I’ve been writing morning pages a la Julia Cameron on and off for about five years now. The idea is to write three pages, stream of consciousness, to start the day. All kinds of things come out of this, depending on my frame of mind, determination, discipline and, often, spiritual awareness.

Lately the MPs have become magical. I’m in a groove, in the zone, digging deep. I almost can’t describe it, but I’m going to try. Simply put, I wind up solving problems. It might be a friendship issue or a professional one. Most recently I’ve been channeling pieces of my book. I let my mind go there and the ideas come pouring out. It is inexplicable to me how this process works, but it consistently produces clearer images and more focused ideas than almost any other brainstorm I’ve done around the book.

In turn, the universe gets wind of my thoughts and sends synchronous messages my way. For example, I came up with a name for a character in the book and I’ve been mulling over whether it’s “right.” Well, in the span of 36 hours, this fairly uncommon name crossed my path four times. I interpret that as a signal. The universe is saying, “Write, Nancy, write.” It’s rolling off my tongue. It’s becoming my mantra.

I hear it when I find feathers in my path. I feel it when I hold a book in my hand that has conveyed a powerful message to me. I think it when I see nationally renowned speakers command a room. Those things all remind me I have something to say.

Write, Nancy, write.