Inspiration slams into our soul, so words pour out of our hands onto the page like hot maple syrup: sticky and sweet.

We’re pulled into the raging current of creative ideas that were just a collection of images in our mind, but now those blasts of colors and memories of smells become tangible, something to hold in our hands.

That feeling of being empowered through our words—of daring to speak from our hearts—is like drinking a double espresso before a date: we’re ready to share our ideas with others, but…

What if we didn’t?

What if we had a three day rule about writing?

We’d slip the pages of writing into an envelope, and with a black sharpie scribble the date before walking away. Go out into the world. Let the words simmer in the edges of our minds while we live our days.

Let’s detach from the writing, and encourage the words to be something separate from ourselves.

We’ll see that the impulsiveness activated in the acts of creativity won’t blind us from the intention of our words.

In this culture of Insta-blogging, we’ll find wisdom within ourselves and our creative product by taking a “pause” before we hit the publish button.

We can make sure that our writing comes from a place of awareness, not just a knee-jerk reaction to our lived experiences.

By practicing the three day rule of writing, we can answer Thich Nhat Hanh’s question:

“Are you sure of your perception?”

On the morning of that third day, we’ll pour a cup of coffee, sit at our writing desk where we’ll rip open the envelope, and re-read our passionate words with the above question in our mind’s eye.

We’ll pick up our pen, cross out a word here, rearrange a sentence there, and fine-tune our desires that surfaced during our buzz of writing.

Has our writing captured what we meant to say?

Are we being truthful with our own hearts and minds? Have we expanded our perceptions of the world through our words?

After this three day pause, we will hopefully discover that our words—which flowed like hot maple syrup—have cooled into a maple candy that’s ready to be shared with the world.

 

Relephant read:

Satya: Speak the Truth but Only if it Is Sweet.

 

Author: Jessie Wright

Editor: Catherine Monkman

Image: distelfliege/Flickr