​The sole writing teacher I ever had taught only five things. He said that to be a writer five practices were necessary: (1) Write in the same place every day; (2) Write at the same time every day; (3) Write the same amount of time every day; (4) If the words do not flow, sit there and stare at the paper or screen till the designated period of time is over, then return the next day to try again; and (5) Never, ever, let anybody read what you have written until it’s finished, otherwise the bubbles will go off the champagne.


      Joan Chittister, prolific spiritual writer, passes on these principles from her writing teacher. I resonate with this practical advice, not just for my writing but for other aspects of my life. Create daily order of time, space , and persona commitment so that creativity can flow. Chittister goes on to say that this advice has also affected her spiritual life. Of course. Whatever is of value to us needs the structure of time, space, and personal commitment to ground us. Without it, we wildly fly about reacting impulsively to the latest random happening that comes our way.  visionviewpoint@benetvision.org

​Spend time with positive people is one of the ‘nuggets of truth’ I wrote about in The Teacher Book: Finding Personal and Professional Balance, a book I published in 2000. That nugget is still with me twenty years later. It is not that I avoid all negativity. We all have difficult things going on in our lives, and at times we need to pour them out to someone. I can listen to that, and I am very grateful that I have friends who do the same for me. By positive people, however, I mean those who desire to get out of despair, not those who seem to want to remain in a ‘poor me’ state.
     I believe that good conquers bad, that every human being has a beautiful soul, and that we each have a choice to go high. Those who are profoundly stuck in negativity need a listener who will remain with them through to the other side. I know when I am not that person. I know my limitations. That’s what I mean by my choice to spend time positive people. 

​During these contentious political times the words Richard Rohr posted last week prompted me to reflect on the tone of this blog and the underlying message I want to convey.
 
My hope, whenever I speak or write, is to help clear away the impediments to receiving, allowing, trusting, and participating in a foundational Love. 
 
     Yes, Richard Rohr, my hope and your hope are similar, but sometimes I think my posts are rather boring and self-involved. The two go together; boring because I don’t tell stories about other people, and self-involved because I only tell stories about myself.
        Thus I don’t let you know about the many friends I see in person, talk with on the phone, and keep up with over the internet. On this blog they are pretty much invisible, although their lives, with both joys and concerns, are blessings in helping me lead my life and write about silence, solitude, simplicity.
     It would be much easier to share my friends’ stories, and it would be much more interesting for you readers to hear a good story. But as you know, I work hard/struggle not to judge, gossip or speak at another’s expense-- impediments to Love.  
       Consequently, I’m left with one main character—me. My word choice is  self-involvement, but hopefully not self-promotion. I want to share my thoughts as I strive to receive, allow, trust, and participate in love. 
​

​When once in a while on my travels I see someone (usually a woman) writing in a journal. I am intrigued. I want to strike up a conversation with her. I want ask her what she writing, I want to read what she written. Of course, these are against all my rules of privacy, ethics, moral values, confidentiality, solitude, secrecy (my computer thesaurus just gave me those). Never, never, never read anyone else’s journal/diary!
    The other day at one of my go-to-writing cafes, a women sat down at a nearby table, took her journal our of her purse, wrote for a bit, put the journal back, and sat pensively; she repeated the procedure two more times. She purchased no coffee.
     This journal writer wore a print frock with a matching bow in her graying hair. She appeared to be in her sixties, but trying to look younger. When she left I was tempted to follow her, but alas, I didn’t because of all those rules that extend past reading someone’s journal to include prying into her life.   
     Sometimes I just hate my rules because I want to discover secrets that are not mine to know.
      (I’ve thought long and hard about breaking my rules by posting her photo, but have concluded she will remain anonymous. You may agree, you may not. It’s a decision up for grabs.) 

Whew, finally I finished a travel article entitled “Free in Florence,” about the free things you can do in Florence for a week. I posted it on Thorn Tree, the travel bloggers section of Lonely Planet, where they have a monthly contest of what they consider the best blogs. Entering gives me impetus to get something written and the chance to see what other bloggers do.
      Very like all of the bloggers are younger than me. Many are young people who hope to write and travel for a living. They post from around the world, many from exotic place. They take physical risks and travel on a shoestring. 
      I blog about Europe—Italy and Scotland; and closer to home—Boston. I’m not interested in making a living out of travel writing, nor do I want to visit exotic places or take any kind of physical risks. I don’t travel on a shoestring, but I do keep an eye my budget.
    To read my latest entry, go to “A Solitary Traveler” to this blog.
 www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/welcome

     I’m again inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson and the many artists that gathered together in his parlor at Emerson House in Concord. This weekend we saw the writing desks of Louisa May Alcott at Orchard House and Ralph Waldo Emerson at Emerson House just down the road. Here’s how the stories were told by the engaging tour guides.
      Louisa wrote at a desk built for her by her father. It circled the window and there she sat writing throughout the light hours of the day.
      Emerson wrote all morning at the desk in his study. In the afternoon he walked to Walden; in the evening he chatted with friends in the parlor.
       We were told that Louisa’s mother worked extremely hard both inside and outside the home, cooking, cleaning, and sewing, thus giving her daughter time to write. Thankfully the family reaped the benefits of their hard work, for with the publication of Little Women, Louisa was able to support the family financially.
    The Emersons were not poor, nor were the rich. Waldo (as Emerson requested to be called) supported the family with lyceum talks he gave in New England and beyond. He had time to develop his thoughts and plan his talks, time to read, write, think, and discuss with others because, in part, his wife Lydian cared for the children and managed those hired to help in the household. That was the family social structure in the mid-nineteenth century.
       My point is that these two writers had TIME and permission to write without the burden of many of the distractions we have today. It’s a different world, so we have to manage our time in different ways. Now is now, then was then.
      I wrote about this October 2017 here.
www.acottagebythesea.net/a-solitary-traveler