Roots and Branches

The Power of Continued Attention

We hold space for many things in a given week: For special rituals, for people we love, for our work. Holding space implies more than just blocking out time in your schedule (though that can be part of it): There’s an energetic, emotional component too.

When we hold space for something, we are giving it our attention and devoting time and energy to it. When I hold space to gather with friends, I’m giving them a part of myself and my day.

Likewise, when I hold space for my writing, I’m devoting time and attention to a creative act that matters to me.

But so often, the most important, special parts of our writing lives get tossed out the window when life gets busy, energy gets low, and we feel spread thin.

In these moments, our creative lives feel like a luxury, but they are a necessity: And to devote continuous space for what you most want to build in this world is, in itself, revolutionary.

For many writers, we know we want to make our important writing happen, but we don’t really have the nuts and bolts skills and mindset shifts that help us continuously show up for that work. The heart is willing but the rational mind, alas, sometimes needs a bit of help.

This is why I focus so much on the container we build around our writing practice: Building in pleasure and peace to our writing time, thinking realistically (but also hopefully) about how writing practically fits into the structure of our days, and celebrating our accomplishments big and small.

Each of these skills (or rather, sets of skills) helps us unlearn those narratives that tell us to set aside our creative work that we most want to do and feel deep in our souls. Instead, we reweave our own narrative, that says the creative work you want to do is real work, is worth your time, and is valuable enough to continue showing up for.

In other words, your writing is worthy of the most precious space you can hold for it. And trust me, when your writing is surrounded by the energy of calm and a clear sense of direction (including “playing around and seeing what happens, which is also a direction!), it’s amazing how quickly things can shift.

The more your nourish it, the more it flourishes: Consistent connection to your creative work gives you permission to make progress on that work, and gives your creative spirit permission to grow.

Especially for people who do adjacent work (maybe you do writing, or design, or teaching for a living, but have a separate writing project that you’re really passionate about), creating a separation between your creative writing and work writing is super important, and keeps the stress of deadlines, work drama, etc. out of your creative space.

Holding space and making a writing practice that holds and nurtures your creative work (and keeps it apart from everything else) is a central part of my own writing practice and what I teach to others. For example, I start off each day with my own creative work before I ever touch articles I’m writing to spec, email, or whatever else.

If you’re looking to start holding space, here’s what I recommend:

Spend a few minutes this week and think about what you really love about your writing time. Whether it’s what you’re working on, or how you feel when you write (or when you accomplish a goal, or whatever else).
Now, think of one way you can connect with your practice more deeply: Writing for 5-10 minutes at the start of your workday, before you open email, meditating before or after your writing time, journaling, writing in a notebook rather than on your laptop, etc.

Try out whatever you chose for a week, and see if you notice any difference (and if you don’t, that’s ok too: Everything we do for ourselves as writers is a chance to learn more about our own process. There are no wrong answers and no failures!)

And, if you want to explore what holding space looks like for you, I made this worksheet, which helps you think through and implement ways to continuously show up for your writing practice.