Balance. Creativity. Bringing new ideas to the world. Pain.
Balance. Curiosity. Compassion. Healing.
Balance. Exploration. Travel. Faith. Inner peace.
Balance. Writing. Collapsing all walls, boundaries, and self-limitations.
Balance. Power. Possibility. Abundance. Connection.
These are some of the words that have shown up in my life this year. Notice the word balance shows up a lot? My life is demanding it this year in all areas. So much I’m almost ready to take a vacation by myself and find some again, along with missing pieces of my soul. I suspect two of my colleagues C and L, would probably join me on my quest to find balance, peace, and collapse all walls we’ve erected. We have to heal and tear down the old so the new and incredible can show up. And maybe we can explore some beautiful old ruins like the ones in the photo, and discover something new about ourselves. Strength. Resilience. Perseverance.
You may wonder why I’m talking about creativity, writing, and spiritual themes on my World War II website. My life and work incorporate both the research and spiritual side of things. If you read any of my articles from last fall’s trip to Europe, you’ll have a better sense of what I believe and witness. Running a business and being the only person to manage and do all the work can take its toll on you. Whether we are talking the field of World War II research, speaking, and writing, or Genealogical research, speaking, and writing, (my two main areas of work) there must be balance. 
C recently told me she was using writing Morning Pages and using the book, The Artist’s Way. A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron. I told her that was a great book. A few years ago, about the same time I became really serious with my World War II research and all that came of that endeavor, I picked up that book and worked through it a couple of times over the years. I also collected a wide range of writing prompt books to let the not so serious side of my writing flow and have fun. Prompts that let me leave the deadly world of World War II and discover more of myself or channel family members or others, who had something to say. Somewhere over the last year I lost that sense of fun and playfulness in my writing. Since books have a way of showing up exactly when I need them, I decided to pull mine back off the shelf and take a look.
The book The Artist’s Way, is about Discovering and Recovering Your Creative Self. The first two times I used this book, I didn’t need to recover my creative self. My creative WRITING self. I knew who I was, had so much fun writing, and there wasn’t a lot of pressure. Yesterday when I pulled the book and sat outside with my journal to just write – the words came out, “Writing used to be fun. What happened? And why haven’t you time traveled through writing in a while?”
Oh. Yea. Why haven’t I?
This year has demanded balance and brought a lot to the surface for my soul to heal and release so I can move into the next phase of life. My writing has consisted of working through all that pain on a personal level, and on a professional level, writing books and programs for World War II education. There hasn’t been enough time for fun and playfulness. My colleagues would agree, because they are going through similar things.
Why am I r
ecommending this book and talking about this today? Because this book is for everyone. And in times like this where the world feels uncertain and full of anger, we should find balance, love, and peace, within. It will help you see while the foundation may be shattered, there is a lot of stability to rebuild upon. It will help you regain a sense of self, safety, identity, compassion, strength, and help you move forward in ways you didn’t think possible. The book will help you sort out your thoughts, dreams, wishes, and goals. It will help you discover new hidden pieces of yourself. It will allow you and demand that you take time to play and rest. In short, it will change your life. I just ordered her book The Artist’s Way at Work. Riding the Dragon. I’ll let you know how it helps me balance out my work in new, exciting ways. I have a feeling some interesting projects will begin showing up through this transition too!
Whether you are in business for yourself, or dealing with a lot of family history or World War II research, there are creative ways to let go of some of that deadly, sad energy. The Artist’s Way is one resource to help you do just that.
Have you read this book or others by Julia Cameron? I’d love to hear what you think of them. I’m always looking for new books on writing or the spiritual life.
© 2016 World War II Research and Writing Center
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