http://stephenlloydwebber.com/2010/03/10/what-is-environmental-breath-and-how-does-it-help-creativity/ Stephen Lloyd Webber's personal blog Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://stephenlloydwebber.com/2010/03/10/what-is-environmental-breath-and-how-does-it-help-creativity/#comment-203 JScap Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:23:06 +0000 http://stephenlloydwebber.com/?p=705#comment-203 This is great stuff, Stephen. I like this very much: "It is true that when we inhale we are not drawing air in; rather, our lungs are expanding and allowing the air from our environment to enter us." This nicely echoes the experience of sitting down to write and feeling, often suddenly (or afterwards), that you were not "writing out" the work, but that the work was "writing out" of you. Is it worthwhile to think about writing as breathing? I think it's immensely helpful for writers to think of themselves as being part of a system or environment-- arguably, a writer is only as good as the writing-state they enter, whether that state is encountered (on a late-summer beach), self-created (via what Joseph Campbell would call a sacred space: desk, music, coffee, one's chosen time of day), or, as it usually is, a healthy combination of both. Thanks for this. This is great stuff, Stephen.
I like this very much: “It is true that when we inhale we are not drawing air in; rather, our lungs are expanding and allowing the air from our environment to enter us.” This nicely echoes the experience of sitting down to write and feeling, often suddenly (or afterwards), that you were not “writing out” the work, but that the work was “writing out” of you.
Is it worthwhile to think about writing as breathing?
I think it’s immensely helpful for writers to think of themselves as being part of a system or environment– arguably, a writer is only as good as the writing-state they enter, whether that state is encountered (on a late-summer beach), self-created (via what Joseph Campbell would call a sacred space: desk, music, coffee, one’s chosen time of day), or, as it usually is, a healthy combination of both.
Thanks for this.

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