In 2007, at age 43, I decided to have a crack at writing my first book, so I took myself off on my own private writers retreat to a rustic little cabin overlooking a tiny secluded lake. It was winter at the time and numbingly cold.
For four days and four nights I sat at the rickety old kitchen table hunched over my trusty computer with the heater on full blast and a snuggly blanket over my legs, only stopping for necessary bodily functions.
Miraculously the words flowed from my head to my heart right through my fingers and onto the screen. On the final day, I emerged bleary-eyed yet triumphant with 30,000 words on my laptop, a huge grin on my face and a new-found commitment to pursue a writer’s life.
These words later became my first book Small Business Big Brand. I read the book now and notice all the imperfections in it, yet I’m glad I put it out into the world. I trust that it helped someone somewhere, in some small way.
Today, around 2,000,000 words later (including 5 books, 150+ blogs, 500+ words a day in my journal and so much more), I know now that this writers retreat was the catalyst for me to pursue a writer’s life.
Gloria Steinem once said “Writing is the only thing, that when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else.” That’s how I feel when I write. There’s nothing else I’d rather do. I’m in flow and time flies. It was what I was born to do.
I don’t believe I’m just one of the ‘lucky ones’ to have found my calling. I believe we all have a calling and that it’s right there waiting to be unearthed and brought to life. I believe action always precedes clarity of purpose.
So here’s three big questions for you to ponder;
1. What one word would you replace that word ‘writing’ with?
2. How would you spend four days and four nights to devote yourself to that word?
3. What one thing are you going to do right now to get started?
There’s no time like the present. If not you, who? If not now, when?