It's A Practice, Not A Perfect

So in yoga class this morning...

...and yes, I'm about to quote my yoga teacher again.

Seriously, the woman is a genius.  There's always at least one quotable nugget of wisdom she gives us in each class.  Today she said, "Yoga is a practice unlike any other.  There is no end result."

That really stuck with me.  (Obviously, because I'm blogging about it!)  And I thought, "I can apply that to writing."

Remember my resolution for 2012?  Fall back in love with writing.  And I think one of the keys to that is to be less fixated on the end result (publication) and focus back on the practice of writing.  It's the process where I find the joy.  It's the process that I fell in love with to begin with, way back in third grade when I wrote my first story.  (It was about a unicorn.  Yep.)

I think it's really easy to lose focus on the practice of writing when we're busy chasing a book contract.  We become convinced that it's only through publication that we'll be happy.  But if we don't love the process, the end result won't bring us happiness. 

Photo: Everett Harper

In yoga, there is no end result.  There's only what you feel in the pose at any given moment.  There is no perfect.  You may be able to hold a headstand for an hour one day, but the next day you'll fall out after a minute.  The practice of yoga is always changing and evolving.  No pose is ever perfect.  That's because we are never perfect.

It was only after I was able to give up the idea of being perfect in yoga that my practice truly deepened.

And it was only after I realized that my life would never be perfect, that I would never be "finished," that my life really got good.

I'm still hoping and dreaming and wishing for a book contract.  But I'm giving up the idea that it will bring me the joy I seek.  So I'm going to look for that joy in the daily practice of slipping into my character's lives and getting lost in the fantastic maze of a good story.