Walking the Pilgrim’s Path

In her beautiful book entitled, A Solemn Pleasure: To Imagine, Witness, and Write, writer Melissa Pritchard says, “Many of the tenets of sainthood are also to be cultivated in the committed writer:

selflessness, the death of the little self, purity of spirit leading to intensity of vision, a suspension of judgment in regard to your fellow human beings, an intimate acquaintance with ecstasy, sorrow, and revelation. Consider for a moment your work as analogous to intimate prayer in which you address God, and thereby divineness, in all matter.”

Those of us who read and/or write poetry in this era are not saints, of course, but in our pursuit of something finer than we know and truer than we (at first) can see, we are fellow pilgrims, seeking wisdom and inspiration as we walk the uncertain but compelling path we’ve chosen, together.

Thank you to the wonderful Maria Popova at Brain Pickings for introducing us to Melissa Pritchard and her work.