The Warrior Road… in Writing and in Life

Sep 12, 2011 by cara moulds

Today’s post is my final post here on Writing as a Sacred Path by Jill Jepson and focuses on “Part IV: The Warrior Road” where she illustrates the connections between the warrior and the writer.

The best aspects of the warrior – discipline, courage, and the willingness to fight for truth – are among the most admirable of virtues, and those qualities also lie at the core of the writing life. – Jill Jepson

Writing the “truth” is not always as easy as it might seem. There are many bloggers, journalists and media personalities who think they share the “truth” by saying exactly what they are thinking and feeling at the moment. I am on a quest for truth and authenticity in a deeper and more spiritual way. I recognize that the “truth” is not always found in my immediate response, which is based on an emotional or ego-based perception. I have spent the last several years meditating daily and reading philosophical and spiritual works. I know the basic truths that I live by, and I acknowledge that my writing must honor them.

One mark of a warrior is the knowledge that what she does can make a profound difference in the world. Because of that power, warriors are trained never to act recklessly or in malice. The writer, too, must live with that awareness. Like the warrior, you possess the power to alter the course of people’s lives. That power makes you honor bound to write with the utmost integrity. If you are a writer, you are engaged in a battle for truth, justice, and peace, whether you want to be or not. This is an awesome responsibility.-Jill Jepson

One writer who practices this and has been articulating the process in an accessible way is Gwen Bell. She describes her writing as Experience Telling; you can see her extensive background in yoga reflected in her writing practices. For a great discussion of how to put this into practice, read the two-part interview she did with Ev Bogue. Part 1:Telling From Your Tender Center. Part 2: Telling From Human Experience. What I especially liked about the interviews was the discussion of telling from experience versus philosophizing, from switching the voice in a piece from “I” to “we.”

When I’m not experience telling, I’m bullshitting. I’m making stuff up. I’m theorizing about something that I know nothing about. -Ev Bogue

Experience Telling isn’t raw, confessional, or self-centered even though its narrative is first-person. The whole point is to find what Jepson discusses as “the truth” in the experience and to share it from that perspective in order to offer it to the world.

You can tell through tears, and you can tell even when you’re scared, but it’s something to consider – am I in alignment as I tell this? Or do I need more space around it before it’s shareable?

If I’m publishing solely to get a rise out of people, I assume I’m still triggered about it. It’s back to the cushion/mat for me. – Gwen Bell

This reflects the warrior mentality. It’s about alignment and truth. It’s about the truth beyond what physically happened. It’s about alignment with your soul as you tell the story.

The greatness of the warrior does not come only from her strength and daring, her skill with the sword or light saber, or her ability to vanquish her foes. It comes from the honorable way she conducts herself, from her devotion to truth and peace, from the respect she has for others, and from the courage with which she faces battle. -Jill Jepson

This kind of writing requires time and thoughtfulness. It’s a slow process of writing, letting it settle, rereading it, and contemplating it from a place of alignment. This doesn’t mean watering down my opinions to please everyone or not writing about controversial topics. It means writing with respect for others whose opinions and experiences are different than mine. It means writing with integrity and moral courage.

That is writing, and living, from the Warrior’s Road.

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Read my other post on this chapter, The Courage to Do the Work, at Cara Moulds.

Cara Moulds is a writer, photographer, former high school administrator and teacher. She also writes at CaraMoulds.com and in The Letter. Her fine art photography is on permanent exhibit at the Claudia Mayer Cancer Resource Center in Columbia, MD. Her prints may be viewed and purchased from her gallery, which is here.