The Twelfth Step

My friend Tim from a men’s social group I’m part of asked me recently how I come up with the material I write about in my blog. I told him that most of the time it usually comes to me as soon as I start writing. Take right now for example. I really had no idea what to discuss for today’s entry as I started typing these very words. But then it hit me, maybe Tim and others would be interested in knowing exactly how I discovered my ability to write in the first place.

Well, it all began a decade ago when a friend of mine suggested I journal all the experiences I had during a 10-day silent retreat I had just completed back then. I never was a fan of journaling, but I took their suggestion anyway and wrote it as if I was relieving each of the days I had been on the retreat. When I completed the task, it actually read like a story from a book might.

Not too long after that, I met a guy judging a chili cook-off contest with me who also happened to be one of the writers from a local newspaper. Somehow the topic of my retreat came up during one of our conversations there and that’s when he asked if he could read the summary I had written about it. A day or so later he contacted me and told me how much he liked what I had written. But what he asked next is what surprised me. He wanted to know if I’d be willing to write a more condensed version so that he could submit it to the monthly paper he wrote for. I had a lot of doubt back then whether anyone would like anything I wrote about, but once again I took the suggestion and made the attempt.

As I wrote my first true article, I felt something inside, which could only be described as a form of joy. Something really came alive within me as I explored this new side of creativity. A few hours later I had a finished product, which indeed did get eventually published in the local newspaper. From that point forward, I became a regular columnist for it and another paper as well and even had a tagline given to my column. It was titled “Words To Live By” and from there, writing simply became a regular part of my life.

Unfortunately, I lost sight of this God-given talent from mid-2007 until the beginning of 2013 due to addiction-based behaviors. I got so wrapped up in them that I threw all the creative parts of me, including writing, to the wayside. But it was in 2013 when both a therapist and a spiritual teacher suggested I start a blog and write articles in it as if I was doing them for that newspaper again. At first it was rather difficult getting back in touch again with the writing side of my brain. But with daily repetition, it did return, similar to someone learning how to ride a bicycle all over again after suffering a serious accident. And I’m happy to report that I have been writing on a daily basis ever since.

Yet as I type these words, I’m also reminded of the many people out there who never discover any of their creative side. I tend to believe that God frequently gives us subtle suggestions to guide us towards discovering what our creative talents are. But too often we turn away from those suggestions when they come our way due to overwhelming fear and doubt. Look, I had plenty of that in regards to my writing when I first started all this back in 2006. But I was so tired of going through life not really knowing much about myself, that I started taking those suggestions and following through with them just to see where it would lead. I’m glad I did, because writing really has been a blessing more than not ever since.

That’s why I encourage people these days to at least make an attempt to explore a new avenue of creativity when someone makes a suggestion pointing towards one. Because you never know, pursing it may just lead you to discover a new hidden creative talent that not only will help yourself spiritually grow and provide you a bunch of joy, but it also may just be exactly what this world needs to become a better place…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson