All of Life Is the Writing Life™
Since there’s been some energy around this phrase—All of Life Is the Writing Life™—I thought it would be good to provide several examples of me writing and discussing All of Life Is the Writing Life™…
Learn more about All of Life Is the Writing Life™ at alloflifeisthewritinglife.com.
*
Here’s Every Image that comes up when you do a google search “All of Life Is the Writing Life”
All of these images are mine except one.
*
Below are some of the examples of me mentioning “all of life is the writing life” over the past couple of years.
*
All of Life Is the Writing Life: Spiritual Direction for Writers® Daily Nourishment
https://www.spiritualdirectionforwriters.com/daily-nourishment/may-18-2024
All of life is the writing life because every moment is forming you to do the writing you will do when it’s time to write. If all of life is the writing life, everything counts. Everything matters. One reason I believe all of life is the writing life is because I have no idea where the line can be drawn if it’s not true. Who gets to decide what matters and what doesn’t matter? Who gets to police the writing life and determine this activity is part of the writing life but that isn’t?
We still have to sit down and write. But maybe this approach to a fuller view of the writing life and all it entails can provide a bit of rest and less angst when we aren’t writing, in those spaces before, after, and in-between the writing.
*
All of Life Is the Writing Life Instagram Post
https://www.instagram.com/charlottedonlon/p/C2C0EQNrZp7/
All of life is the writing life because everything matters.
*
All of Life Is the Writing Life Instagram Post
https://www.instagram.com/spiritualdirectionforwriters/reel/C8en1pnRPT0/
All of life is the writing life
because everything matters.
Everything counts.
If everything doesn’t count
how do we draw the line to determine what counts and what doesn’t count?
All of life is the writing life. Even the interruptions, disruptions, uncertainty, epiphanies, illness, recovery, grief, healing…
All of it.
Writers need to write. But everything else matters too.
*
All of Life Is the Writing Life Post on the Spiritual Direction for Writers Website
We still need to sit down and do actual writing, string together the words and sentences and paragraphs, but all of life is the writing life.
During the 7:15 a.m. SDW Co-Writing Session this morning, the participants and I had a wonderful conversation about all kinds of things, including how all of life is the writing life. (So much can happen in those 15-minute writing life discussions at the end of our sessions! Participants aren’t always in the mood to chat much, but sometimes they are! Either way, I love how these SDW Co-Writing Sessions help me feel less alone in the writing life. Y’all are the best.)
You can read more of my thoughts on how all of life is the writing life here and here. And there will be a whole chapter in the Spiritual Direction for Writers book.
And if you ever attend a SDW Co-Writing Session or a SDW Four-Hour Retreat or do One-on-One Spiritual Direction with me, you may hear me tell you this directly when I sense that you’re putting too much pressure on yourself to produce too many things.
Also. Shoutout to the 9 a.m. SDW Co-Writing participants. We had our own lovely conversation about other writerly things, and someone got something done they needed and wanted to do and said showing up to be with us helped them do it.
So, it’s not bad to be productive. If we never write, we aren’t writers because writers write.
More than one thing can be true at the same time.
Maybe you have an unhealthy relationship with productivity. That’s okay. Most of us do. Move toward developing a healthier relationship with productivity (and with rest and play and celebration) and see what happens next.
Also. Related: I’m staying at this hotel another night because I’m getting so much done. And I’m resting well, too!
Hang in there. And think about what it might mean for you to believe that all of life is the writing life. How can that idea move you towards freedom and away from oppression?
*
All of Life Is the Writing Life: A Series of Threads Posts
https://www.threads.net/@charlottedonlon/post/DA0pxp1xIto
I’m going to say something that may offend some of the writers but then I’m going to say something that makes it better.
Based on what I know about meeting with writers for several years, most writers aren’t writing much. Most writers prefer to think about writing or scroll through things about writing or maybe even read books about writing.
And that’s okay unless you wish you were writing more.
I will never say writers have to write every day. I don’t write every day. 1/
But if you want to write more here are three things that might help:
1. Figure out how to nourish your whole self—body, mind, & soul so you can make the art you want to make
2. Take more notes. If you don’t have time & energy to sit down & write write, take notes for 5-10 minutes most days so you capture the things you want to write about later
3. Give yourself grace & believe all of life is the writing life while also figuring out how to sit down and write most days for 15 minutes
2/
Oh here’s one more.
Bonus/4. Figure out what works best for you and let go of any writing rules and expectations that don’t serve you or your creative practice
Also, I’m not saying don’t write every day. If you want to write every day and can make it happen, please do so. But that’s not a requirement to be a writer. The only requirement to be a writer is to write.
