cultivating your soul

“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.”
~ Martin Luther

Do you have a strong desire to write, to express the deepest thoughts and ideas of your heart through the written word? Are you the type of person who finds it much easier to communicate in writing rather than verbally? Perhaps you have a deep desire to write a book or poetry or worship songs or even start a blog.

What is stopping you?

The world needs you! Someone needs to hear what you have to say. In fact, you may be the only person who can reach that one person with your heartfelt words. You must find your “voice” and give expression to it.

If you don’t know how or where to begin, then I suggest extending your library. The more you read, the more you will grow and the more ideas will spring forth from the books you read. It is important that you read books on spiritual growth and personal growth and development, but it is also important that you spend time with the “classics” as well.

Why? Because classic works of literature will enrich your mind, stir your emotions and passions, fill you with new ideas, and awaken your soul.

How do you determine if a work of literature is a classic or living book? In The Charlotte Mason Companion, Karen Andreola wrote, “Literature must be somewhat intellectual and give us truth. It must be ethical so that we are well-nourished with noble ideas. It must also be artistic and make its appeal through the emotions.”

In the book, Invitation to the Classics, Louise Cowan explains what makes a “Classic” work of literature:

1.  The classics not only exhibit distinguished style, fine artistry, and keen intellect but create whole universes of imagination and thought.
2.  They portray life as complex and many-sided, depicting both negative and positive aspect of human character in the process of discovering and testing enduring virtues.
3.  They have a transforming effect on the reader’s self-understanding.
4.  They invite and survive frequent re-readings.
5.  They adapt themselves to various times and places and provide a sense of the shared life of humanity.
6.  They are considered classics by a sufficiently large number of people, establishing themselves with common readers as well as qualified authorities.
7.  And, finally, their appeal endures over wide reaches of time.

A work of literature may be old, but at the same time it can be “powerful, fresh, and healthy,” (Goethe). Not only that, it can also inspire and stimulate your own imagination and creativity.

I encourage you to curl up with a “classic” every now and then. Or read aloud works of poetry that speak to your soul. Feed your mind on high and lofty ideas so that your own writing will be richer and more articulate. Then carve out some time on a regular basis to write, journal or blog – whichever method that best gives expression to your soul.

This post is excerpted from my book, A Life That Flourishes. Click on image below to purchase.

A Life That Flourishes - 3D

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