Sarah Selecky Writing School

An online creative writing school that approaches writing as an art, and also as a contemplative practice. We believe that skill comes from study, that inspiration comes from love, and that both are necessary.

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Being not doing

January 23, 2021 by Sarah Selecky Leave a Comment

Your body has an awareness that is not connected to thinking.

For now, let go of your desk, the news, your home, your refrigerator, your bed, your notebook.

Give yourself twenty minutes. Go outside. Leave your phone at home.

If you can, go where there are trees and birds and not so much packaging. A city park will do, or a trail.

Being in nature connects you to your nature.

You don’t have to do all the time.

When you let yourself leave words out of your experience, you invite deep insight.

There’s a sense-connected, un-ambitious way of being that reminds you that you are yourself, the way an animal is always itself.

This is your mind without language, a feeling-state that exists without judgment or naming or articulation.

This state of mind is a kindness for all of us.

For writers, especially.

It could take you a while to find a quiet moment.

Focus on small things to help bring your state of mind back: the texture of tree bark, the sound of a chickadee.

This is not “for” anything. This is just being. For twenty minutes, let yourself do this.

When you hear yourself hearing, feel yourself feeling, or see yourself seeing, it is a reminder that you are, you are, you are.

love,

Photo credit (top): Oleg Magni from Pexels


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The School

  • About The School
  • Staff & Associates
  • Faculty
  • Guest Contributors
  • Our Alumni
  • Daily Prompts
  • Writing Contest
  • Little Bird Stories
  • Writing Practice Sessions
  • Special Programs
  • Consultations with Sarah
  • Free Resources
  • Letters
  • Connect
  • Student Login

Core Programs

  • The Story Course
  • The Story Intensive
  • The Story Workshop
  • Course Calendar

Connect

Email: [email protected]

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Photography by Michelle Yee

Terms & Conditions

Our school welcomes people of all identities, races, abilities, and interests. We share an inclusive, generous, and heart-centered point of view, and are committed to cultivating a culture of empathy and insight.

Our headquarters are on the traditional territory of the Wendat, Anishnaabeg and Haudenosaunee Peoples, adjacent to Kanien’keha:ka (Mohawk) territory. We invite you to search your own address and acknowledge the territories you are on.

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