That’s all for now. More coming in my Spiritual Direction for Writers book. Learn more at spiritualdirectionforwriters.com 3/
*
A Post on the SDW Website That Includes All of Life Is the Writing Life
All of life is the writing life.
We write to belong to ourselves, others, the divine, and the world.
We write to become more of who we were made to be.
We write to discover.
Curiosity can be your friend.
Comparison can be your enemy.
Rituals make everything better.
Take more notes.
Retreat often.
Read most days.
Take six deep breaths with a six-count inhale and a six-count exhale before you read, write, or pray. (If you want. No pressure.)
Remember your body.
The writing life and the spiritual life are the same.
Writer's block isn't real, so don't use it as an excuse not to write, read, or take notes.
Try reading or taking notes if you don't know what to write.
Take more naps.
No. You don't need to write every day.
No one is telling you that you can't write today.
Put yourself in the way of art and other nourishing things.
If you want to establish a regular writing practice, try writing for at least 15 minutes most days.
More can happen in 15 minutes than you think.
Don't write something you've already read.
Let your unique story, circumstances, and experiences inform fresh angles and new explorations.
If you are depleted in other areas, your writing practice will suffer.
Nourish your mind, body, and soul to move closer to the writing life you want.
Don't let your publishing self interfere with your writing self.
When your publishing self interferes with your writing self, begin again.
You can always move a bit closer to the writing life you want.
Ignore the rules and advice that don't help you move closer to the writing life you want.
Always, we begin again.
*
All of Life Is the Writing Life Threads Posts
https://www.threads.net/@charlottedonlon/post/DAx7xNFxMvQ
While grieving my father’s death I needed a new true narrative about the writing life. I wasn’t writing & I didn’t know when I’d be able to.
I landed on “all of life is the writing life because everything matters.” Everything is forming us to do the writing we’ll do when it’s time to write.
Others have found rest in this idea & I write about it in my forthcoming Spiritual Direction for Writers book.
Much love to all who are being formed to write what you’ll write when it’s time to write.
*
All of Life Is the Writing Life Instagram Post
Who you are now is forming who you’ll be and the art you’ll make in the future.
This includes the creative work you are or aren’t doing, the angst, the rejection, the failure, the dread, the resistance, the joy, the delight, the wonder, the overconfidence, the imposter syndrome.
All of life is the writing life. All of it.
What if you can’t write what you’ll write tomorrow or next week or next year if you aren’t who you are and where you are right now?
Every conversation, argument, postcard, prayer, meal, errand, nap, dream, nightmare—every moment of every day and every night—is forming you to be who you will be when you write the words you’re going to write.
I'm posting this here so you'll feel less alone in the writing life.
I'm posting this here so you'll think about how the creative process is unending, even when it doesn’t feel like it.
All of life is the writing life. All of it matters.
This realization has soothed my soul for the past few years, and it helps me continue in my writing and work today.
I hope it helps you continue in your writing and work, too.
This post was originally posted on Instagram here.
*
All of Life Is the Writing Life Mention During A Writers Diary Episode
I just wrapped up a Spiritual Direction for Writers Co-Writing Session and it was so so good. A lovely group of women gathered to read, write, clean, and nap! I always remind participants that they don’t have to write during the 40 minutes of writing time. All of life is the writing life, so everything counts!
This month we are using quotes and excerpts from Pádraig Ó Tuama’s Poetry Unbound book and Poetry Unbound Podcast for the SDW Co-Writing liturgy invocations, writing prompts, and blessings. Of course, it’s been perfect so far. Below you can find a link to the poem we used for today’s invocation and a quote from the same podcast episode that we used for the blessing.
During the 40 minutes of writing time during today’s co-writing sessionI read a new-to-me book about prayer and came up with a few new chapter ideas for the Spiritual Direction for Writers book that I’m working on right now.
*
All of Life Is the Writing Life Instagram Post Mention in the I Love to Write in My Car Solo Writing Retreat
How Do You Have an I Love to Write in My Car Solo Writing Retreat?
You can have your I Love to Write in My Car Solo Writing Retreat however you prefer. Since all of life is the writing life, there are no wrong answers! You know what you need for this particular retreat more than anyone else knows what you need. But I've included a few notes based on how I have my I Love to Write in My Car Writing Retreats below. And if you want more guidance, ideas, and retreat itineraries, our SDW I Love to Write in My Car Solo Writing Retreat Guides are an excellent resource. (See the note at the bottom of this post for everything included!)...
