Angela forwarded an email from an author she admires whose inner over-achiever is demanding results immediately after her hiatus after her mother’s passing. Angela forwarded it to me because we had just been speaking about how easy things are when the spirit is there and difficult when it’s not. I sum it up this way:
- Drive is no substitute for spirit.
I’m thrilled with how my writing is unfolding – and yet it all seems to come in stops and starts. CAN I write when the spirit leaves me? Yes. But I don’t. Or try not to, anyway. I take it as a signal that it’s time to do something else.
I love my friends who remind me of that when MY inner over-achiever has an agenda that my spirit can’t stomach. I task my inner-achiever with nourishing my spirit and coaxing it out. Drive is no substitute for spirit and force is no way to animate spirit.
