Warrior, Artist, Lover

BREATHE!

And breath will be at the core of the PEN AND SWORD workshops. I’m pretty sure of that. The difficulty is the same as with a work of art: Not asking what to put in, but what to leave OUT. What are the most critical aspects of discipline. There is just so much to say!

Breath connects with martial arts rather obviously: endurance, flow, fear management, power, focus. Sheesh. Take breath control out of the equation and you just have street fighting.

What about writing? If we flow down the “Lifewriting Six”, we have a series of steps which, if followed, is a guaranteed path to publication. As close to 100% certainty as I can imagine — BUT YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW IT. It is designed not just as a prescription (“do this”) but as a diagnostic (“where does it hurt?”)

I’m free associating a bit, being a little free-form here. Please bear with me.

In Tai Chi there is an exercise where you rub your hands together briskly, and then hold your palms close to each other to feel a “ball of chi.”

There are multiple things happening here. You are literally warming your hands with friction. They will radiate heat, especially if you relax deeply after rubbing.

But the other half is that if you relax, you also SENSE the energy, FEEL the warm air more fully.

Relax and you PROJECT. Relax and you DETECT. And that combination of relaxed energy, sensitivity, increased circulation and neurological efficiency is…