In Praise of the Feminine in Creating

And even in promoting our books.

By Naomi Rose | Updated November 19, 2018

It's been said, by book-promotion pundits, that writing a book is the feminine part, and marketing it is the masculine. I don't know if this is actually the case, but assuming for the moment that it is, this comment gives us an indicator of the imbalance in our culture and, very likely, in our own lives.

The over-emphasis on the masculine ~ on doing, being dynamic, out there (not that it's not part of life, but it's put forth as essentially the only model) ~ can make us neglect, within ourselves, the utterly essential need to be still, at times; to be present, receptive, available for what is capable of coming through us. When we don't learn how to be creative ~ when we don't know that it matters how we are with ourselves so that something inherent and uniquely our own can grow ~ then we do not groom and attend to it even as much as we groom and attend to our money, or as much as we attend to our concerns that our books, once done, get out to the wide public.

What can be more important, at least in the beginning, than realizing how we can be vessels, instruments, receptors, wombs of creation? I use these feminine terms knowingly, though I don't limit their applicability only to women. This is a human capacity, and a divine human capacity at that. Will we really continue to turn our backs on the ability to reflect, to receive, to be ~ that word which has received so much opprobrium in American culture, in particular ~ passive?

There is also a beautiful meaning of "passive," and this quality has its rightful place: to allow to arise without interference from the controlling mind, trusting its rightness and ability to receive guidance. For all Michaelangelo's extraordinary productive activity as an artist, do you think he did not know the need for inner passivity, in order to birth those exalted images in stone, or in the paintings of the Sistine Chapel? Creativity is so much more than inventive ideas. Let us honor the deep, full range of what it is to be a creative human being for ourselves, and let go of that narrow definition.

Here's what most people don't realize, the realization of which could make a great deal of difference when writing a book and seeking its promotion, afterwards:

If you allow the book that is truly in you to come out for its own sake, and for the sake of reflecting and transforming the deepest impulses for creating that are in you, the book will have its own life and energy. And though you will still need to market and promote it, the book itself will help you. Its vibration ~ generated from what you wrote, and who you were in the process of writing it, and who you became because of the book's influence on you (as babies also transform their mothers) ~ will call in distinct people, possibilities, avenues, openings, opportunities. It will help you announce and share the book, because it is of you: it bears the imprint of your soul.

Let creativity find you. Open to it, as it arrives. Give thanks, breathe into your fears, and see what beautiful trail appears under your feet, under your pen ~ for you to follow, and for the rest of the world to treasure.

Writing from the Deeper Self: Bringing Your Treasures into the World.

Next: Writing as Healing (for Your Heart, Body, Spirit, Soul)

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Naomi Rose, Book Developer and Writing Coach, has successfully used her "Writing from the Deeper Self" approach to help people with an inner-directed focus write the books of their hearts. ...