With the Absence of Words

With the absence of words: 

to not be afraid to wait in silence, or more truly, giving up the need to write at all and simply be comfortable with the absence of words. This is where inspiration finds me, sitting at my desk, patient, coffee at hand, content with the quiet of the morning. I have no doubt that words will appear, as they do everyday at just about the same time. But the difference now, vastly so from many years before, is that I no longer reach for them, there's no anxiety or concern that this will be the day that inspiration alludes me and there won't be a single meaningful sentence on the page.

I'm comfortable with the absence of words. 

yet confident that they'll appear. 

it's with this paradox that I became a writer.

art should never be a source of stress, anxiety inducing, nor bring about any concern or even slightest thought of failure. This occurs only through the demands an artist has with inspiration, that it must obey the whims of ego and be present at their beck and call. For decades I struggled with my writing, having a streak of words for a week or two and then nothing to write of for weeks on end. Or so I believed. But the truth is, there was no appreciation for the silence between words, that this is where the magic happens and my role is to prepare myself for its arrival. This is a holy time, a moment for rituals to be performed, cleansing myself of my own demands and surrendering completely to the whims of inspiration. And now, there is no struggle...

I write what's freely given.

abiding in the silence that's offered in between. 

happily so. 

~

Peace, Eric