3 Tips for Writers to Cultivate Mindfulness

There never was a time where people needed mindfulness more than right now.

When confronted with the pain we find in the world, how do we as writers remain connected to the peace within us, and help it become peace on earth? How can we possibly keep our minds on what we want to create and write about when there is so much to be concerned with in the state of the world’s affairs?

Amidst such suffering, how can one possibly remain calm and find that peaceful place to begin a fresh, thoughtful story or meaningful message?

These are some tools and strategies to help you sink deeper into the peace that comes from within, so you can open your mind and your heart to write and share your stories with others.

1. Cultivate compassion and self love.

In my experience, one of the major gifts of mindfulness is the cultivation of self love and of compassion for yourself, in your human predicament, and for your fellow human beings. When I started practicing mindfulness in my Buddhist practice, I realized that I felt this absence of love in myself. With time and practice, I also saw that I was able to cultivate this love by concentrating on certain kinds of phrases, by staying calm and by slowing down.

It’s an amazing journey to go on. You can have an expanded sense of your worthiness and certainly that you know the value of all human beings around you, without judgment.

This is a good thing to focus on if you practice regular meditation. Your goal is already to be centered and calm and at one with the universe, so expand that feeling to include acceptance of all parts of yourself.

2. Diminish suffering by opening your heart.

Open the door to the idea that through your own well-intended actions, and loving kindness, you can make a difference in the world. And in your own view of yourself and there and therefore, minimize or diminish your suffering.

Alone, you cannot expect to change the lives of everyone in the world. But you can improve the world of one person near you, and by doing so you will reduce your own suffering. This can take many forms. If there is a charity or service group near you, you might decide to volunteer for them. On a smaller scale, you could take some time out of your day to check in on a friend who maybe needs some extra compassion in their life right now. The important part is to act with kindness and to focus on the needs of others.

3. Embrace the idea of impermanence.

One of the key pieces of Buddha’s wisdom is that everything is impermanent, that nothing lasts. People who try to make things last, cannot succeed in that. So when you can embrace the idea that we live in a world where nothing is forever, that everything is always transforming itself into something else, then all you really have to fall back on is your own sense of understanding of this and acceptance of it. There are times in life where you just have to remember that this, too, shall pass.

The acceptance of impermanence also makes the losses that you encounter in life easier to cope with. You have to accept the dark aspects of our existence, and society’s problems and all the rest of the many things that are distressing. But if we can see it in the larger picture, and know that everything is always transforming, then then it makes it easier. You’re going to see that life is this amazing mosaic of experiences. And you can’t have the light without the dark.

There’s very little you can control in life, but your own mind is one of those things. Practicing mindfulness can help you keep yourself going, even through the most difficult times in life.

What mindfulness strategies have you found useful in your writing? Leave me your comments. I’d love to hear what ideas you have!

P.S.
Photo by Katerina Jerabkova on Unsplash