I’m not quite sure when it hit me. Was it when I was floating on my back in the bright Mediterranean Sea? Or perhaps sitting on the roof of my cousin’s house in Crete, laughing and eating as the moon rose over the mountains? Maybe it was listening to the chanting of the priest in an ancient monastery as frankincense swirled around us.
Somewhere during our magical trip to Crete this summer, I re-connected with something I had lost. I’m still in the process of sorting out what it was and what it means, but it has washed over me and won’t let go (in a good way).
In the busy-ness of life, it’s easy to forget such things. It’s easy to forget the scent that reminds you of careening down a slide and landing in the dust with a happy plop. Or the first time you saw the vastness of an ocean. Or even what makes you laugh so hard you get a little woozy.
This is why I write. Because sometimes the pace of life lures me in and I charge forward using my brain all day and forgetting what I know. Yet when I sit down and reach out for words, I have to go down the passageway of the heart to find the right ones. The ones that don’t ring hollow, or chirpy, or of anything that isn’t as close as I can get to truth in the moment. Sometimes I sit for an hour, asking “Is it true” for everything I write and keep answering no, no, no and feeling like time is wasting and I’d rather be doing anything else and then poof, up pops truth.
So I am retrieving. In my writing, in my life. As I sit here and write this, I’m looking at our new entry table with the face of the Greek god Apollo on it, wreathed in flowers and a golden lyre. I chuckle whenever I see it because it reminds me of decorating right out of the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” It was purchased as a reminder of my Greek heritage, and it’s the shape and size of the stones that press olive oil, just like my papou did many years ago in the small village where we spent part of the summer.
The writing I love most are the words that are connected to my essence. You know, that thing we lose sight of when we don’t take time to pause. Because really, it doesn’t matter if you go to Greece or your own backyard. It’s about remembering who you are, and then carrying that with you whether you are writing or taking out the trash. Or dancing on the roof…
As founder of Backyard Pearls, LLC, Carolyn Scarborough helps people tap into their inner wisdom, then share it with the world through books, blogs and articles. As a Writing Wisdom Coach, she supports you through the journey from inspiring idea to published piece in a way that’s joyful, effortless and profitable.
She’s done almost every kind of writing imaginable, including magazine features, newspaper columns, books, journaling — even ghostwriting for Donald Trump! Her favorite sort of writing is the kind where she has to be really present to find the story, so her life and writing are both a constant awakening to a deeper, richer way to live in the world.
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