"You have to write (create) out of a belief
that things could be different and better."
that things could be different and better."
HILARY MANTEL
I recently read an interesting book titled Write It All Down (2022) by British author Cathy Rentzenbrink. It's a book about writing and setting 'aside the fears that hold many writers back'. I certainly have dealt with my own share of them over the years, so I wasn't sure if I'd find anything new and useful, but I enjoy Cathy's writing and subscribe to her newsletter.
Something did catch my eye! Amongst the interesting insights into her own writing journey, was Cathy's practical advice about how to live and keep working when there is this never ceasing onslaught of news on social media. How do we protect our minds, our hearts? It's a problem for many of us. Having online info 24/7 makes the woes and conflicts of the world ever present and in our faces. We're not made to carry all those burdens. Especially when we can do nothing about so much of it. It isn't good for one's soul, nor is it helpful to those of us who still have to get supper on the table and write blog posts and complete needful projects.
I found myself relating to Cathy's comment about being 'wrecked in the exposure to suffering'. She says,
"The news and Twitter makes me feel like I can hear the screams of millions because there is always something bad happening somewhere. We have continual access to other people's woes just a click away, but without the ability to run to help, so I get into a frozen, paralyzed state where I can't do anything, but nor can I take any interest in my own projects, which are all dwarfed by what I have just witnessed." (I added the bold)
Oh yes, I recognize that frozen, paralyzed feeling where I feel so dragged in that I'm unable to take interest in my own quite ordinary projects because they are dwarfed by the horrors I've just seen. I do intensely feel the pain of others but there is much I have no control over and cannot actually do anything about, except whisper a little prayer. Once these sad stories are in my head, they hang around in my imagination and make it hard sometimes to get on with my own day.
How does one keep on keeping on?
Cathy, upon mulling with angst about the state of the world, asks the question, "...will the world be served if you are so aghast by everything in it that you can't do the work of finding your voice and making a contribution?" That woke me up. I do feel aghast and enraged at what I hear. She goes on to says, retrench for a while. Pull away, and don't click on every post. It doesn't help to read it all.
She also quotes the wisdom of author Hilary Mantel: "I think a novelist (or anyone) is disempowered if she is cynical or jaded, if she feels human possibilities are exhausted. You have to write (create) out of a belief that things could be different and better."
Write and work out of a belief that things could be different and better. With that thought on my mind, I carry on with what I do have control over at this moment in time.
In this, I am also humbly relearning lessons I thought I knew, thought I remembered... that I have the power to take dominion over my own thoughts. I don't have to keep going 'round and 'round with the same thoughts, the same images. And I can cast all my cares (including the cares for others) on the One who is greater than myself. I can remind myself of those words in the New Testament, "Be anxious for nothing" - I like to turn nothing into two words "no thing", not a single thing am I to be anxious about if I turn my thoughts towards the God of this universe. How many times have I reminded myself of that. Here I am practicing it again and again. For only then can I turn my thoughts towards my work, my writing, and my caring for the people I CAN do something for. I must learn to leave the rest in God's care. What else can we do?
And, as a follower of Jesus, I do have that hope and belief, if we ask for grace, He will sustain us in good times and terrible times. And whether we go through them intact or whether we succumb, He is still with us. So, we carry on. We ask for grace to care for our families, we write our blog posts about beauty and home and books, we help out where we can, and we leave the rest with God. Remembering He's got helpers all around the world to help carry the load, to help those we cannot help.
Today I'm grateful for Cathy Rentzenbrink and to Hilary Mantel for their words of wisdom that I take to heart on this bright and sunny, yet wintery, Friday afternoon. I watch the sunlight glinting from the snowy roof-tops and remember I can be a light in this dark world.
❦
Wishing you a beautiful grace-filled weekend,
Brenda
Photo credits:
Brenda Leyland @ It's A Beautiful Life
My Blogging Schedule:
I post on Fridays
Good afternoon, Brenda.
ReplyDeleteYou have written most eloquently about my own struggles during these strange times. I'll be looking up Cathy's book and newsletter. My own post today, written about an hour before reading yours, reflects, less eloquently, some of the same tensions, and the need to rely heavily on the One in whom we trust.
I have my feet up on the couch as I write this and the plum tree in the middle of the cul-de-sac is frothy with creamy white blossoms. Our beautiful red and white maple leaf flag flies in the wind across the street on my neighbour's lawn. Being light in this dark world is something you do well. Have a beautiful weekend.