanses of time and space.  I can now begin to take these experiences and shape them into stories, which could end up in any number of forms ~ essays, fiction, maybe even haikus.

My work has always been about inspiring others, and this work hasn’t ever been about just one thing.  It has been about creating and building a greeting card business that evolved into a major licensed brand.  It has been about sharing.  It has been about organizing countless creative groups, classes, workshops, shows, and retreats.  It has been about this blog.  It has been about publishing my own book.  It has been about creating heaps of artwork.  It has been about contributing.  It has been about what I see as a miraculous turn of events that gave me an entirely new line of licensed, inspirational products.  It has been about being as supportive as I can to my family, my friends, and members of this community.  It has been about giving away.  It has been about exploring the world and sharing those experiences.  And it has been about writing.

My number one rule for the book I am now writing ~ which will be released in about a year ~ is simple:  Never sit down to work on the book from a place of anxiety or stress.  In other words, if I’ve just looked at my calendar and I feel my next deadline start to wrap around my insides and squeeze, I immediately go do something else.  I will not work on this book unless I am in a totally relaxed, comfortable state.  And lo and behold, this book is unfolding beautifully, magically, dare I say ~ swimmingly.  Clearing out my calendar and learning how to set better boundaries for myself has enabled me to do this, and I now see that it is the exact kind of practice I need for the year ahead.  I have so much to write about, so much to share, so much I know in my heart will be more inspiring than anything I have ever done.  And that has to come from a peaceful place.  That has to spill from calm waters.

While doing a better job at managing my calendar and commitments does contribute to this calm, there is something even more fundamental at play here:  Doing the work I am called to do and what most deeply feeds me ~ whether as a writer or a wife ~ is what will best serve the world and thus be the most inspiring. If I am fulfilling my needs and longings then I am fulfilling the needs and longings of the world. I am learning this in ways I never thought possible, could have never even imagined, but this truth is beginning to sink into me with ever-increasing force, and each time, I happily accept.

“Don’t ask what the world needs.  Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ~Howard Thurman