Where the magic is.

The magical part of writing is in the process, not in the final product. It’s the alchemy that happens in process between brain and hand, between curiosity and clarity, flow and form. ⁣
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When I’m picking flowers in my gardens, I’m not thinking about the arrangements I’ll make with them, I’m just in the process, in flow—bees buzzing, birds chittering, fragrance wafting from the flowers. The resulting bouquets brighten the rooms of my house for days afterward—and that’s its own delight—but it’s the time in the garden snipping blooms where the magic lives. It’s what happens in me when I’m in that flow state, that verdant place. ⁣
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That’s why I write and why I create anything. It’s creative contemplation, a moving meditation, connecting with something deeper and truer in myself when I quiet the efficient, pragmatic, worrying mind and give myself over to flow, to process, to not thinking about what I’m producing. ⁣
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That process, that alchemy, has been the focus of every retreat and writing workshop I’ve led in the last two decades. It’s how I approach my own writing and why I believe writing can offer something magical for anyone, even if you don’t think of yourself as a writer. ⁣
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