Seeing Clearly Now

by Jill Earl

Last week in her e-zine, 'The Prosperous Writer', Writer Mama author Christina Katz discussed ‘clarity’, number twenty of her continuing series on ’52 Qualities of Prosperous Writers’. She mentioned some possible ways to identify the lack of clarity in your life, such as:

Felling pulled in multiple directions

Feeling burdened and/or guilty

Feeling as if you can’t please anyone, not even yourself

Ouch, ouch, and ouch. Or should I say me, me, and me?

I start to see clearly during a long-awaited retreat I did a few weeks ago. it was during that long, wonderful, restful weekend a point Christina made in her e-zine came to life for me.

“Clarity means not merely that you know what you need and want. Clarity also means that you know what you don't need and what you don't want.”

I love that. I grabbed onto that while on my retreat. As I worked on a writing project and during times of reflection, I noticed bits of clarity seeping through.

I don’t want to slog through the clutter of my life and writing anymore. Most importantly, I don’t need to.

Right now, I’m in the middle of a major purge of my place and computer, and struggle to exercise restraint at this point. Part of me wants to toss out just about everything, and while that would be freeing, it would also be reckless. I’d be in the middle of a happy dance and realize that I’ve accidentally deleted a necessary file from the computer or dumped a critical something as the trash collectors roll away. That’s small stuff I’m not willing to sweat.

The breakthrough on retreat excited me and I want to keep the momentum going. It’ll take as long as it needs to. I really want to work on this new relationship with clarity, looking forward to a lasting friendship.

You can follow Christina as she reveals each week’s quality is by signing up for the e-zine through 'The Prosperous Writer' blog here.

Got clarity? Umm, I’m getting there.