Polishing Self-Awe

When working on a project, writers push the pen and keys without applause.  Oh how we stretch and surge to avoid self-judgment while words drip rather than splash and tumble upon the blank space. 

Do we need to pursue and polish self-awe?

Pablo Neruda reveals his adoration of words.   Feel the self-awe:

You can say anything you want, yessir, but it's the words that sing, they soar and descend . . . I bow to them . . . I love them, I cling to them, I run them down, I bite into them, I melt them down . . . I love words so much . . . The unexpected ones . . . The ones I wait for greedily or stalk until, suddenly, they drop . . . Vowels I love . . . They glitter like colored stones, they leap like silver fish, they are foam, thread, metal, dew . . . I run after certain words . . . They are so beautiful that I want to fit them all into my poem . . . I catch them in midflight, as they buzz past, I trap them, clean them, peel them, I set myself in front of the dish, they have a crystalline texture to me, vibrant, ivory, vegetable, oily, like fruit, like algae, like agates, like olives . . . And I stir them, I shake them, I drink them, I gulp them down, I mash them, I garnish them, I let them go . . . I leave them in my poem like stalactites, like slivers of polished wood, like coals, pickings from a shipwreck, gifts from the waves . . . Everything exists in the word . . .*

After diversion, concentration, or a time of relaxation, it becomes possible to catch the Awe as a breakthrough; an unforeseen depth. The rush of of mind in delight will sail across the page. We avoid thoughts of success, failure and judgment and let them fly from the creative space until no shadows of doubt remain.

If we write until the tension eases, waves will rise from the belly to heart to breath. The magic of  self-awe will keep us bouyant in any sea. 

"WOW, I wrote that!"          

Watch applause rise
                Spindrift spins in high fives.

*From Memoirs by Pablo Neruda (NY: Penguin, 1974), p. 53.

Creative Write:  Write yourself into the awe.  During a time of writing that appears sluggish, stop and read a favorite writer or an inspirational piece. Take a walk and use your observation skills in all directions with a focus on details of  nature. When you return, write for 15 minutes. Don't stop until a word, phrase or idea thrills to the bone and buoys you above the clouds. Mine to the depth of experience to discover your creative joy of words.