Deeper in Words: Writing and Ritual

By Maria B. Olujic

Pause arrived unexpectedly—a word etched in metal. The pendant wasn’t just a necklace but a message. Stop, breathe, and allow space. I hadn’t realized how much I needed this word until I held it, feeling its weight.

When I began drafting my memoir, I thought writing was about pushing forward—word by word—through constraint and critique. I clung to external pressures: what the writing world expected, how polished I should be, how I measured up. But somewhere along the ...