Aren’t you exhausted by the promises of our times?
I know I am!
Big words: transformation, authenticity, potential, empowerment … and at the end of the day … you’re still you.
Not all human beings are born to have the whole world sing our name. In fact, very few of us are.
Here’s what the promise words mean for most of us: closing the gap between other people’s stories of who we are in the world and who we know ourselves to be.
That’s it. Who I know myself to be. As I am. Voice and visibility in the world. An ordinary woman, inside her skin.
Now we can begin. Ordinary people, making our way about the world inside our skin.
You don’t have to be a writer – or even want to be a writer – to pick up a pen and put it to paper. So why do it then?
Because like going for a long walk or playing your favourite music or visiting a good friend, writing is great medicine.
Writing is alchemical. It’s your key to closing the gap.
It is pilgrimage. It is transformational, as the meddling voices are outsung by voices of hope and possibility as you are.
With all the love in my heart for the unworthiness in the human hearts that enter the writing programs and pilgrimages, know this: you are enough, as you are.
Stephanie Dale is an award-winning journalist, author, researcher and founder of the International Wellbeing-through-writing Institute. In 2014 she launched The Write Road, a wellbeing-through-writing initiative for rural and remote Australians. She is passionate about pilgrimage, and in 2017 initiated Walk&Write holiday writing adventures.