The Blues

My Take

DiVoran Lites

I’ve been listening to a wonderful Christian speaker on YouTube every morning while I exercise. He uses 15 minutes to talk about God and to pray with the heavenly host. Bill and I like him a lot. Everything he says makes sense and is uplifting. 

But somewhere in the last month, I have lost something. I’ve been worried and somewhat depressed and couldn’t figure out why. I came in and out of experiencing peace and then rolling back to fogginess and disappointment. Never in my life could I measure up to what the morning speaker suggested we be and do as Christians, but I loved the power and the intelligence of his speaking. And that was all I heard every day for a month because I had stopped doing my devotions. They no longer fit into my morning routine.

Yesterday I got up sad and felt sad all day. I didn’t have anything to do. Oh, I could clean out a closet and write a blog, but nothing felt right. I sat down at my desk to figure out what action to take, and since I had nothing else to do, I started to write in my journal. The journals have been the most important stabilizing action for decades.

In her book, The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron speaks of morning pages like this: “Morning pages are three pages of longhand writing, strictly stream-of-consciousness. Nothing in it is too petty, too silly, too stupid, or too weird to be included.

Our pastor, Peter Lord, also taught us about journaling, only his emphasis was on Jesus and the Heavenly Host. He wrote out his prayers early every morning for at least sixty years as did many in his congregation. He created some small journals with guides and told us to write letters to God. 

Over the years, I have read several experts on prayer and journaling, and now it is the only way for me. In my journal, I complain, thank, and request. It may not be for everybody, but this past month I have found my morning pages and the advice of our dear pastor necessary for sanity. When I ignored it, my emotions slid back into the miry clay of loneliness and emotional pain. Then I started writing again, even a little, and the sun came out, and the blues pushed off and away whether I had anything to do or not.

DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn.  She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”

Tags: Feeling Blue, Peter Lord, The Artist Way