Clarity

Dictionary. com defines clarity as: 1. clearness or lucidity as to perception or understanding; freedom from indistinctness or ambiguity. 2.  the state of quality of being clear or transparent to the eye…

The great thing about the English language is that words can mean so many different things to different people. That is also why English is the hardest language to learn. English has its roots in so many different languages, and has evolved over several hundred years, so the true meanings of words have changed to sometimes mean the opposite of what they originally meant. But I digress…

To me, clarity is a quality that is missing in so many people’s lives; too many people are so busy trying to keep themselves and their families fed and housed that things of the spirit get lost in the shuffle. And that is a shame. A rewarding spiritual life can make the everyday bearable and even enjoyable.

So what is clarity? To me, it is being able to see my goals clearly; to be able to have a purpose; to do things I enjoy. Of course, there are still days that are ‘muddy’ in that I seem to just stumble through them with no clear idea of what I’m doing or why, but generally I do know where I want to be and can work on getting there. 

Clarity isn’t something that just appears one day. It takes work, and solitude, and meditation, and hard thinking. I write to help clear my thoughts and quiet my mind so the still, small, voice can be heard. When I’m writing, everything else disappears. I can sit for hours writing a blog post, a short story, a poem, a novel, a journal entry. Writing is cathartic for me, and for so many others. What I write doesn’t have to be good; although I find it hard to just write and not edit as I go – something I have to work on! But writing does help clarify my muddled thinking.

Sometimes it’s hard to express in words what I am thinking. Writing helps to clarify; I can write a stream-of-consciousness and then sort it out. If I tried to do that in my brain I would be totally lost and forget a thought I had a nanosecond ago. So I will continue to write for as long as I am able and hope that I can keep my clarity of purpose.