I was raised to be a Christian and it’s been pointed out that a fair amount of my work has a bit of a biblical flavour to it, but I’m an atheist.
My atheism definitely affects my writing. In fact, one of the reasons I write is because I want to leave something of me behind when I die. I have an amazing daughter I am insanely proud of, but, as much as it pains me to think it, she is also mortal. I want to leave something behind that will last. That is, for lack of a less cheesy and egotistical word, forever.
Sometimes I envy people who believe in a life after this and if I believed in God, or an afterlife, I’m sure I’d still write, but I’d lose this one motivation. I believe this lifetime is all we get, so I’m always pushing myself to make the most of it, to write something that will last beyond myself. Some people find that motivation from other places, but this one is mine.
Unfortunately that also results in a bit of a perfectionist streak which can sometimes be counter-productive, but mostly, mostly I think it helps push me to work on those days I’d rather just curl up in bed and wish the world away.
Mostly.
Do your religious beliefs affect your writing? For better, or for worse? I’m curious.
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This blog post is part of the Blogging from A to Z challenge over the month of April and was brought to you by the letter A. If you find yourself with some extra time on your hands you might want to check out what my fellow participants are blogging about that begins with the letter A as well. I know I will be. I hope you’ll pop back again tomorrow when I’ll be blogging about Branding and how much I fail at it.
There is nothing wrong with being a perfectionist is there? I sometimes wish I was so disciplined.
My religious beliefs are that there is life after death, I’m unsure exactly what it is…however I’d say this is reflected in my writing. Supernatural, urban fantasy and horror.
I too would like to leave something of the person I am around for people to read in the future. Maybe that’s because I’m into history, and often if I’m on a trip to a stately home, I wish one of the folk who once lived there had left a letter, or a diary I could read to glimpse how they lived.
Enjoyed your first A to Z post. 😉
Well in my case I’m a perfectionist -and- a procrastinator. When the two begin to feed off each other things get ugly around here and I don’t get anything done LOL That’s a problem 🙂
I totally agree with you about wanting to discover a letter or diary and have a glimpse into how someone else lived (or maybe have it open up a mystery 🙂 ). I feel that way a lot, even when I’m not in a stately home, because, frankly, I’m um, never in a stately home 😉
Thank you for coming by and leaving a comment, I enjoyed getting your perspective 🙂
procrastination … its an awful thing in one way and the interesting thing to me is how the things that are the MOST important to us, are the very ones that we neglect the most! Like e g blogging, or meeting MNINB’s daily challenges. It is so hard sometimes to switch off and get ON with the task at hand without distractions of tel calls, radio, household chores etc …
Yes indeed we are interesting creatures
You’re so right, though I never -quite- thought of it exactly like that before. I think, maybe, we put off the important things because they are the more difficult ones, but still, it does seem a bit backwards, doesn’t it? LOL
I’m neither a writer or an Atheist, but I don’t think you have to be either to have a desire to leave a mark in this life. As a person with a belief in an after life I still hope to be remembered when I am gone from this life.
Being a perfectionist is also a trait common to believers and non believers too. I am sure however whatever your belief system includes, will affect all aspects of your behaviour and therefore your writing.
Thanks for visiting my blog today !
Oh, I agree that you don’t have to be a writer or an atheist to want to leave your mark in this life, but it just does happen to play a significant role in the reason I want to 🙂
I enjoyed my stop at your blog, you might well see me there again 😉
My religious beliefs definitely play a part in my writing. I don’t go to church but I have a good relationship with God. I see my spirituality in all that I write. I see it a lot in my poetry. I never thought about it really until I read your post. Gives me something to think about… LOL! Great post!!
Gives me something to think about
That makes me smile. I find that my own beliefs tend to give me an awful lot to think about in connection to my writing too, so I’m glad that it’s contagious 🙂
I am also an atheist, and while I don’t write as much as I used to it definitely changes things. My atheism has been a slow burn, though. I never truly believed in the God of the Bible, but still held onto some sort of hope that there was something out there.
It was only in the last couple of years that it all came together for me and the Douglas Adams quote, “Isn’t it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too,” really hit home for me. Now it is reflected in everything I do.
I’m right there with you. I actually remember the day, sitting in church that I looked around myself and realised ‘Wow, all these other people believe what the minister is saying.’ I think for a very long time leading up to that I’d mostly thought of Bible stories as just that — good stories. Morality tales, if you will. After that I identified as an agnostic, but a handful of years ago things came together for me too, and I realised I wasn’t an agnostic — I was an atheist who was afraid to be an atheist LOL
We’re interesting creatures, aren’t we? People, I mean 🙂
You wrote: “Sometimes I envy people who believe in a life after this…”
I’ve said that too. I mean, most of the people I know believe in “a god” and (as my mother said this weekend) “the hereafter.” And sometimes, they seem to weather storms better because of it. They feel that it’s for a higher purpose. That “God” will see them through.
While I don’t think I can count myself as a complete atheist, I can say: I have no clue what goes on after we die (outside of the obvious biological stuff). But I don’t believe in much of what’s taught by established religions, nor do I count myself as a member of any of them.
I do hope pieces and parts of us live on after death, in trees, in the earth, in rays of light… and in the books we write. I can “die” with that. 🙂
I liked this post, Rhonda. Thank you.
(PS: I’m trying to visit some past A-Z blogs I missed in April, hence the late-late-late comment.)