It is powerful to claim space in this world: A creative view

We had a huge rainfall and big wind on Sunday late afternoon into the evening. It was wild and fierce nature — unconfined, insistently present, forceful. We got a bit of water in the basement (from the usual source that, clearly, we can no longer ignore), but we and our property survived. Now all that the plants need is some sun and heat to dry out and get blooming.

I had spent the earlier part of the weekend at a writing retreat where, it occurs to me, I experienced a similar intensity of energy and force. Eight women and two facilitators (Deborah, who is my workshop collaborator, and I) committed to being present to each other as we talked about our writing work and actively engaged with our creative selves. We were quieter than the rain and wind that fell later on Sunday, but the impact of our collective endeavour was no less forceful. There is something remarkable about being in the company of willing and open participants, ready to welcome the unknown possibilities of their written words.

One of the exercises was to respond to this prompt: “I write because…” and “Because I write…” Deceptively simply, it led to profound statements of identity and of urgency to tell the stories that shape our lives. 

I wrote —

I write because…

• I can
• I love it
• I have things to say
• I am a writer.

Because I write…

• I am a writer
• I have readers
• I get better at writing
• I take up space in this world on the page, on the screen, and in my readers’ minds.

Taking up space is a political act, maybe particularly for women or, for that matter, any marginalized group. We talked about this at the retreat. We discussed where we write and how we are able to carve out time for this act of creative engagement that feeds us, that is an urgent call to us in our lives. For many, it is not easy. It is, in fact, an ongoing struggle to take the room (of our own) that we need as writer, as creative, as woman. 

I am fortunate. I have both a writing desk and a table for my collage art work; I have no children, and my partner is also a writer and a painter who has her separate spaces for her creative work. For some, there are fewer options. It is a desk in a corner, for others the dining room table that must first be cleared. Or it is a coffee shop or the car, the bed, or the front porch. Whether easy to access or hard to create, we use some of our precious energy to secure the space we need — and want (and there’s the rub, isn’t it: our desire) — to write our stories.

We also talked about the word “little” and how often we seem to apply that to this important work of ours. “My little creative path…” “My happy little stories…” “My little piece of writing…” And we decided to stop using it. Nothing about any of our writings is diminutive. Some of our stories may be short, but they are not little. So, we created an imaginary “Little Jar” into which we would toss some money every time we applied the word to our work; pretty soon, Deborah said, we would be able to do something big with it. (Although no money in it at all would actually be the bigger triumph, it occurs to me.)

This past weekend saw ten of us “retreat” from our usual routines to actively engage with others as writers. We were left tired yet energized and inspired. That is the power of the creative force in our lives. Like nature, it is insistently present and powerful, and we ignore it at our peril. We need its life-giving energy no matter the cost of using it. 

Whatever your creative work is, I invite you to try the “I write because…” and “Because I write…” exercise. You might be surprised what shows up for you. If you are not a writer, replace "write" with your own creative work. Make as many statements as you wish; I made four, while others made more. Each time you do the exercise, you'll likely change what you say and discover just how much you have to say.

I write/paint/sing/act/play the piano/garden/carve wood...because…

• I …
• I …
• I …

Because I write/paint/sing/act/play the piano/garden/carve wood...

• I …
• I …
• I …

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Land acknowledgement: I respectfully recognize that I live on the original lands of Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation.

Photo by Jacek Dudzinski on Unsplash