Guided Writing Session Directory
Below, you will find recordings for each Guided Writing Session dating back to August 2021 when the sessions began.
Take a moment to review the Usage and Guidelines Folder below for information on how to post work and use the directory.
Use the Independent Entries Folder for submissions not specific to a monthly program or Guided Writing Session.
More About Guided Writing Sessions
Deepening Lesson for Living Without a Net
This month, we focused on eight spiritual exercises from Stoic philosophy that can help us thrive in our current health crisis. Taken together, these exercises point the radical, overarching message – unique to the Stoics – that human beings are capable of happiness regardless of our circumstances. This potential well-being does not come easily; in fact, it requires ongoing practice and the acknowledgement that, even in adversity, we remain capable of “choosing our way” (our response) to whatever might be happening. Psychologist Viktor Frankl, a Stoic survivor of the Holocaust, described this capacity as “the last of the human freedoms …. to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” While challenging, this invitation to tailor how we respond to challenge – especially under duress – is also our ace in the hole when moving through difficult times. In other words, we are only victims if we choose to be; we are only powerless when we abandon ourselves. We are stronger, more capable and inwardly free, that we give ourselves credit for.
Here are three questions for you to explore in your writing this months. Feel free to approach these prompts in whatever way appeals to you, and if none of these questions resonates, don’t hesitate to formulate (and respond to) to your own.
Do you believe that happiness is possible in the midst of a global pandemic? Why or why not?
Can you choose to respond differently to this situation, to increase your well-being and minimize suffering? What might these choices entail?
Do you habitually lose touch with your personal power in times of crisis, confusion, and fear? How and why does this happen? What can you do to reverse this trend?
Can you choose to respond differently to this situation, to increase your well-being and minimize suffering? What might these choices entail?
I think I can. My default "strategy" for stress is to space out/avoid/slip away into distraction, into the "trance." This is a painful state of being, now that I know what it feels like to be with myself instead of trying to get away from myself. However, the default mode is a deep habit, it is the tendency of my mind when I open my eyes in the morning. It's hard to break through. I need help to break through, which is why I need teachers. I need to be reminded every day that I do have choices and options and that being alive is more bearable when I realize this. Before I knew I had choices, being awake was agony, now being "asleep" is agony. Does this make sense? I did not know I had this kind of choice for the first half of my life. Due to mysterious good fortune, I have stumbled upon teachings that work for my mind/soul/brain, so I can now see how many choices I do have. The pull to subside into lethargy and depression and sadness and hopelessness is powerful and real and makes sense in a lot of ways. It is thanks to all my teachers, the amazing wise ones in the world, that I know and believe that I have choices and options now. To me, that is a miracle and it is my freedom. It takes effort, however, to be awake, and this is a bummer!!!!!! Practices like this writing help me turn more towards the light. Thank you, Mark, and sangha.
Dear Scoobydoo-
First off, that is a smile of a name you have there. I hope you’ll someday share the story of how that came to be.
This is a note of solidarity with you, in the struggles you describe. I know dissociation well, and the luring comfort of habit. I’’m also making inroads on returning to my senses. What practices do you favor?
Here is my hello to you as fellow quester.
Dear Scoobydoo,
Good to hear from you. Yes, practice does take effort but over time, you come to realize that this effort -- the choice to turn toward awakening and away from mindlessness (the "trance" you refer to) isn't really a "bummer" at all; it's the engine that drives an interesting, worthwhile life, as critical to soul and spirit as breathing is to the physical body. Now that your aversion has switched from resistance to being awake to resistance to being asleep, you're well on your way! I'm so glad that you've found teaching that are helping and that you can be part of The Seekers Forum!
Till next time, enjoy this beautiful day,
Mark