The Beginning

Several days ago, I came upon a quote from Zora Neale Hurston: "There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside you." I bookmarked it, wrote it in my quote journal, shared it with friends because that is a truth that I know all too well. I have no novel simmering in my head, but that urge to write is one that follows me from dawn to dusk. Too often, I feel the itch in my fingers that begs me to pull out my journal or clack away at my keyboard. But for the past several months, I've found myself ignoring these impulses, pushing them out of mind, not because I didn't want to write but because I couldn't settle on what to write about. I needed to write, physically suffering from the lack of creating words, but I had dammed the flow because I was stuck.

For two years, I have written a blog that has kept me happy and busy, but for the past few months, I felt my motivation stagnate. Too much pressure, too much obligation. It was a themed blog, though I had often strayed from that theme, feeling myself restricted by my own creation. While I loved writing it, it was no longer what I needed.

So the solution is a new blog, a new writing platform for me alone. While I welcome readers, I am not writing for invisible eyes anymore. No sticking to themes or topical essays. No attention to length or detail. I want to let the words flow through my fingers; I want to throw off the mental restraints I've put on myself and let my words free. A true writing exercise, with no emphasis on what the content of that writing will be. To challenge myself further (but with no obligation or guilt), I am pushing myself to write at least once a week, even if it's only four sentences strung together. Because the point is not the finished product, but the process.

"Pilgrim Soul" will be a platform where I can explore my life, my world, my thoughts and impressions any way I wish. The title, while a line from one of my favorite William Butler Yeats poems, also evokes travel- through life, through the world-, a sacred space, and a journey. I want my writing to be all of those things- something that feeds me, that lets me explore and wander, grow and learn. I couldn't be more excited.