Passion writer: one who is not an employed full-time writer but makes time for the craft of writing. They do this because they feel called to write, they love it, and they feel alive when they put pen to paper, fingers to keyboard, or (for a few) hands to the typewriter.
I’m a passion writer. I have a full-time job working as a Physician Assistant to the refugee community in Denver- this is what pays the bills, what I went into $90,000 dollars of debt for and simultaneously is something I really enjoy. BUT I also love writing. I always have. So much so that when I’m not doing it, something feels off. I do it because I love it. I want you all to have the freedom to do the same. That is if you feel that calling inside of you. It doesn’t have to make money to be something worth spending your time on.
I learned a few things about writing as a passion when I took a break over the holidays.
It is sometimes necessary to take time off
It is a healthy thing to take a break from all the noise in our lives, and welcome silence instead.
I took a break from social media, blogging, and writing over Thanksgiving and Christmas. The break was amazing. I felt so refreshed after massively decreasing my screen time, blogging schedule, social media time, and email checking. I stopped the noise and welcomed more silence into my life.
Although I didn’t intentionally spend time thinking about the Vine and Venture blog over the break, I know there were a lot of ideas and vision happening subconsciously. My soul felt refreshed after this time off.
Coming back from a break is tough/Don’t wait for “inspiration”
I aimed to start writing in January, but life happened: work was busier than normal, the time got away from me, and honestly, I didn’t feel “inspired”. It’s hard to make ourselves take breaks in our busy, achieving society. It’s even harder to get going again after we have taken time off.
I wrote the Writer’s Block poem as an honest, yet a hopeful expression of how I felt after that long break. In the poem, I admitted that I was stuck and confronted how that made me feel.
Prayer and action must work together
After the poem, I then wrote a prayer surrendering to God my struggle for words and my desire to write again.
After that prayer, I had to actually put my seat in a chair and pen to paper to see God answer. Prayer is powerful. But after we pray, we must position ourselves to receive God’s answers.
Discipline and faithfulness = time and inspiration
Many people say they don’t have time to be creative. Many people also say they don’t feel any inspiration, and therefore go on with their busy lives without creating. However, I am learning that out of daily small acts of discipline and faithfulness to the creative call on our lives, we will find that we DO have time and we DO have inspiration.
If I believe God has asked me to write, I have to write words faithfully, and after hundreds or thousands of them, believe that something good will come.
A tool I have been using to develop a discipline of writing is Jeff Goins 500 words a day challenge. For 31 days, he sends prompts and encouragement to help participants write daily. You also can use the challenge to free write or make progress on a writing project that seems daunting as a whole, but divided into small bits seems more doable.
This challenge came at just the right time: after I confronted my writer’s block and surrendered it to God-asking for His help. This tool is teaching me discipline and faithfulness in the craft of writing.
I don’t have the luxury to wait until “inspiration” strikes to do the work. I am starting to realize nobody else does either.
We can’t wait until our words are perfect to write them/ Perfection is an enemy of creativity
I can’t wait until I have everything “responsible” on my to-do list done before I do the creative work God is asking me to do. I can’t wait until the meals are prepped for the week, the laundry is done, the floors are vacuumed, and our apartment is perfectly decorated. I will never write if I wait for that. I can’t wait until I have the perfect words before I write them or the perfectly edited post before I share it with you all. I have to practice discipline and faithfulness daily above perfectionism if I am serious about this calling of writing. God didn’t call me to write perfectly. He called me to write well, write powerfully, and write faithfully.
Some Questions:
What about you? Are you feeling stuck in your creative endeavors? I wonder what is waiting for you on the other side when you confront, combat, and surrender that thing to God, then “sit your seat in the chair” and do the work? (Pray in surrender then act)
I bet there is something on the other side of that “(fill in the blank) block” not only for you –but something that would bless the world, bring glory to God, and make you feel like the free and alive soul that you really are in Christ. (Imperfect, but faithful, passionate words > perfect words)
Would you dare to push past the block, and share your work with us? Would you dare to persevere in that thing simply because God is asking you to do it? Jesus is asking you to be your most free and alive self. Will you walk with him in that today?
I have a prayer specifically for “passion writers” that I want to share with you today. It is similar to the one I prayed for myself. I’m thinking of you, moms, young working professionals, full-time students, and the rest of the busybodies living in this decade who have a yearning to create but don’t seem to have the time. This prayer is for you.
God,
Help me let go of a perfectly clean house and perfect words.
Help me to embrace the dishes in the sink,
the undone laundry,
the towels on the floor,
the unfinished thoughts.
Instead of busying myself with striving and perfection,
help me to sit still amongst imperfection.
Help me look for you there,
and catch whatever inspiration you present
through the stillness of contentment amidst seeming chaos.
May I not wait for the perfectly crafted essay
to come from my hands but may I write-
write messy,
write imperfectly,
but write powerfully, consistently, faithfully, and surrendered
Because you have asked me to.
You have asked me to feel
and know you
as I put pen to paper.
Help me live free and therefore passionately and freely create.
Amen.
