I am co-facilitating a program for a wonderful group of people who wish to deepen their writing by learning to trust their own voices. Each of them has a project that they are working on, but the real work of our program is to generate pathways of deep trust and creativity within themselves.
Recently I talked to them about a powerful moment I had early in my journey of becoming a writer. I was plagued by insecurity and self-doubt. I was paralyzed not knowing where or how to start. Finally, I confessed this to a friend of mine that some of you know, Brian McLaren. Brian has written dozens of books, so I wanted to hear from him if I was hopelessly doomed.
He smiled knowingly, and said, “Cameron, you are a wonderful writer. Keep going. I need to read what is in you to write.”
That experience served as both a blessing and commissioning of me. In the moments when I didn’t or couldn’t believe in myself, I could borrow his confidence until I could regain my own.
We need such blessings from others in our lives. We gift people in ways we may never understand when we offer them to others.
One of my favorite authors, Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, says that blessings flow in a sacred pattern: “I wish you well on your way. I do not occlude or obstruct you. I wish for you the best of yourself; that you be safe; that you be kept from harm; that you be able to unfurl your truest potential, your truest soul, in life this day, this moment; and that you be watched over and come back to me safely always.”
That is the essence of blessing. “You are a good person, a worthy person who is loved and cared for and I will watch as you cross the bridge until you are safely on the other side. And I will wait for you until you come back home again.”
I hope you accept this blessing today and offer blessings to others.
We are in this together,
Cameron