Writing is a new discipline for me. Actually, I have kept a personal journal for years. So I should say that public posting of writing is a new discipline for me. One of the best gifts I ever received was during my high school graduation. It was a book gift set that contained a published journal and a matching blank journal. This was several years before blogging and the internet was a thing. Reading someone else’s published journal was more like a guide to personal journalling. Giving me permission to write about whatever was going on in my heart and life at the time. For decades that followed, I had notebooks and journals at my fingertips. My journals are mostly written prayers and conversations with God, descriptions of dreams and hopes. Many times the ink is smudged and streaked from tears that fall on the pages. Phases of writing was sporadic for me, as many times my life was just too busy to stop and write about it. Between taking care of babies and raising children, there were times when I would go years without writing anything at all.

I started my photography business in 2004, I had to communicate with customers through emails, marketing pieces and blog posts. Up to this point, anything I had written was for my own purposes never for anyone else. Not having to worry about spelling, grammar, punctuation, mechanics or making sense to anyone.  Email was rather new, and I still viewed it as formal letter writing. I would labor over pieces for days before sending or publishing them making sure I was clear in what I wrote. I was exhausted preparing anything to send.

Sean joined me in our business venture full time in 2007. We had two agreements. #1 if anything has a cord, plug or battery, it was his responsibility. (I have a love-hate relationship with technology.) And #2 if there were words to be written, he would write them.  These two things helped free me up to focus on honing my photography skills and generating ideas to run my business. Although over the next four years, I completely lost my writing voice.

After moving to Tybee and slowing down life to the that of island time, a seed that has been in my heart for a long time, started to sprout and I began writing again. I started back with my journals.  I tried to write about recent experiences and turn of events, but some things were too painful to write about. Still going through the trials of starting life over,I had not yet been assured that everything was going to be OK.

I decided to write a how-to-book on iPhone photography. This would help me exercise writing without emotion. It would be a technical piece without heart. Simply clinical. During this time I found my quiet space. It was wintertime, and as lovely as Tybee is all year, its still too cold in January and February to used the deck as an office. When the girls would start their online school lessons for the day, I would retreat to our bedroom. I have a black leather reclining chair next to my bed where I would sit with laptop propped over the wool blanket wrapped around my legs. The bitter wind would blow through our single pane windows, clearly not made for winter. The door was shut and everyone in the house knew to not interrupt me for at least an hour. I gathered images from the years that would exhibit techniques of proper exposure or composition. Coupled with explanation and steps to replicate the process. It was helpful, but not passionate.

After a couple weeks I completed the manual, an online iphoneography guide that was available for free download. A few weeks after the guide was finished, Apple upgraded their operating system and made several changes in their camera functions and I was too lazy to make the changes in the guide and republish it. But I did continue to carve out the time to write a few days a week. So the exercise was fruitful in getting my discipline back and as I allowed personal journaling and writing to slowly return to my life. I eventually crafted a few blog posts and made them public, spaced apart by months and weeks, no rhyme or reason to when they would be posted.

Writers I follow regularly whose words inspire and continue to encourage me daily are Roy H. Williams, Micheal Elliott, James Altucher, Donald Miller, Anne Lamott and Frederick Buechner. I long to share what they each present, a voice of humor, candidness and unfiltered bleeding on the page. They all say it will come in due time but not without the discipline of simply getting words out. Donald Miller says it best, “Writers like to have written.”

Are you working on a daily discipline? Something you feel is part of your purpose being on this earth. Or maybe you are trying to improve a skill in your life…painting, drawing, cooking, writing,  photography, music, running, surfing, communicating, loving? I hope you tell me about it either in a private message or in the comments below. What do you do everyday to bring you closer to where you want to be? Have you not started yet? Is it still just a seed that needs nurtured? Do something today to get it started or started again. Read a book on the subject, pick up a pen and paper, buy those ingredients or tools to get started. Then everyday do a little something more. Before you know it that thing, that was once a far off dream will be real.