Believe, Plan, Go, Do

In these times, do you feel you are at the corner of Anxiety and

Confusion? You look both ways before crossing and then get hit by an airplane?

Let’s face it, isolation is not people-friendly. As writers, we have practiced for a time such as this. But now that it has happened, isolation is the only choice, so it seems. Gone are the “alone” times in your favorite coffee shop, missing is gathering visual information about your next book, article, a new creative project by people watching.

The strolls in shopping centers, well, when have you been able to do that lately? We are cloistered, “locked up” and worrying about friends, family, associates getting ill. Sure, video conferencing is rampant, but isn’t that one dimensional?

I was talking to a good friend that now – as many do – works from home. She stated she misses the interaction of other co-workers, saying hi in the hallways. Watching groups of associates talking. All that corporate visual information that helps her do her job by knowing how others are feeling is missing.

Isolation can be defined in other words as, separation, segregation, quarantine. Loneliness. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary – “Solitude, isolation, seclusion mean the state of one who is alone. Solitude may imply a condition of being apart from all human beings or of being cut off by wish or circumstances from one’s usual associates.

However, there is always hope, hope for a brighter future, hope for a chance to craft a book, article, procedure, God knows. We can discover His will at this time.

Others who have been incarcerated, quarantined, isolated have produced great things for the good of mankind. Shakespeare, for example, penned King Lear while in quarantine. Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity and developed calculus (go figure), then the caveat of being under house arrest the disciple Paul penned part of the New Testament. What about John Bunyan? While in prison wrote Pilgrim’s Progress.

Perhaps, being in the process of isolation is not necessarily a bad thing. We must keep the mental cobwebs cleaned out, listen to our Lord as He will direct our steps. Listen to that thundering, quiet velvet voice giving us creative direction. We can get the feeling of being forsaken, but in Deuteronomy 3:16, we read, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord our God goes with you; he will never leave you for forsake you.”

The movie Ghostbusters has a great line, “Who you gonna call…” who are you calling to further your calling to write? What are you doing to expand God’s kingdom? “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of sound mind. (2Timothy 1:7) this time, right now, this very moment is your time. Isolation or not, we are given the gift of placing pen to word. Thought to paper.

We may feel abandoned, cast into solitude, directed to keep a social distance, physically, but not mentally. We can connect, as we have in the past and will in the future, by what we write. We are the word wizards of continual hope, through what we write, others will connect to our thoughts, mental, social hugging if you will. Be the writer, the author, the journalist God has called you to be; “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord, your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

Laura Kelly Fanucci (https://laurakellyfanucci.com) is an author and grief counselor; perhaps she has said it best.

When this is over,

may we never again

take for granted

A handshake with a stranger

Full shelves at the store

Conversations with neighbors

A Crowded theatre

Friday night out

The taste of communion

A routine checkup

The school rush each morning

Coffee with a friend

The stadium roaring

Each deep breath

A boring Tuesday

 Life itself.

When this ends,

may we find

that we have become

more like the people

we wanted to be

and may we stay

that way-better

for each other

because of the worst.  

You got this; isolation can be discouraging, but how you find encouragement now is paramount to how we, as writers, address the lonely issues of the shuttered walls of “safer at home.” So, dear writers, you may be standing at the corner of Anxiety and Confusion, look both ways before crossing. Look up, find the inspiration, write on, write on. Soar with your gift of creativity for such a time as this.

Believe, plan, go, do.