VOICING
(Oratio)
What are you invited to?
Lift your pen or
place your hands on the keys.
Begin.
Your response DOES NOT have to ‘make sense’.
There is no “right way” to do this.
Just notice what is happening. Notice your responses.
There is no need to ‘stay with’ with the text.
(simply return to your (physical) experience)
Contemplative practice is exploring what connection means for you.
What works for someone else, (or how they describe this) may not translate to your world.
There is never an obligation to read your writing or even speak.
You are welcome to keep your silence.
FURTHER SUGGESTIONS…
*Keep your hand(s) moving steadily as much as possible. But…pauses are OK too.
*Avoid re-reading or mental deliberation – ‘mistakes’ are often very revealing.
*Try moving back and forth between savoring/inhabiting your words and the activity of writing.
*The presence of a critical voice is normal.
*What i meant to say was.... = this is a ‘reset button’ write it to bring yourself back to yourself.
*Write down questions & confusions.
*Re-word the passage into your own language.
*Dialog with the author. Ask them questions and accept the reply that comes, however it comes.
*Be hospitable to unfamiliar and even unwanted ‘voices’ that emerge.
*Stay with it:
The experience of ‘groping for words’ is often followed by some insight or breakthrough.
Name, (or simply sit with) your experience and allow that to lead you in.
There is always something waiting to be heard.