Collective Energy

A poem and reflection on being part of something bigger.

I see a network of invisible stars.
Sparks of golden light.
People I’ve never met.
Each shining.
Connected.
Without ever knowing.
Together we sparkle.
As we write alone.
Collective energy spilling out.
Nourishing each individual soul.
There is power in community.
The whole is more than the sum of it’s parts.
Even when we don’t realise what we are part of.
Much in the universe is beyond understanding.
There is power in the unknown.
Be part of the quiet revolution,
The shining stars that never meet,
But in the darkness align.

Photo by Peter Brejassou on Unsplash

This poem is dedicated to all my fellow Substack writers, and particularly the community I have found at

SoulStack by Beth Kempton

and in the writing accountability sessions of the Writer’s Forge (booksmithacademy.com/accountability). It was written wrapped in a blanket as I sat outside on a clear starry night. I had just completed a live writing hour after a week of Beth’s Summer Writing Sanctuary. Over a hundred and fifty people on Zoom that most likely I will never meet, joining in a moment of creativity together. I was inspired by the words they shared. I drew strength from the faces of strangers, spurring me on when my own words faltered.

I remembered what Stephen King said in his wonderful book, On Writing, about the arts being an act of telepathy. We can send an idea through time and space from one person’s consciousness to another. As I looked at the stars, I felt those connections to everyone whose writing I have ever read and to everyone who will one day read something of mine. I thought about how some of the stars we are seeing now, died many years ago - their light taking so long to travel to us that it isn’t perceived until they are long faded. When you are gone, your words will live on. There are people not even born yet who will see the light you wrote out into the world.

Writing is often considered a solo act. Authors spend much time locked away on their own: scribbling, drafting, rewriting, editing. But to be a good writer, I believe you need your flock around you - likeminded people to inspire, encourage and support. In sport, there can be only one winner. The gold medal is not shared. Records are made to be broken. In writing, we are not in competition. One author’s success does not limit the opportunities of another. There is always room for more poems, there is always space on the self for another book, there is always a story that hasn’t yet been told.

Finally, I am always looking for more stars to join my constellation, so please comment with Substack recommendation of a writer I should follow. Thanks