Writing
Charlotte Rains Dixon  

Mindfulness and Writing

So, mindfulness and being present are a hot topic these days, what with Oprah crashing web servers as she presents teleseminars with the flat-liner Eckhardt Tolle.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with him he has written The Power of Now, and A New Earth, both of which were doing quite well in sales.  Then Oprah came along and catapulted him out into the stratosphere.

To be honest, I’ve never been able to get through either book.  They are a bit on the dull dry side.  I am fully willing to admit that I am probably missing something, but it seems to me as if he has a simple message that really could be told in about a page.

The message?  Be here now. 

Sound familiar?  It should.  It has been the mantra of many a self-help guru and Zen master for years.  And I get it, I really do.  The world takes on a somewhat magical and wondrous sheen when one is able to be fully present in the moment, even if you are washing the dishes or scrubbing the toilet. 

I’m a big fan of the whole be here now thing, except for one small quibble.  (My Zen friend Derek is now going to disown me and refuse to ever email me again. and that will be an awful tragedy but I will press on in the interest of all writers everywhere.)

You see, I get my best ideas for writing when I am being unmindful.  When I go out for a walk at the end of the day, I know I should be looking at all the cherry trees in bloom and the daffodils that are so perky and yellow in all the gardens.  But looking at them reminds me of the color of the dress my heroine wore in a scene earlier and then I get the perfect idea for how to end the chapter.  Or while I’m fixing salmon for dinner suddenly the perfect line of dialogue pops into my head. Or while I’m doing the crossword puzzle, I am suddenly aware of how many parallels there are between puzzling and writing.

So that is my problem.  Being mindful is not always so good for creativity and that leads me to like being mindful far less than I should. 

If anybody has a solution for this, I’d love to hear it.

Meanwhile, its time for me to go eat that salmon.

0 thoughts on “Mindfulness and Writing

  1. Sumangali Morhall

    I read “The Power of Now” a couple of times, and got some vague inspirational something from it. But it always left me feeling there was some deep and complex truth in it that I’m not evolved enough to understand (thus the second reading).

    Not being fond of that left-out-in-the-cold at a party experience, I gave it to one of those charity book shops. As you say, the message is simple: Be Here Now. That’s accessible enough to anyone (in fact my mother’s golden retriever knows it better than I do). To me the rest is dry ice and dramatic music (all very well if you like that sort of thing).

    I do actually have my best ideas for writing when I’m being mindful, but maybe it’s like you say: a moment of mindfulness takes you somewhere else. Either way I have to admit, without the dry ice, now is almost always my happiest point in time.

  2. David

    I get some of my most interesting associations when I am in ADD mode. But when I want to organize my photos or catch up on my mail I can always take medication. LOL.

  3. DianeCA

    All this in the now stuff is really trendy these days. That and ‘the power of attraction’! I do believe that it is important to be aware of what you are doing today, because in reality its all we have, tomorrow is not for certain and yesterday is gone. I also believe that you are more likely to get what you want if you know what you want hehehe…however all this guru stuff is a quick fix for the boring old reality. Do what you need to do, plan, be patient and don’t take for granted what you already have!

  4. DianeCA

    All this in the now stuff is really trendy these days. That and ‘the power of attraction’! I do believe that it is important to be aware of what you are doing today, because in reality its all we have, tomorrow is not for certain and yesterday is gone. I also believe that you are more likely to get what you want if you know what you want hehehe…however all this guru stuff is a quick fix for the boring old reality. Do what you need to do, plan, be patient and don’t take for granted what you already have!

  5. Charlotte

    And I guess the ironic thing about all this is that when I am writing and fully engaged I am more mindful than at any other moment. When I come out of that state I am energized and happy, and basically in love with the world. This state of complete absorption is probably what Eckhardt Tolle and all the others are trying to get us to. Unfortunately, when I’m putting dishes in the dishwasher, it is way easier for my mind to wander to my novel than to focus on stacking the plates. Maybe I need some of that dry ice…or medication!

  6. Dwayne

    You might think I am a fruit loop but you think better when your hands are moving. Brains react to different things for different people. Some can be sitting on the couch and ideas come one right after the other, some can be walking. When you are walking or cooking you are in your comfort zone, which allows your mind to expand and not hesitate to have new ideas.When you are out of your comfort zone, you are too focused on other things to let you mind expand. I really hope you understand what I am saying. Good blog.

  7. Jen

    I agree–I think mindfulness can impair creativity. I mean, if you’re being fully present in the here and now, how are you supposed to put your mind where it needs to be (i.e., in the “world” of your book)?

  8. Charlotte

    Exactly. Nobody ever figured out a plot by being mindful!

  9. Sussan Marz

    I think it comes down to what your definition of mindful is. Of the mind perhaps? To me, the mind is like an iceberg – only 10 per cent of it is on the surface and that’s the conscious decision making part. When you get those creative bursts, that’s the stuff that’s underwater.

    And that’s all the zen I have for the day.

    (BTW, I enjoy reading your blog, but until now I’ve always been a lurker. Don’t you love it when strangers just drop by?)

  10. Charlotte

    Thanks for de-lurking (un-lurking?), Susan, and your great comment. It is quite amazing to consider how much of our brain power lies in the subconscious, the place of dreams and creativity. And yes, any time I get one of those creative bursts, it is amazing to ponder where it came from.

  11. rainer

    Hello, I like this blog.
    To be in the moment means to me a feeling. The feeling will help to find the right mindset.
    Nevertheless may be creative writing by puzzle is a zen way to the deeper layers of the soul.

  12. Charlotte

    I like that thought that maybe creative writing is a deeper way to the soul in and of itself. Thanks!

  13. Amarendra

    They way you have described “un-mindfulness” is exactly what masters recommend! It is just that the terminology is confusing.

    So, mindful or unmindful, let us see how the mind works. Can I tell my mind NOT to think of a monkey for a few minutes? Probably, impossible! As soon as you say
    “no monkey”, mind SEES the monkey! That is what FORCED mindfulness does:-)

    But, when zen masters say mindfulness, they mean RELAXED AWARENESS!

    So, when you are SIMPLY looking at “cherry trees in bloom and the daffodils”, or SIMPLY “fixing salmon for dinner”, then you are relaxed and really not thinking
    – you are just DOING the activity with a relaxed awareness about the activity (the “Be Here Now” principle is equivalent to your “fully engaged” experience)! A
    perfect opportunity for those “creative ideas” to pop out!

    Zen masters (and Eckhart Tolle) call it the “No Mind” state, akin to your “un-mindfulness”. That is THE SOLUTION and you already HAVE IT!

    Deliberate mindfulness is needed when you are distracted (or, there is too much mind activity) – when you are not enjoying the Daffodils or unable to “fix salmon” properly, then you might want to bring in a bit deliberate awareness (and minimize internal noise) to finally reach the “no-mind” or the “un-mindful” state!

  14. Charlotte

    Thanks for the explanation, Amarendra.

    One question: what happens when I am being mindful, fixing my salmon and my creative idea pops into my brain? Then I switch over to thinking about my creative idea and I’m no longer mindful. Or is the idea to stop fixing the salmon, write down the idea, and then go back to the food preparation, fully present with it?

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