Mindfulness and Creative Writing

Guest Post by Hend Saeed

As the world appears to move at full speed, following in the wake of technology and AI, reality disappears behind filters, illusions, photoshops, and AI thinking for us. This aspect of technology, that strips us from our reality, removes us from the blessings of having senses, feelings, emotions, and a mind that generates these. We find ourselves running a race, competing to be the best on the surface – focusing on quantity rather than quality. In this warped reality, having more followers defines our success. Yet at the same time, we cherish mindfulness when we find it.

Mindfulness is a simple act that every human is born with. It is the ability to be present in the moment, the ability to be aware of oneself in the moment. We can notice what we are doing and feeling; we can observe our emotions and thoughts without being overwhelmed by them. Being mindful is learning to pay attention, on purpose, to details. We become more aware of our surroundings, allowing them to make an impression on us. Mindfulness means being connected to our selves and our surroundings – nature, actions, people, senses, etc. Taking time to pause and return to our basic nature, going deep down into ourselves, we reconnect with our feelings and intuition. In this way, we also reconnect with others and live in harmony with ourselves and others.

So how is mindfulness related to creative writing and why do writers need to learn mindfulness? Creatives are the ones who lead others along the path of life. Writers bring life, through their books, into our home and our minds. Their role is to educate, to clarify, to bring the full picture to us.

Pay attention to the moment, to your own experience. Absorb it, meditate on it, and then bring it to life again on paper. Being aware of what is surrounding us helps us to express ourselves better and convey emotions better. This creates better writing and reading for the readers.

Being connected to the moment and our surroundings helps us to connect with ourselves, activate and strengthen our senses, and expand our imagination – three important aspects needed for any writer.

Creativity comes from that extra step writers take when they make the impossible possible on paper, feeling and sensing what others don’t and extending the reality of the events.

Mindfulness can be an important part of our lives, not only as writers but as individuals. It helps us to connect to ourselves, when writing in our journal or writing our biography or work writing or any other kind of writing.

Mindfulness is very important for parents and teachers as well. It helps us to learn to understand children through being in the moment with children, understanding them and connecting with them in the right language. When the mind is in a space of quietness, of being in the moment, it can reach out and connect to others and understand others without words. It naturally creates the right connection and right language to reach people.

I see mindfulness and human sustainability as basic threads in the tapestry of living today. Sustainability is a social goal concerning the ability of people to coexist on Earth over time. Three pillars of sustainability are economic viability, environmental protection, and social equity. If we as human beings struggle to reconnect to the environment and nature, how can we continue protecting our earth? I encourage each of us to take some time to recenter ourselves today.

Hend Saeed  | Founder of The Bridge Literary & Cultural Consultancy FZE. Curator and presenter of The Salon: Culture & Literature. Literary & Cultural consultant, Literary Agent & Translator, Writer, Moderator, Literature & Cultural events curator. Iraq editor @arablit.org. Curator of Mindfulness Writing workshops. Published a number of articles, interviews, and translations in Arabic and English publications. For a recent example, see her Daisy Amir article on Arablit here.