This is an excerpt from a journal entry that I wrote on on March 7, 2014 while I was on my way to Klagetoh, AZ to spend a week on the Navajo Native American Reservation. Its words remind me of the power and the joy that writing brings in to my life.
Alas, it is time that I begin to fill these blank, white pages with my words that, like Thich Nhat Hanh says, will inspire self-confidence, joy, and hope. If not for others, for myself. Right now, I'm in the middle seat of a car heading toward Tulsa, Oklahoma. I had been thinking about starting a new journal since my journal from last semester was full of such painful memories and moments. I'd like to think of this as a journal of healing. A place where my words in ink, on paper, will give me peace and clarity which will in turn provide healing.
Breathing in, I place my pen on the paper.
Breathing out, I let me heart write my words.
This week in Navajo Nation, I hope to be full present to the people and their stories, to myself and the needs of my heart, body, mind, and spirit, and to my God, the Creator and Sustainer.
I vow to feel everything. To see the invsible. To hear the truth being spoken and that left unspoken. To walk hand in hand in the human condition of brokenness. To touch the hearts and lives of those around me and to receive the healing touch as they reach out to me.
And to write...to write a lot.
