How do I start to write?  Whether it’s a blog, a poem, an essay or the next great novel, getting started is the toughest thing for me to do.  Sometimes this inertia is overcome simply by plopping myself down in a chair.  Sometimes the sticking point is far more recalcitrant and though I’ve developed some methods for overcoming being stuck, I am by no means always successful.

Today I employed the best means that I’ve found to make myself write.  A friend pulled out a chair, turned on the computer and said, “now start writing a blog.” Maybe I didn’t “employ” her as a means; maybe she just coerced me into doing what she knew was best for me, knowing that I would eventually be pleased and find pleasure in having written, in having started.  Having a friend like this is priceless. And as writers or artists, having a support group or creative circle or writer’s group – whatever you wish to name it – can be the source of encouragement and the most essential element of creativity.  Support from others is a beneficial motivator, that push, that deadline, that expectation which moves us onward.

In terms of our chakras, this support group and loving encouragement of friends would be the domain of our heart chakra. When we are embraced and supported by a compassionate group of others in our endeavors to create, the process is always easier, and frequently more rich and fertile.  Energy gets multiplied and intensified in a group.  Feedback leads to more energy.  We find ourselves blossoming under the warmth of a communal sun.

Here at A Writer’s Place, I am hoping that our writing together can be that communal support, or to mimic my friend’s best gesture for me, the held chair that compels us (in a loving way, of course) to plant our backsides in front of a blank screen and do some writing. I found out today that all I really need to do is to be willing to meander.  Once I start down the winding path, it just continues to unfold in a joyous and juicy way.  So, come meander with me and let’s see where our paths lead.