Communion: the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual level.

So yesterday, I was writing in my journal and I was searching for the perfect word to capture what this writing time has felt like for me. To be specific, this 4:30-6:30 am daily writing that I’ve done for the past two and half weeks. It has begun to feel magical and sacred to me. What highlighted its magic was on Monday night when I had this rare opportunity to sneak out of the house to do an additional writing block. 

I now need to finish my novel one week earlier than I scheduled for two reasons: 1) I have an editor engaged to do a pass on the manuscript for the week of July 23-31 and 2) I want to prepare for the July 4th holiday. As I realized that I had this unusual opportunity for an extra writing block, I was elated and snuck out to our local Starbucks. I sat to write but it wasn’t flowing.

I’ve gotten really used to my mornings where I stumble to the playroom, open up my laptop and let my fingers fly. I’m generally in a semi-zombielike state and I just let my fingers go. Meeting my daily word count goals has been surprisingly easy.

As I sat at Starbucks at 4:30 pm I felt stuck and I was overthinking each word. That icky censor was awake and actively critiquing. Luckily, I didn’t spend long worrying or beating myself up about it or even trying to push through. I closed the document and accepted the lesson: my mornings are special and they are my magic time. 

I continued to reflect on this in my journal the next day and I began to add even more description. For me it’s like going to church. I feel like it’s my form of worship. I feel like God is meeting me and my characters there each morning and we’re all doing something together. That’s where communion comes in. It’s all of us. It’s not any one of us, it’s all of us together and the word communion popped into my head.

Today as I was journaling, I had two compulsions: buy Maren Morris’ “My Church” and look up communion for the formal definition. As I purchased the song I looked up the word and immediately teared up. It said it perfectly. It symbolized everything I was feeling. 

Communion: the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual level.

I find myself hesitant to speak about anything that even remotely touches on spirituality or religion. I feel like I’m  exposing more of myself than if I were to send out a nude photo. Is that just me or is that the climate? Either way, I really want to challenge myself to be truthful and authentic.

I want to publicly share my gratitude to God for helping me find a form of communion. I am grateful that I feel You asking me to show my gratitude by showing up each day. You meet me there and allow me to be an active participant. I’m so grateful to share the time and space with You!