Silence: A Writer’s Source
Recently I attended a secular conversation at which the word “Source” was batted around the way religious folks use the word “God.” I find “Source” a helpful term, although perhaps not big enough to encompass my sense of divine presence. But it got me thinking: What’s a writer’s source? What grounds us and inspires us? From where do we draw our creative energy? Of course there’s no single answer to this question, but among the many answers is silence. “Silence is where we locate our voice,” Terry Tempest Williams said in an interview with Lorraine Berry. “In silence, the noises outside cease so the dialogue inside can begin.” Writing is essentially a contemplative practice. The writer must settle down and listen through the emptiness of the blank page and the echoing mind to the small stirrings of the heart. I’ve always loved Anne Frank’s bald statement of longing: “I want…
Anne Frank Barbara Brown Taylor Lorraine Berry Mark Rothko Terry Tempest Williams