*
All of Life Is the Writing Life Mention in A Portion of the SDW Co-Writing Liturgy/Instructions
https://www.spiritualdirectionforwriters.com/news-announcements/the-spiritual-direction-for-writersco-writing-sessions-method-and-september-2022-free-sessions-list
Gather in Silence
When you log in and join the Spiritual Direction for Writers™ Co-Writing Session, take a few minutes to think about your intention for this co-writing session.
What do you hope to write about or explore during this session? Since all of life is the writing life, you are welcome to do whatever you like during this time. You can clean out your email inbox or write a letter to a friend or journal. You can also work on a new poem or revise an essay or start a short story.
Take a few minutes in silence to consider how you’d like to use this time. Do you even need to write right now? Maybe you need to sit in silence or read or take a nap. Please feel free to use this time how you want to use it.
Write down your intention for yourself and this time.
(All participants will be off camera and muted for the entire co-writing session.)...
*
All of Life Is the Writing Life Instagram Post
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr0htlNL0mv/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== (includes an image that says “all of life is the writing life”)
You can keep trying to follow writing rules that make you feel terrible about yourself and your art.
Or you can embrace the Spiritual Direction for Writers approach, experience way more freedom in your creative practice, and move closer to the writing life you want.
See our full list of Belief & Technique for Modern Prose or Poetry or Whatever You’re Writing using the A Writer’s Diary link in bio.
Or you can make your own list. You’ve got this.
*
All of Life Is the Writing Life Mention in A Spiritual Direction for Writers® Tip from the website:
https://www.spiritualdirectionforwriters.com/tip3
Transcript:
All of life is the writing life. Even if you're not sitting down with a notebook or laptop, you're still participating in your writing practice and the creative process. Being a writer does not have to mean writing for hours and hours every day. It's time to shift your understanding and perspective of what a writing practice looks like and start seeing all of life as the writing life…
*
All of Life Is the Writing Life Mention in a Podcast
Transcript: Living from the Heart Podcast (recent guest appearance)
Portion on All of life is the writing life:
“I would say one more thing, and I've talked about this before and it's in my manuscript right now. It could get taken out, but when I'm not writing is another kind of big way I've noticed the intersection of spirituality and creative practice. My dad died in 2020 from complications due to Covid. He died in August of 2020, and my [first] book came out in November of 2020. So that was a super hard few months for me because I had certain ideas of what I wanted to be doing leading up to my book coming out. And I was grieving. Parental loss is a loss like none other. And especially in those circumstances and conditions, it was horrible. And while I was grieving and resting and healing, I wondered if I would ever write again. The most I could write was an Instagram caption if it was a good day, or a few notes here or there.
“And I needed to have a narrative that was true all the time, which is what I do with my spirituality, with my faith beliefs. I need what I believe about Christianity to be true all the time for everyone, or it doesn't work for me. (So, I mean, that's a whole other conversation.) But I applied that same sort of standard to my views of the writing life. And I was like, I either have to believe that all of this matters to my writing also, or none of it matters. And if everything doesn't matter, who gets to decide when it starts to matter? So, somewhere, I think in October of 2020, I realized all of life is the writing life. It has to be true. Everything has to matter. While I'm not writing actively, I'm still being formed to be the person I will be when I do write again, I'm still experiencing things that will infiltrate my future work.
“And that was the only thing that made sense to me. And it was the only thing that made me feel better about it, and I still believe it now. I mean, I talk to a lot of clients about this. If you aren't writing as much as you want to for whatever reason—it could be because of resistance and you just can't get past it and it's more of your own fault, it still is true that all of life is the writing life. This resistance you're experiencing is forming you and you are learning from it. And because of this particular resistance, you will be writing what you are supposed to write when it's time to write…”
When asked about writing advice I’d give other writers:
“Yeah, I mean, I know it's probably not like what you're supposed to do [quote yourself when giving advice in this situation], but I would say what's helped me most from a writing advice standpoint is to believe that all of life is the writing life. And I am a firm proponent of letting go of any writing rules or practices that do not serve you in your own writing. I encourage my clients and everyone to figure out what your writing practice should look like for you in this particular season of life.
“And if you believe for whatever reason that you have to write every day to be a real writer, I encourage you to let go of that. Because I know plenty of fantastic writers who don't write every day, and I know plenty of mediocre writers who do. So it's not the fact that they write every day that makes anyone a writer. Now, if you want to write every day and that works for you, that's awesome, but you don't have to write every day. So for me, it's more about noticing what you need as a person to flourish in your entire life as well as your creative practice. And from there, establish sustainable rhythms and writing practice that helps you make the art you want to make.”
