In Australia February is the month of going back to school, back to work and why not add – back to the writing. Of course it is always ‘back to the writing’ for us especially if we are having trouble setting goals and keeping them. Simply making a commitment to come back to the writing every day and write something, anything – without worrying about lofty goals. Like a zen monk or nun who sweeps every day simply for the sake of sweeping, we must clear our mind of the useless chatter of  ‘how do I start, will I ever finish, will my writing be good enough?’ These are the demons that block, the little gremlins whose prime task is to distract us from our important goal. Unlike an Olympic athlete who must train for four years for a shot at gold we have a shot at it every day. Even if it is a single word, expression, sentence, paragraph or idea, it will soon add up to something; like the single sheets of gold leaf that cover the famous gold pagoda, Shwedagon in Yangon, Myanmar, where I visited recently. The impact of being in the presence of so much shimmering gold is extraordinary and reminds us of the potential we all have to ‘go for gold’ in our work, our relationships, our spiritual lives, our writing. Every day, a tiny speck of gold can contribute to the deeper expression of our selves. Every day we go down to the mines and drag up another fine filament, pound it into shape, fashion it into gold leaf and add it to our own shrine – the temple of our creativity. If I seem to be am waxing on a bit too much, let me take you to Shwedagon so you can have the experience yourself. I guarantee you will never forget it.  ‘ Mystic Myanmar’ is in planning as we speak. More details will be available soon.

Mean while get a kick start to your writing year in with Breakthrough Writing in Fiji, March 10 – 17. Booking now! Don’t miss out!