When the Chatter Gets to Be Too Much

A writing prompt response

Image courtesy of mirandm and pixabay.com.

Once a month through Story Summit, I gather with other women via Zoom for We See You, We Hear You—a two-hour writing session that has become a space of deep connection.

The ground rules are simple: Listen to the writing prompts, write for five minutes, share if you want to. The experience is not about craft, but about celebration of expression in a space where everything is confidential and women feel safe and supported.

I co-facilitate these sessions with writer, friend, and Summiteer Stacey Powell, and often during the writing windows, I’m tending to logistics—checking the time, making sure everything is flowing, stepping away for a moment if needed. But last week was different.

Stacey offered this prompt:

What do you do when the chatter in your head becomes too much? How do you calm those vibrations?

Instead of moving on to the next task, I wrote. And when I finished, I shared what had come through.

It’s raw, the way I wrote it. That’s the thing about writing in five minutes. Sometimes it’s polished, sometimes it’s rough. It doesn’t matter. it’s real and arises from a place we sometimes haven’t touched for a while. Or ever.

A couple of women in the group encouraged me to share it here. So I’m following their instructions.

I’m offering this piece to you with the same spirit in which it was written—in a moment of stillness, in response to the noise we all sometimes carry. My hope is that it meets you there, and offers something simple but powerful:

A way back to calm.

When the chatter in my head gets to be too much, I’m tempted to calm the vibrations by talking. I talk to Bubble our cat. I talk to my husband Bob, to friends, to family members.

But I don’t want to contribute to the chatter, to fill up more space—to fill up psychic space, the space between words—with worry or angst or anxiety.

And so I listen to a different voice, and I listen with different ears.

In my mind’s eye, I take myself to the Chalice Well in Glastonbury, England, and listen to Jesus and Mary.

I walk through our yard and listen to the grass.

I listen to the crabapple trees in our yard, including the one we transplanted from my sister’s yard after she passed away.

I listen to my guides, to the heartbeat of God within me.

I listen to the moths and hummingbirds.

And I listen, listen, listen to my Self, my capital S self, the one who knows that nothing is ever lost….and that I can stop at any moment—even in the middle of the fiercest storm—and be grateful.

Grateful to be here, to have made the journey, to have the adenture, to be in relationship, to be loved, to love.

I listen to what matters. I shift my focus from the chatter. I value what is valuable rather than what has no value. I remember who I am and the Divine Love I’m made of.

And I feel the essence of joy rising in and through me once again.

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In this vein of calm, here’s a meditation that came to me last week during one of my A Course in Miracles classes. Usually I send recordings of meditations, but one of the women in the class asked for a transcript, and I thought I’d share it with you too. You can do it as a meditation or read it as a poem.

Close your eyes.

And… take in that first big, big breath.

And let it out with a sigh.

Taking another big, big breath.

And let go.

And one more time, big breath in…

Exhale.

And let yourself feel that natural, automatic sense of relaxation.

Giving up… your body, and this physical world.
Which can sound so extreme and scary to the ego.

But in this moment, you have full permission
to detach from anything and everything physical.

Knowing that you are safe.

And not only are you safe,
but as the energy of love and might that you are,

You are all of who you are.

You are part of this vast universe
of liquid Love.

And you are beyond
any of the limitations of this world, and of bodies.

You are in a place of Divine freedom.

And this awareness of yourself is who you have always been.
Who and what you will always be.

It is available for your awareness at any moment,
no matter what’s going on in the world.
No matter what’s going on in your body.

It is accessible to you at all times
when you practice selective remembering,
selective hearing,
and selective thinking.

This is what we are called to do in this moment, more than ever.

As this world keeps ramping up,
as external things in this world keep changing more and more quickly,
as we are surrounded by more and more information, even more instantaneously,

We are called upon by Jesus, by God,
by Divine Love, angels, Holy Spirit, guides, to be selective.

We never came here to absorb everything that this world wants to throw at us.

We were never here to take on that pain
and to carry it with us.

We didn’t come to judge ourselves or others.

We came here truly to be that energy of light.

And to feel it.
To stand tall and proud and strong in it.
To claim it for ourselves. To know it is our true identity.

No matter what anybody else thinks or does or says.

And to be so selective in our thoughts, our words, our actions—what we pay attention to—

That we choose to feed our own peace.
To brighten our own light.
To nourish our own ability
to be Love.

That’s what we came here for.

And so, in this moment, just feel yourself more than you ever have before as that pure energy and light.

Regardless of what may be going on in your life,
or where your ego wants to take you into this world.

Focus. Give yourself the gift of focus
and commitment to say,

This is where my mind is going.
This is the lens I’m seeing through.
These are the words I’m choosing to speak.

Words that affirm who I am.
Thoughts that confirm my well-being,
my power, my presence as a conduit for Divine Love.

I’m going to rise above this physical world,
the ego world,
and allow myself just to float,
to glide, to fly, to soar
in the world of spirit.

Knowing that whatever I touch, whatever I think about,
whatever I turn my attention to, wherever I send my blessings,

Everything that is touched by my energy of Love
will be better,
will flourish,
will be healed.

Because I am that conduit, that agent
for Divine loving energy.

And wherever I bring that energy and let it shine,
everything is touched by it.

Let yourself make a commitment to yourself,
your guides, angels, Holy Spirit,
and to Divine Love—

Your commitment to this energy,
to your spirit and soul,

That you, as Love, will lead with Love.
Be a leader of Love.
Be led by Love.

If there’s anything that you are most grateful for in this moment, go ahead and express that to yourself.

And know that you can come back to this commitment—
this powerful presence that is so light and joyful,

The greatest power in the world,
the likeness of Love.

And you can choose it, you can select it, you can be it.

You are it in every moment, because it is the truth of who and what you are.

Let yourself feel that expansion within you.

Now take in a big, big breath.
Let it go with a sigh.

Take in another big, big breath.
Let it go.

One more time, big breath in.
Exhale.

Sway gently from side to side.

And slowly, and as you’re ready, come back to your space.

And open your eyes.

On this day and every day, step into the presence within, into your spiritual signature of Love. There you’ll find your calm. Your power. And your joy.

With blessings,

Deb

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A NOTE TO MY READERS: I write “A World of Your Own” as a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, which is led by Julie Gammack, of Des Moines. I’m honored to be part of this group, featuring the diverse voices of more than 70 professional writers and journalists across the state of Iowa. I encourage you to check out their columns.