WCWW2 Scholarship submission

(image source)

You know Pace and Kyeli, right? If not, you just have to head over to their site, The Connection Revolution, right away. Go!

Anyways, Pace and Kyeli hosted the second World Changing Writing Workshop this summer, and I was the lucky winner of a scholarship to the course! I absolutely loved the sessions, all the bonus products and the writing input. (psssst! you can buy the home study version here! Totally worth it if you’re into writing and world-changing!) This morning, I realized that I never posted my scholarship contest submission here on the blog. Here it is, and the topic is of course world changing.

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I don’t know how to write.

I have no idea where I’m going. With this piece of writing, or with anything that I do. I have no clue what my punch line will be. In this article. Or in life.

And yet I write. (And I live).

So I do what I usually do when I’m searching for a mission, a purpose.

I go with the flow and let the world take me where it wants to go.

After writing a few failed attempts at a great piece on world changing, (because I’ve learned that you should give yourself permission to fail, both in writing and in life), I went out to meet a friend.

As I walked up the street from my house, I walked by a cherry tree. Since it’s spring in Oslo these days, it was a beautiful pink tree full of tiny flowers. There’s nothing extraordinary about a tree in full bloom, apart from it being one of God’s miracles like the rest of us. But as I passed the three, a wind blew in from the side and sent a million of small pink petals my way.

Since cherry flower petals are so light, they were dancing in the air around me. I had to hold my breath for a moment, to avoid getting petals in my mouth and nose. And so it happened that the world took my breath away.

And I realized that that was the sign I was waiting for. I literally got the idea I needed to write this piece right in my face. The world is always changing. (That was my punch line, in case you missed it).

We don’t know where we’re going. Although we think we do. We spend huge amounts of time thinking we can change and control the inevitable, but what happens will happen. What is – well – IS. And the best thing we can do to change the world is to stay present in the moment and live every second of our lives.

If we love and take care of ourselves, live high and connect with the people around us, we will not only change the world, but change with the word. And that – is world changing.

I can only speak for myself when I say that not knowing where I’m going (in my writing and my life) is terrifying. But I suspect that I’m not the only one to feel that way. Because writing (and living) in the now is heartbreakingly frightening. And so many of us live our lives focusing on how to avoid that terror. But world changing is terrifying, by default. I don’t think the great scientists, humanitarians and world leaders were less scared than we are. World changing is a mission for the brave.

Yet, it is in moments of flying pink petals that we get rewarded for our effort. It is the moments when we feel the world changing under our feet that keeps us going. So stay open for the signs of your success. Because signs are everywhere.

The world gave me another small reminder that day when the petals blew in the wind. After making me feel like a million, like I could achieve anything, I met my friend at an outdoor café. And just as I sat down on my seat, a bird pooped in my hair.

I guess that’s the world’s way of saying: “Stay modest. And stay humble.” In your writing. And your life.

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