Zensights

The more I write, the more I realize that there many other good writers out there in the wide world. I have had to come to this conclusion even as I have learned the hard publishing lessons of rejection. I have also learned that there are also countless good writers in the past--writers who have and continue to bring the world to tears with their creation of words. Is it any surprise that I have often wanted to throw my hands into the air and toss my pen in the trash? How can I possibly compete with all these wonderful wordsmiths?

During these difficult writing moments, I realize that the point behind all of my writing is not money-making or big publishing contracts, since there are so many others who are going to "beat me to it," so to speak. The point behind all of my efforts then is something far more transcendent--it is the contemplative nature of my writing process that helps me process my world. I have come to see that writing about my world and my experience is an inward journey of discovery and insight.

So, why should anyone else but me want to read my thoughts? The only answer is that reading my words or about my discoveries may reveal to a reader the very answers that someone may need at this point in his or her journey through life. It might just be that I can solve a perplexing problem that had not yet occurred to the reader. I might actually provoke thought on a given subject, or I might have the keys to a kingdom yet unimagined. I might even provide the very piece of peace a frantic person needs.

These "zensights" of mine may not be as profound as those of a Zen Buddhist monk. They are nonetheless meaningful exercises in existence, and that should benefit anyone who chooses to read what I have discovered about the world in which we all move and breathe.