Find Your Free

There is nothing else in the world like writing. We get to shed light on whatever it is we care most about. What is important, joyful, thrilling, and meaningful to us. If we want to reach people, we need to be willing to be bright, to come out from our hiding place. We need to let people see us and what we know, feel, think, and believe. Our lights can change the world, and we can decide for whom and how.

This may seem like a tall command. Change the world. Shine our light. In reality, it couldn’t be simpler. Let’s take literary master Kurt Vonnegut. His writing may not be for everyone (as is the case of everything ever written), but he certainly crafted stories that made a lasting impression on millions of people. He shined his light bright and he didn’t hide. One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever heard from a writer was from him. He said, “Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.” By writing for one person, your story will have more clarity and, ironically, reach many more people.

Think of it this way: what’s most personal is most universal. By reaching down deep and being vulnerable, and writing for that one important person, readers will identify with it more, they will connect with the depth and true nature of what you are conveying. Write for one being, and your light will shine brightly.

Speaking of shining bright, I am a big fan of Cirque du Soleil. What an inspired creation. From the intriguing stories, powerful music, the elaborate other-worldly settings, and costumes, to the charisma and daring feats of the performers. It all works so well together. An explosion of creativity and heart. I don’t think I have ever experienced more light shining from one stage than from the last performance of theirs I saw called Volta— and I’ve seen almost every one of their tours (I know, I did say I was a fan).

That night I bought a program. I’m not normally a merch kind of girl, but this was too inspiring to pass up. On the front of the program in bold, gold letters was the theme of that show: FIND YOUR FREE.

Ah, yes, please.

What an incredibly simple yet profound string of words. As someone who plays with words day in and day out, I was amazed that I had never come across these three words in this sequence in this way. I am sure they are out there somewhere else, but to me this was new. And the light from them to me about knocked me over. The main character in the story was searching for his free. Now, I could feel myself wanting to find mine.

After the show, I decided to check out the T-shirts, I think primarily because I wasn’t ready to leave the tent and the fantastic journey I was just taken on. Then, across from me I saw it, a classic, black V-neck shirt that had white letters strewn across. It said, “We rise by lifting each other up.”

Wow.

I could feel something in me shift. I grabbed the shirt, paid of course, and have never since forgotten the magic of that night. The performances were incredible, yes, but these two phrases have been guiding me ever since. Those writers expressed something I needed to hear. I doubt I was their one person that Vonnegut asked them to write for, but because they wrote it for someone, I found resonance in it, too.

Let a sense of buoyancy and lightness be the norm as you write. Even as you focus on productivity and impact, let the light you are be what guides you. Playfulness and a lightness of being can open you up to a creative and uplifting flow of energies. Be big-hearted and big-minded. Be big!

There are negative and limiting beliefs surrounding creativity. Don't restrict yourself. There is a lot more to creativity than you may realize. Use the power of your imagination. It's real. Imagination is a foundation to everything. Creativity is always happening. Be open to it. Give it energy. Feed it. That idea. Conceive and give it life.

Shine and lift others up while you do it.

Shine and find your free.