Revisions are underway! And a poem

Writing is such an interesting process, for me at least. I hope that something I write will be enjoyable and benefit other people, but first it has huge benefit to me. I continued to be amazed at the things I learn and the ways in which I grow as a person.

Writing this novel last November really taught me to trust matters of the soul. That’s not an easy thing for us humans. There are so many outer things to distract us. So many expectations, so many worries, so much change. We so desperately need to pay attention to the internal things, and yet it seems life makes this more difficult all the time. It’s like the world around us has been systematically designed to distract us, to keep us outward focused, suggesting that peace is just an illusion.

This novel I wrote suggests peace is not an illusion. I find myself working at it day after day, at least a little, sometimes more. Just as the original writing of A Matter of the Soul was something I felt compelled to keep at, so is this next stage where I am making revisions.

At the same time, I have these worrying thoughts in my head that it’s not really a great story and people won’t enjoy it, or it won’t mean to others what it meant to me. I just keep pushing them aside. They’re just thoughts, just worries. I will keep working on it regardless.

As I write this, I’m about halfway through making my first revisions. Then I’ll export it to an electronic device and read it through again myself. Once I’ve fixed anything that stands out to me while I read it, I’ll seek a few readers to help me out. There are always things you can’t see when it’s something you’ve written yourself. I don’t want to seek perfection, but I do want it revised well enough that it’s a pleasant read. I don’t want mistakes or awkward writing to get in the way of the story.

In the meantime, my day job gives me time outside with children. Often, it’s outside, in the presence of trees, where I find inspiration. This week I wrote a poem I’d like to share with you. By way of explanation, Ringo is a dog who lived with us recently and taught me so much. I miss his bodily presence but rejoice in his being-ness.

Right before my eyes
On a cold winter morning
Woodpecker flits
From branch to branch
I glory in the view
Red patch
Loud contrast of black and white
I ponder the food it finds
Completely invisible to me
I rejoice in its liveliness
In its alive-ness
I smile
I grin, ear to ear

It’s the soul of the universe
Manifest in this little creature
Manifest
In the bumblebee I watched
Hovering over tiny flowers
In the cut grass
As I sat alone
Bereft of Ringo’s bodily presence
Manifest in every dog
In every creature

The soul of the universe
In Ringo
In you
In I
Connecting us all