*
Transcript: A Writer’s Diary Ep. 35 (an old podcast of mine)
Portion on All of life is the writing life:
(I mention it elsewhere in this episode, but this is the main part)
…A few notes or asides here on the podcast episode Writer's Diary Entry number one, all of life is the writing life. This is a foundational belief of mine. Everything counts. If you don't write for two days or two weeks, or two months, all of those things you were doing instead of writing are forming you to be who you'll be when you write the thing you'll write. There's more about this on my website and in the membership area, the Spiritual Direction Writer's course that's there, and I will be writing more about this in the book that I'm writing right now. The Spiritual Direction for Writers book that will be coming out in 2024 or maybe 2025. We'll see. Number two, we write to belong to ourselves, others, the Divine and the World….
*
All of Life Is the Writing Life Mention in Some Quotes from a Guest Appearance on a Creativity Podcast:
How All of Life Is the Writing Life
“I say all of life is the writing life. Our creative soul is our soul. Our spiritual soul is our creative soul. We have one soul. And because creativity springs forth from the essence of who we are, it's very connected to who we are as spiritual beings. I think writers and artists can benefit from spiritual direction because we're having conversations about these things that are meaningful. And because it is important, especially for people who have faith and who see connections between their faith and their art to pay attention and to notice what God is doing or what they wish God was doing, or what they want God to do.”
How Writing Helps Us Belong
“Writing helps us belong to ourselves, others, God and the world. When we have seasons where that's disrupted, you know, our creative work is disrupted, it is going to affect us. It’s going to affect us hard ways. This is one thing I learned during that season of Covid when I had mania and my dad died from Covid. There was this long season of grief and recovery from that. That was when all of life is the writing life really came to mean something for me.
I needed to believe that everything mattered. I needed to believe that the fact that I wasn't writing anything more than an Instagram post here or there, or reading more than like three lines of a poem here and there, that I was still being formed as a writer and as an artist to do the work that I would do when it was time to do the work that I was called to do. And that really transformed my view of, of grief, honestly, and how to exist and inhabit that season as a writer. It helped me kind of let go of any expectations to do the work that I really didn't have energy to do and trust that it would come. And in the meantime, God was forming me to be who I would be when it was time to write again. And every, you know, conversation, every tear, every joy, everything forms us to be who we're gonna be when we write, and when we revise and when we read and do all the things connected to the writing life. I have to believe that's true because that's the only way I can exist as a writer without feeling bad about myself.”
*
Spiritual Direction for Writers® Online Course
Transcript from a portion of a course session:
I know aren't writing as much as they'd like to write, and many of them feel really bad about themselves because they aren't writing. They feel guilt and shame and wonder if they are real writers. The answer to that question is yes, they are real writers because anyone who writes anything is a real writer. But what if you can't write what you'll write tomorrow or next week or next year? If you aren't who you are and where you are right now, how would it affect your writing practice to let go of whatever it is you think your writing life is supposed to look like and be more okay with what it looks like right now today? Now, I truly believe all of life is the writing life. Who you are right now in this moment is forming who you'll be and the art you'll make in the future.
This includes the creative work you are or aren't doing, the angst, the rejection, the failure, the dread, the joy, the delight, the wonder, the overconfidence, and the imposter syndrome. Every conversation, argument, postcard, prayer, meal, errand, nap, nightmare, every moment of every day and every night is forming you to be who you will be when you write the words you're going to write. The creative process is unending even when it doesn't feel like it. You're always inhabiting your writing practice, even if you haven't done the writing you wish you had done in the past six days, or six weeks or six months. This realization has soothed my soul for the past few years, ever since the early days of Covid, when I wondered if I'd ever have any energy to write anything more than an Instagram caption. This realization helps me continue in my writing and work today. It will help you continue in your writing and work too. When you believe all of life is the writing life, you will find more rest in your creative work and practices. You will feel less anxious. You will quit worrying so much about how you did whatever you did when you could have been writing.
I'm not saying you don't need to write–writers write. If you're a writer, you need to sit down with your laptop or notebook or a journal and write, but everything else counts too. It's impossible for everything else not to count, so we might as well honor all of the things of life as necessary components to the writing life. I can't make you write or notice God in your creative work, but this idea might help you relax a bit. And if you're more relaxed about your writing, you might just end up writing more. You might be more suited to notice the divine. You might discover new ways writing helps you belong to yourself, others, and the world. You might even enjoy writing more.