Recently I watched my 16-year-old son practicing martial arts. I stood amazed, as with steady composure he navigated a long series of complex movements in one fluid dance. Why amazed? Probably for the same reason I was stunned to behold the arc of his head just moments after his birth. Because perfection–real perfection, not the gnarly kind that nags you until you get it right, but the pure-flowing kind–always comes as a delightful surprise. Why can’t we make perfection happen when we want it to? Because it’s the very serendipitousness, the unexpected nature, of the gracefulness of human movement or of the appearance (once again! imagine!) of a brand new human being, that makes us say “How wonderful! That’s perfection.” If we could predict it, it wouldn’t be perfect. By allowing ourselves to be surprised–in the act of writing, or anywhere else in life–we open to the miraculous. Only the miraculous is truly perfect, those moments of beauty and truth we know we couldn’t have created on our own.
Yet if we’re ever to touch perfection-in our writing, and martial arts, or within the silent heartwe instinctively know we must give over our desire to “do it well,” give in to the temptation to speak as openly and baldly as we can about whatever matters most to us. Otherwise the Inner Critic will take hold of our words and mash them to a pulp before their beauty or greatness has a chance to emerge.
The tough truth we must face: We can’t want to write well and write anything great. We must write with abandon, with an intention to discover what is best in us and in life. And we must show up. As we do, day by day, keep living and writing by the light of our true intention, we may glimpse perfection.
Seeing the miraculous emerging from our very own words, we’ll be as amazed as anyone else! When we see it, we won’t dare say, “How brilliant I am!” We’ll feel the tenuous beauty of that creation. We’ll treat it like a just-born infant. We will cradle it in our hands with unimaginable tenderness and say only, “Thank you.”
Ceci Miller is the author of Sacred Visitations: Gifts of Grace that Transform the Heart and Awaken the Soul, endorsed by Chicken Soul Author Marci Shimoff, Mars/Venus author John Gray, and bestselling author John Bradshaw. The book’s touching, often magical, stories guide readers beyond mere memoir into the profoundly personal world of their own sacred experiences. Ceci’s workshops teach the 5 Steps of Sacred Awareness. A student of meditation since 1976, Ceci’s heartfelt stories of spiritual experience and contemplation–shared in articles, books, and public talks–have inspired meditators and seekers throughout the world. She is the author of two children’s books and has co-authored and edited numerous books for adults. To hear Ceci read an excerpt from Sacred Visitations, or to hear her interviews with people about their spiritual experiences on the Sacred Visitations Podcast, go to http://www.sacredvisitations.com/
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Why use software to write?
The question should be…
Why NOT use software to write?
There are many smart people in the world that simply do not write well. They may have trouble organizing their thoughts or they may not understand the basic five paragraph format.
Essay writing software can help.
There was a recent review of an essay writing software program recently in the Writer’s Digest online concerning a software called the Instant Essay Creator…
Some writers have trouble organizing their thoughts into essay format, while others are clueless as to how to write a conclusion. Middle school and high school students often struggle to master the art of writing the standard five-paragraph essays that English teachers love to assign. While there isn’t a writing software program on the planet that can magically transform dull and uninspired writing into an enticing inspirational essay, a quality specialized writing software program such as the Instant Essay Creator is definitely helpful for generating, organizing and developing random thoughts and ideas into a fine essay.
The Instant Essay Creator does not work magic, but it does work hard. What this program does best is guide its user step-by-step through the essay writing process using a template-based program which breaks the essay writing process down into manageable tasks. Using this easy to install program is a breeze, and Sayles, who just happens to be a writer and public school teacher, includes plenty of helpful pointers for assembling, organizing and polishing the standard five-paragraph essay.
The organizational aspects of this program are pragmatic and accessible and will help even the most scattered and disorganized of writers become more focused and productive. Students will benefit greatly from the instructional text, which helps writers develop the critical elements of an essay, such as thesis and point-of-view, while more seasoned writers are certain to appreciate the structured templates, which assist the writer in shaping scattered thoughts into focused and structured sentences and paragraphs.
We’re not talking brain surgery here. What the software basically does is break down the art of essay writing into small steps so that the writer doesn’t feel overwhelmed or get off track. The Instant Essay Creator is not a sophisticated or complex software program, and it doesn’t contain fancy graphics or elaborate illustrations, but it definitely makes the essay writing process less cumbersome and infinitely more accessible.
It won’t instantly churn out elegant prose by the barrelful, but it will guide struggling students through problem areas and it’s a great tool for practicing essay writing. The Instant Essay Creator is a useful tool for battling writer’s block and for increasing overall productivity because it’s a bit like having a writing coach by your side, guiding you along and helping you move forward in the right direction.
What’s the best part of all? It beats staring at a blank page waiting for inspiration to strike!
You can view this review at http://tinyurl.com/afntv .
You are invited to check out Kristi Sayles extensive line of writing software at http;//smartauthor.com and on Ebay.
