When I was younger I liked the written exams. It was four hours with a clear assignment and yellow folded papers to fill. When I rewrote it in hand into the final paper it was with a flushed but happy face.

I was nervous before the exam and I definitely felt the adrenaline during those four hours but usually the investment paid of. I was feeling content. I did the work and of course I wanted a good grade but what I really loved was the feeling of words coming together and to see them reorganize in a meaningful way.

I wanted to pass the exam, I wanted to do my best, I wanted to see my skill put to the test. It helped me to have a given assignment, some scheduled time and a clear objective. But mostly I was intrigued to see what I had to say.

I do not want every writing day to feel like an exam. But I do love to learn new things and apply and explore what I have learned.

This feeling I will bring with me on my journey of writing which makes my mission statement sound something like this:

My Mission Statement

I bring it all to the page and by doing so clarity emerge. The next right thing to do comes up when I pay attention to what presents itself when I follow the path of learning by doing. When I do this I will be able to share the written word in a meaningful way.

But how to make it applicable and tangible?

3 Ways I Practice My Mission Statement

3 Ways in which I bring it all to the page

1. Morning pages (Julia Cameron website)
2. I Open up a document in Pages for the day or week and fill it with thoughts, feelings and ideas
3. I always have my notebook with me and I fill it with free writing

3 ways I am learning by doing

1. I practice the craft of writing on my novel
2. I apply the use of writing prompts to my novel
3. I assign time and create space just to listen to my story

3 Ways helping me to pay attention

1. Walking both in the city and in nature
2. Interpreting what I find to be signs
3. Choosing and follow a mentor through books and videos

3 ways in which I hope to share my writing in a meaningful way

1. Publish books
2. Write blog posts
3. Give talks

But how did I get to the point where I was able to coin this statement. As an young adolescent I lost my mother and soon after still grieving I made a promise to myself not to grow bitter and cynical. It came almost as an order in my head – Don’t grow bitter and cynical. Perhaps it could have been put in a more positive way but not yet.

When presented with a choice or faced with a situation that needed interpretion I just knew I could not do it from a place of bitterness. That if I grew cynical it would not bring about healing. But I needed a way to discern the situation and choices and alternatives and I did that everytime through writing.

The practice of writing helped me to learn that there still was a pathway of love open. Which in turn became a love of writing.

Would writing a missionstatement help you grow as a writer? Let me know in a reply or even better share you own missionstatement for writing so we can inspire and encourage each other.