A Manifesto of TheReflectivePen Part One
Genesis
The genesis of TheReflectivePen is a tale of collective failures and successful adventures in both writing and technology in a search for meaning and purpose in the process of aging.
What follows is a statement of that purpose – as I understand it today. However, everything changes.
Tomorrow my responses to the reader’s questions – your questions – will surely draw the writing into unknown places.
Still, for this moment in time, the following words frame the big picture of TheReflectivePen.
Who Is The Creator of
TheReflectivePen?
I was a curious child with a love of books who grew up to be a goat farmer, a hospice nurse, and a minister.
Creating a blog (and the website to host it) was not on my radar until life took an unexpected u-turn.
When I found myself standing at the crossroads of an unchosen retirement, I looked into the distance and could see only mountains of challenges to climb.
Sorrow seemed to be ever-present, and I saw that grief is like an ocean surrounding those hills.
(To hear this story in the voice of the author click HERE: Learning to Sit.)
Interspersed among the peaks of illness and aging, a summit offering new adventure emerged from the cloudy terrain of my future.
New Adventures in Blogging
A several-year-long journey began as I traversed the wild landscape ahead.
One crest I set out to conquer was blogging – the art of writing and publishing on the internet.
This mountain emerged from a veritable jungle of new things to learn, like how to build a website and how to promote it so anyone can find it.
I could not discern if the call to climb this mountain was an echo of my unfulfilled life as a writer, or if it was a beckoning into a new adventure and purpose I hadn’t dared dream.
Either way, I stepped forward toward high blogging peaks like the proverbial bear. I had to see what was on the other side.
The bear was right!
What I see is the other side of the mountain.
And more mountains beyond that.
The Beliefs that Ground The Writing
If you have ever gone on a great adventure, you can appreciate the importance of having a base camp of solid beliefs and values.
Here then, are the beliefs that ground TheReflectivePen.
- All life has meaning and purpose and is meant to be lived fully until our last breath. To live fully is not as dependent on economics, health, or age as it is on a mindset to embrace creativity as primary energy. TheReflectivePen is the fruit of creative energy released through words.
- Everything is Holy and is Mystery. Our spirituality and all that is sacred exceeds definition and yet is found in ordinary, everyday events and things. Mystery!
- Things have a way of working out. Part of the Mystery of life is not knowing how problems are going to resolve, how lives can be rebuilt after a tragedy, how to take the next step in a storm. But these events occur— and resolve with or without our intervention. They are not dependent on my understanding.
- Everything is impermanent. My successes and failures are soon histories. Impermanence removes the value of clinging and grasping, shows me the healing in self-forgiveness, and sets me free to live fully in each moment.
- Life can be lived “for the fun of it.” Aging is an adventure that offers challenges, wisdom, and insight which are part of a fully lived life
What You Can Expect From
TheReflectivePen
From this basic framework of beliefs, TheReflectivePen has evolved into a weekly blog that discusses matters of interest to older readers through the lenses of spiritual or personal growth, overcoming challenges, and creativity.
Once a month you will find advice for everyday dilemmas that comes from Dekker, a service dog with a gift for writing.
Subscribers begin the week with an email that gives a peek into the theme of the week. There will also be occasional free gifts that support commitment to living a full life with meaning and purpose.
If you have not yet subscribed, be sure to sign up today and join the many satisfied readers of TheReflectivePen
COMING SOON: PART 2
GOALS of The ReflectivePen
