Since writing the poem, and then article In Shaky Times: You Are Holy Ground a few weeks ago, I’ve been learning more about the healing powers of those four words.
As you may or may not know, part three of the Come Back Home through Writing course is called “You Are Holy Ground.”
In that section, you’re guided to work with one story in your life where you did not feel that way. Through writing and prayer, you begin the process of re-inhabiting that part of you as sacred space—holy ground. It takes some time and dedication, but it works if you devote yourself to it.
It’s been an unexpected gift for me to discover that those four words also work as a mantra—an instantaneous reminder that can bring you back to your core when you’re feeling vulnerable or lost.
I’ve been moved to hear from so many of you how you’ve started saying to yourself “I am holy ground” and finding you’re able to come back home. I’ve also been uncovering more layers of working with this phrase and the whole concept in my own life, and finding more and more gifts get revealed.
Lately, it’s been writing itself that’s been feeling vulnerable for me. I’ve been writing the story that accompanies the Come Back Home Through Writing Course—my own story of how I literally came back to my childhood home after my mother died, to allow myself to receive unexpected, life altering healing.
In the course of this writing, more healing asked to be done. I won’t go into the whole story here—it’s in the book—suffice to say, old fears of trusting my voice returned with a vengeance, just at the time when I’d thought I’d broken free of them.
Of all the things I did to heal and transform those fears and restore my ability to keep going with my book, none worked more powerfully than saying those four words “You are holy ground” to the scared, younger part of myself who never knew it was true.
I’m sharing this with you today for two reasons:
- The more I discover and hear from you about how this phrase works for you, the more I’m inspired to focus a program on teaching the deeper applications of writing and healing guided by “You are holy ground.” I’d love to know if that interests you.
- I want to encourage you –now—to start experimenting with this in your own life, when you find yourself on shaky ground.
Here are a few ideas for practice:
- Try it when you want to do something that scares you and you feel stuck to take the first—or the next—step. Whisper it quietly to the frightened part of you: You are holy ground.
- I’ve written earlier about using it at 3 AM on a sleepless night when negative thoughts take over. I’ll remind you of that, and also mention that it’s a great way to talk back to negative voices any time they threaten to take over your inner world. Say out loud: I am holy ground.
- When you want to write, and are afraid; when your Inner Critic is threatening to steal your voice, or your trust in your voice, say it then, in your own defense, “I am holy ground.”
Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing more ways to work with this practice to help you navigate the vulnerable places in your heart that often emerge when you’re writing deeply. For today, and this week, see what changes when you remind yourself that you are holy ground.
I’d love to hear what unfolds for you.
If you missed the original article, you can find it here.
https://www.elephantjournal.com/2017/10/four-words-for-tumultuous-times/
