Writing Practice
The goal of writing is not necessarily to produce a product — whether we try to write a book or to write as a spiritual practice. The goal of writing is to drop down into the well. It is only when we squarely look at what is hidden in the dark water that we are able to make sense of what we see in the light. This is not to say that the dark water is filled with negative or shameful images. It’s that the dark water of the well contains all of our lives. What we’ve thought and considered, what we’ve hoped for and dreamt, what we’ve felt and said, who we’ve met and loved and why is all a part of that dark water in the well. Our identity, and the integration of our identity with God’s image of us, occurs when we grapple with all the wondrous and not so wondrous elements that we find in that dark water. Many of us do this work through psychotherapy or other forms of psychological introspection. Yet, writing is often a part of those therapies precisely because it takes us deep into that inner well.
—From Strength for the Journey: A Guide to Spiritual Practice
Written and read by Renée Miller
Photography by Diane Walker
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