A Writing Prompt from Me and T.S. Eliot

Posted on June 18, 2016 by Julie Tallard Johnson

Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet. –Ralph Waldo Emerson Every writer needs a bit of prompting at times. I have several techniques and explorations that help us write when we have fooled ourselves into believing we are stuck. I find that there is never “writer’s block,” when we are in conversation with the world around us. There is always something to write about. When I can’t seem to move forward on a particular idea I either write on something else, go … Continue reading →

How to Be Who You Already Are

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Julie Tallard Johnson

Life is a journey of discovery and belonging. It is about making meaning from our experiences for ourselves while allowing the meaning we have made to change. The active life is about being able to create and discover meaning in an ongoing way and not hold on to one meaning or we may miss an opportunity at hand. As Joseph Campbell put it, “If we are hanging on to the form now, we are not going to have the form next.” When we review our life and recall times that we experienced an awakening or an epiphany (either through someone else’s teachings … Continue reading →

Pivotal Moments: Use Them or Lose Them

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Julie Tallard Johnson

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An active life is strewn with them – pivotal moments that are crucial to the forward movement of life. These moments don’t make life meaningful on there own, ––we make life more meaningful with them. Perhaps the best story that demonstrates a pivotal moment is my encounter with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1995. I enjoy viewing my life in reflection of such moments especially when I am discouraged or feeling reluctant to stick with my spiritual and creative path. It is one moment that helped me to keep moving forward and to trust the efforts I put into … Continue reading →

The Makings of an Authentic Miracle

Posted on February 1, 2010 by Julie Tallard Johnson

Someone recently inquired about what I thought a miracle was. So, in response of course I sat down and wrote my thoughts in my journal. After all, everything is grist for the mill when it comes to spiritual journaling and the writer’s life. The response came quickly because I have experienced many miracles in my life. Just yesterday morning looking out my window I witnessed a miracle. Miracles often go beyond our ability to explain how they happened. Of course there is much around us that cannot easily be explained. However, when we have a miracle show up it is through our … Continue reading →

Winter Writing

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Julie Tallard Johnson

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Freedom involves making decisions, and each decision is a destiny decision.- Joseph Campbell What do a snowstorm, winter prairie, prayer flags, frozen seeds and enlightenment have in common? Well, being a meaning-maker, I decide that. Oh how I love the writer’s life, I can take and make meaning of everything! As the spiritual practitioner I am also the meaning maker but use sacred texts as a skillful means to make meaning of my encounters and experiences. After all, awakened Beings have gone before me and traversed the difficulties and distractions leaving behind many maps for me to use. So my … Continue reading →