In My Write Mind

“You aren’t listening!” My hubbie knows how to get my attention. Not listening is a powerful accusation!

“Sorry!” I reluctantly shift my attention to him. It’s not easy. I admit that I wasn’t listening because I was in my Write Mind. This is the term I use to explain the state of being I enter when I’m engrossed in finding a way to express something intangible. Perhaps I’m trolling the depths of my mind for delicious phrases to describe a person I just thought of for the first time in thirty-seven years. Perhaps I’m searching for adjectives to describe the magnificent sunset I notice behind his head. More likely, I’m trying to think of a way to quantify some intangible concept. Whatever is going on, my Write Mind is a delicious, floaty, totally absorbed state of being, and I like going there.

Of course I spent considerable time in my Write Mind as I prepared to write this post. One thought that surfaced was the relative novelty of discovering my Write Mind. This room in my brain, or perhaps it’s more accurate to call it a cluster of neurons, is relatively recent, and it’s growing. I’m spending increasing amounts of time there. This recognition fits in perfectly with the findings of neuroscientists that our brains continue to develop new cells (neurons) and connections between them (synapses) as long as we keep them active and stimulated. The more we use an area, the more it grows. This is good. It keeps our brains young and healthy.

Then I realized that spending Write Mind time is an important part of the writing process. Some people do it with their fingers on a keyboard or a pen in their hand. Others of us do it while we do dishes, rake leaves or shower. But we all think things through to some extent.

Another thought related to the relationship between the way we think, the way we perceive, and what tends to occur in our lives. Psychologists are finding that stories are the way we make sense of our lives. Sometimes we spend time in our Write Mind writing mental stories that never see paper, but the writing is equally urgent.

If you haven’t discovered your own Write Mind, I heartily urge you to explore the opportunities lurking in some corner. The more often you visit, the richer the resources will become, and the more you’ll want to go there. Try it! You’ll like it!

Write on,

Sharon Lippincott, aka Ritergal

Countdown: Thirteen more days until Shelf Time. Get involved: Urge your bookstore to stock The Heart and Craft of Lifestory Writing. Request it at your library, and tell your friends.