Matt Valentine's Blog for Writers and Readers

Inspiration For The Soul

Gandhi once said: 'You must be the change you wish to see in the world.' And how hard this often is to integrate into our lives.

What does this mean? Well for me, it means daring to be different and living my life true to what lies deep within my heart. This very often means not listening to the news, paying no attention to negative comments on blogs and in chatrooms and sitting, every day, in complete silence. This sitting is what Gandhi called meditation: 'I have so much to do today I must meditate for twice as long!'

I don't know about you but I very often start my day feeling fantastic and then very quickly, for no obvious reason, I start to feel depressed, melancholic and even angry. I gaze out of my kitchen window at the busyness of the street below and listen to the sounds of 'F*** you mate!' and 'You C***!' as angry drivers hurl abuse at each other and the resident drunks bicker amongst themselves. Nice.

This, as I see it, is energy. And energy exists in everything that we do, feel, think and listen to. We can literally feel the anger, fear, depression, hopelessness etc of not only other people but what is known as mass conciousness. We tune into what is going on globally and then we start to replicate it, whether or not it is our own reality. Bummer.

So now maybe what Gandhi said about 'being the change' makes more sense? It is hard work but not impossible. Now I am not talking about 'positive thinking' here as, quite frankly, I find that ethos a load of crap. If you feel low, admit it to yourself and get it out of your system - then you will naturally feel more positive. Much better I think.

What does this have to do with writing? Well.... Some time ago I decided to write my autobiography. When I told my 'friends' about it I had comments like: 'Well you're not famous, no-one will buy it' 'You're only 33!' 'Now you know how difficult it is to get a book published' and I can tell you honestly, I didn't have a single positive comment. So not really making the connection, I resigned myself to doing the day job, wrote a few poems here and there, the odd article to do with business and quietly forgot about 'the book.'

Then one day, I was reading Therapytoday, the professional magazine for my day job, and came across an appeal for writers to take part in a study on childhood trauma. So I responded and was asked to write a chapter to be published in a book along with eight other writer-therapists. So I sent the first draft not expecting much and all I got back were some suggestions for grammatical changes, re-arranging paragraphs and some critique on emphasis and characters. But there was something missing here...something must be wrong - no rejection!

The book was published and went into re-print within six months. When I received my shiny new copy I read my work again, not bad actually. So the creative fire within was re-lit and I again decided to work on the bigger picture - my autobiography.

This time I am doing it differently, I have told very very few people. The people I have chosen to tell are actually very new friends I have met in India and my healer/teacher. People whom I sensed would be more supportive and understanding of the artistic temperament. The book is now in progress and I am learning so much about myself, the writing process and the publishing world.

Oh yes and one very important factor in all this. Just before I had what I call 'a clear out' of old 'friends' that were draining me somewhat, I asked one of them who has worked as a Surveyor all his life what his childhood dream was: 'To be a writer' he replied. Ah! and it all makes sense...

Do not let go of your dreams. Hold them very close to your heart and tell no-one. People who will love and support you will gravitate towards you when the time is right. In the meantime...keep writing, thinking, sitting and dreaming.