This morning, the pale sky was draped with a grey sheet of clouds. They moved from left to right, as if someone was pulling them into a roll. 

Our cat Fatty snoozed on the chair next to me. My mind drifted to what I was going to write this morning - what I was going to tell you. You're writers. What would you like to read about? What do you want?

I looked up from my reverie. It was as if someone had switched on a light. The sky was a deeper, richer blue, and was hung with fewer grey clouds, still drifting westwards. All down the left side of a tall tree, wind riffled the leaves. Everywhere: reflected golden light. 

Writers want what everybody else wants. They want to feel connected to the world and to other human beings. They want to notice beauty. They want to find a balm for their pain (the pain of writing, the pain of not writing, etc.) They want to know that their writing is being read, and understood, and loved. 

How can I help you to find these things?

Yesterday my husband Kaspa (co-founder of Writing Our Way Home) blogged an off-the-cuff list of 'things we believe in'. 

• the world is complex and mysterious
• it changes
• we're not big fans of change
• the world is full of joy and suffering
• other people have real lives, separate from our own
• we rely on other people, and on the world
• we are not the centre of the world
• there's a lot to be grateful for
• through mindful writing we can access these deeper truths about ourselves and the world

As writers, we are struggling with the same age-old problems as everyone else. We are coming to terms with endless change. We are trying to tell our truth, and hoping that we won't be rejected in the process. On a mundane level, we are trying to find the time (amidst washing the dishes and walking the dog and doing our day jobs and a million and one responsibilities) to write.

Let me remind you about the sky. The sun-shot, lit up sky. 

A bird floated past - on its way home, or away from it. The leaves flickered and danced. I bathed my eyes in the blue. Balm. Balm. 

Witnessing the sky this morning, and writing it down, was enough. It was what I wanted.

If you'd like to spend time exploring the themes above (and finding your own answers), join me on my next e-course, Writing Ourselves Alive. This will run in partnership with She Writes from November the 7th.

Dedicate a month to investigating curiosity, honesty, compassion and passion with your fellow participants in a private group here, and with essays, exercises and daily emails from me. As a side-benefit, I guarantee that you will produce some creative writing that you are proud of.

Find out more and register here - it'd be lovely to have you along.