Recently, Adrian Juric of Inner Landscapes hiking retreats, suggested that we celebrate the other birthdays of our lives, not just the one where we entered the world on a particular day. I love that idea. 10 weeks ago I had one of those other birthdays–the day I began to take Sundays off, purposely choosing not to work. It is changing my life. I am growing more aware of the value of limitations, and more aware of how hungry I am for the part of myself where I feel most alive–when I am writing, or creating, when I am walking about, bicycling out into the world, or when I am swimming. In the world we live in, what we do, how much we do, who we know, where we’ve been–all those external measurements, count. When I write, I go home to myself. I get to explore the interior world and try and make sense out of the dissonant, the world’s disturbing and beautiful complexity in all its wonder. I get to focus on being. This is central thing that keeps me writing. It is a way to slow down and explore what this life is that I am living, to ask questions of it, to go inside it and poke around, to play. A writing practice can be a way to make a commitment to ourselves to honor and nurture who we are, what we most value. Fredrich Buechner says, “Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.”
Starting this blog is a writing birthday of sorts, but this blog is also a way to invite others along on this journey of writing as a spiritual practice and an exploration of the world. I look forward to the conversation.
Anna Citrino---Poetry, Place, Pilgrimage 