The Song of Encouragement

Before I begin my Morning Pages, I open my office window.  Early morning in Arizona is the best time of day—the only time to enjoy an open window. As I write, I enjoy an occasional waft of a breeze and birds busily greeting the new day.

Specifically it’s one bird I notice, one with such a melodious song that I lift my pen from the page to listen. What kind of bird makes that sound?

I’m familiar with the voices of the mourning doves and their sad songs. I know the question the quail repeatedly asks from his perch, “What?” And the mean-voiced gackles with their accusaatory racket is hard to ignore: “Baaaaad, baaaaddd, BAD!”

But above all the other bird sounds, this one bird sings. He doesn’t stop when the gackles barrel out their racketing calls. He doesn’t stop when the quail questions. He doesn’t even get sad when the mourning doves sing of sorrow and loss.

He just sings.

Today as I listen to his song, I remember this Chinese proverb: “The bird doesn’t sing because he has a question. He sings because he has a song.”

And I get it. This bird and his beautiful song aren’t interrupted by anything. Not the internal editor who sounds very much like a gackle calling, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can’t!” Not the questioning discouragement from those who have failed: “What are you thinking?  What a crazy idea to write a book! What makes you think you’re good enough?”  Not the sad voices of the past that taunt with old failures. Not the voice of fear that paralyzes and keeps me stuck.

Just sing the song in your heart, this bird advises me. No questions. No interruptions. No problem.

This morning I realized that my open window days are coming to an end as the humidity of July moves in, so I record the bird’s joyous song on my iPhone for those dragged-down, doldrum days when I need a reminder to sing. If you need encouragement to sing your song today, you can listen if you  click here .

Then go sing your own song. Whether it’s in your writing or in another creative project, we are made to sing—even if an internal editor or critic isn’t singing the same song.

What encourages you when you’re discouraged on the writing path?

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Tagged as: Morning Pages, Writers Resources, Writing, writing about nature