One of the best classes I am currently taking at Gordon College is Arts in the City. Here is one of my reflection papers in response to the reading: The Invisible Embrace: BEAUTY by John O’Donohue. I hope you can find some inspiration in this piece as you think of ways to help struggling writers. Please feel free to share your thoughts!
I stink at writing. Everything in me screams when I am asked to write a long, extensive research paper. Although I willingly put myself in these situations in the hope that the struggle will fade, I repeatedly feel defeated, frustrated, and utterly down on myself for not completing the assignment as I wish. While reading, The Invisible Embrace: BEAUTY by John O’Donohue, the quote “when we lose site of beauty our struggles become tired and functional” really struck a cord since I often lose site of the world and myself when I write. My focus strictly becomes the struggle and my inability to express as I wish. For me, the beauty in writing doesn’t exist simply because I feel I am not good at it.
Since I was a little girl, I have always tried to combat this by searching for the magic answer that would get me out of this writing funk (or at least the negative feelings I attach to writing). Although I know I can never truly solve all my problems with writing, I was impressed when O’Donohue mentioned how we can overcome the lost of beauty with courage. Defining courage as “tapping in to the heart of fear and taking that frightened energy and turning it towards initiative, creativity, action, and hope,” I started reflecting in how I can use this to change my attitude toward writing. With this definition, I start to slowly see my struggle as beautiful and unleashing since I am conscious of the place my heart is leaning towards. When we move from the place of fear and into the mindset of Beauty, one can invite any difficultly and find a way to call it beautiful, although it may be challenging. Both readings suggests that Beauty is possible, even in the midst of an intense struggle.
Another great point the text made was seeing beauty as something that “calls us out of ourselves”, and “appeals to feelings deep within us”. If we define beauty in this way, I can again call writing beautiful since it appeals to the deepest feelings in me. Although these feelings are not positive, the writing process opens the insecurities of my heart and brain. If I approach these insecurities with grace and love, I can find this process potentially healing and even holy, if I long for the simple and complex answers to my struggle and my identity.
