We’ve all been “sheltering” now, to one degree or another, for seven and a half months. Initially I was both alarmed and secretly pleased—because suddenly I could be my introvert self without apology. My biggest fear was that the whole thing would end too soon—before I completed the half-finished novel I’d been sitting on for the past two years.
While other people were flooding social media with recipes for sourdough bread and DIY crafts and photos of closets and dresser drawers that had just been given the Marie Kondo treatment, I said “no,” to these temptations (cleaning out a closet? I seriously love that kind of thing!) But no! I told myself, you’ve got to write.
And write I did. I wrote little personal essays (like this one) and I wrote flash fiction and even a poem or two and I spent a lot of time writing about the novel, but I couldn’t seem to write the novel. It was crazy-making! I felt lonely, I felt anxious, I felt depressed. I’d say to friends, “I think if I could finish this draft I would have some peace.”
Then one day, about a month ago, I don’t know how or why, I started in finally, and it all came in a big rush. I could barely move my pen fast enough. Now it’s here. My story exists in the world. I’m not ready to share it yet, it still needs work, but it is its own entity now.
I am amused and amazed at how quickly it all came once I was ready. My late friend Craig often told me that everything happens at exactly the right time. This is not an unpopular notion among those who believe in an omnipotent deity who is orchestrating all this for us. That wasn’t Craig. Craig believed in a God that manifested as an energetic essence—and we are all a part of this essence. We are all cooperating with and participating in the ever-evolving creation of the Universe.
I do not have Craig’s confidence in the validity of this belief. I want to believe it. I do believe it in the abstract. But do I think the creation of my novel somehow contributes to the efficacy of this particular moment in our history? Not necessarily what the novel says, but the very act of writing it? That is what Craig told me years ago, and that’s what I want to tell you now. I hope I’m not being obtuse! Let me try again.
All of us together are Divine Energy.
Whatever you do, no matter how small and mundane, do it with the intention of creating a greater awareness of our own unity in the Divine, and somehow I think we’ll be all right.
One more story: years ago, when Craig first told me these things, I was sitting up late, talking about it all with Harry, my companion at that time. I told him Craig had gone on and on about how important my writing was, but, I said, “I think all this praise is just feeding my ego.”
Harry said, “No. Not believing Craig would feed your ego.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s the resistance in weight lifting that makes muscles stronger,” Harry said. “It’s the resistance to truth that makes the ego stronger. Craig is telling you the truth. Believe him.”
So believe me when I say: you are important. I am important. We are all needed here or we wouldn’t be here. Together we are creating healing, justice, unity.
This weekend is Samhain, the Celtic New Year. It is a time when the veil between the seen and unseen realities becomes thin and porous. It is a time for inspiration, revelation, and new beginnings.
It’s also Halloween, All Saints’ Day, All Souls’ Day, and Día de los Muertos. And dare I mention, Election Day follows close behind. Please be mindful of the sacredness of these days. You are important. Your actions have great meaning.
Thank you for the reminder!
You’re welcome!