It’s the coolest church I’ve ever been to, with its sneaker dress code and live rock band. One of their worship songs is “Ordinary World” by Duran Duran, tweaked just a little to make it relevant. So, yeah. It’s a cool church. Wopsle will fit in well there.

And I’d love to be a part of that community, except I’m more of a Buddhist than a Christian, viewing Jesus as a great and enlightened teacher rather than a solitary savior of mankind. So I don’t know how genuine it would be of me to go to church and have no interest in the doctrine, even though I have no doubt they would accept me.

After church we went to Mazzio’s, Wopsle and his wife, my mom and her passel, and me. I’m so excited that my brother will be a regular part of my life again.

I’ll end with a shout-out to my SIL Amy, even though she probably won’t see it. Happy birthday, Amy!

I don’t want to tell you, but I’ve already started, so… I want to start a spiritual writing advice blog. I see so much concrete advice for the nuts and bolts of writing, but hardly any for the writer like me who stumbles around in the dark. I believe in writing from one’s spirit, because that seems to be the only way I can do it. I can’t force things, because then I get all stopped up, in writing and in spirit, and I think a lot of other people are that way and don’t know it. Strange how there’s so much noise in such a solitary activity.

So the first question is, do I have the qualifications to write an advice blog? Probably not. But I’ll show you what I have.

• I’ve written almost two books
• and about twenty short stories, none of which have been published, although a couple were well-received in contests.
• A decade ago I wrote a popular newspaper column for a year, which was basically exactly like what I do on this blog
• I have an agent and am actively seeking publication
• I was an editor for a few months last year
• I think I’m good at reading people and a good advisor, and the baring of my soul on this blog seems to get a better response than any other topic
• I’ve done a TON of work on my own self in this area

So see, the list is long, but none of the items is that impressive. It’s not like I’m an industry professional, or a spiritual advisor, or anything solid. So why do I need to start another blog? Why can’t I just write posts like that here? Well, because this blog is me, online. It’s centered around me and what I think and what I do, and while you’re all a necessary part of my happiness, it’s still like you’re coming to my house, you know? I’d like the new blog to be about the reader, and it can’t be on this blog which is named after me. I thought about calling it The Writing Guru, but that’s already a popular phrase in Google. Two other choices are Your Writer’s Soul and Spirit of the Pen, both of which are not being used. Or maybe You Are the Muse.

Topics? Well, I’d have writing book reviews, guest columns, reader questions, maybe a week-long feature where I delve into the writing psyche of a willing victim participant, and my own journey.

It’s probably stupid. It’s probably been done before, and I probably don’t have the follow-through. But that’s what I’m thinking about this morning.

Yesterday’s post ended with my description of my favorite symbol of life’s journey, the spiral. Sarah linked to a simple yet interesting page about the spiral in nature and in symbolism, and this paragraph struck me:

“Some consider the spiral a symbol of the spiritual journey. It is also considered to represent the evolutionary process of learning and growing. It seems that life doesn’t proceed in a straight line. The path of life more closely resemble a spiral. We seem to pass the same point over and over again but from a different perspective each time. To walk and then stand in the center of a spiral or labyrinth has been a psycho-spiritual exercise for centering the consciousness.”

The sentence in bold was what I was attempting to convey in my description. We seem to pass the same point over and over again but from a different perspective each time. When drawing a spiral, we start at the inner point and work our way out. Dorothy started her journey to the Wizard in the center of the Yellow Brick Road’s spiral. But when contemplating it as the path of a spiritual journey, we seem to start at the outer point and go to the inner, as if by spiraling further into our consciousness we go back to the beginning, before any of the crap that started the need for a journey even happened.

Thanks for the link, Sarah.

Isn’t that a beautiful, kreativ* logo? So my old friend DarcKnyt (old in Internet years) has passed this award on to me, and I must say I am honored. It always surprises me when someone likes this place. The question that came with this was hard to answer, since I’ve only recently started feeling creative after a long dry spell.

List six things that inspire your creativity.

1. Nature. When I commune with a tree or talk to a squirrel it fires me right up.
2. Spirituality. I love to ponder the human/spirit connection. It’s a theme that often shows up in my work. It’s probably why I write fantasy.
3. Conversation. This might spark my creativity more than anything. Even when I’m only conversing with myself, speaking ideas out loud seems to stimulate my brain.
4. Writing with pen and paper. I don’t know why I didn’t use this device before. If I’m stuck on the computer, writing on paper unsticks me.
5. Books. Reading other people’s work gets me to thinking about my own. If it’s a good book, I aspire to be as good. If it’s bad, I get a boost because mine is better.
6. My office. [updated link] That place, all mine, into which no negative energy may pass, calms me and makes me receptive to creative impulses.

Pass the award on to 7 more kreativ bloggers. Gosh, looking at my sidebar is looking at a blog graveyard. I really need to update that thing. I don’t have 7 people to pass the award to (some on my sidebar have already received it), but I do have a few who astound me with their creativity on a regular basis.

1. Marta, Writing in the Water
2. Raquita, WOBL in Training
3. D. Lynn Frazier, Writtenwyrdd
4. Ian T. Healy, Perpetual Writer’s Blog

If you’re not reading these folks you’re missing out. They embody creativity. (I just noticed all the ladies’ blogs start with the letter “W”. Heh.)

Link back to the person who gave you the award. Done did that up yonder.
Link to the people you are passing it on to and leave them a comment to let them know. I’m gonna go do that right now.

Thanks again, my buddy DarcKnyt.