On Rivers and Writing Truth
An interview with writer & Facilitator Rūta Žemčugovaitė
Rūta Žemčugovaitė is a writer and facilitator whose essays weave the threads of mythology, women’s health, Mystery, and the art and process of writing itself. Now in its third iteration, her writing course, Headwaters, helps aspiring and advanced writers alike overcome unconscious writing blocks and nurture their relationship with their creative life force.
As her partner and avid supporter of her work, I’ve seen her do the work herself, becoming more intimately aware of her own psychology, while transforming the obstacles that prevent her from fully stepping into the very life her heart and soul desire. Much of that journey she has shared publicly through her newsletter Regenerative Transmissions, which has quickly grown to nearly 3,000 subscribers. In this brief interview, we explore the nature of truthful and authentic writing and reveal the story behind her course “Headwaters.”
Rūta, your essays often touch upon the mysterious, the unseen, and the sacred feminine. What is it about these themes that captivates you and makes you want to explore them through writing?
I often feel claustrophobic when it comes to things like social media and having to share my work online. It’s an overexposure to things that I don’t really want or need to be exposed to (hundreds of strangers staring back at me in a small device.)
And then, there is a craving for something slower, deeper, unseen, invisible, unknown. Something you cannot fully understand, but you can feel it. The feminine, the mysterious, the sacred are themes that feel very ancient and timeless. They are the antidote to what the world feels like today. I want to touch the invisible with my work and with the devotion it takes, even just a little bit.
When do you know you’re writing from your truth and authenticity?
I think it comes from a sense of satisfaction in the body, a sort of coherence with your deeper internal values.
Authenticity and truth always strengthen the body, while inauthenticity and lying (to oneself or the audience, consciously or not), weaken it. There is a sense of integrity and relaxation of the nervous system, because I believe that authenticity and truth soothe us, as writers and readers. Even if something shared is hard to admit to, there is always a sense of relief because we get closer to what is real.
What does your writing practice look like?
Usually, I would make myself an Earl Grey or a delicious matcha, but for a few months now, I’ve stopped drinking or consuming any form of caffeine, so my practice has definitely changed. (I am still grieving that change.)
In a way that I don’t feel that rush, which we often conflate with inspiration. I am asked to go deeper into myself because of that. But I make a drink nonetheless, a sage or rooibos tea, or a coffee alternative that tastes nothing like coffee, and sit down at my desk.
I love to light a candle or two and generally love a darker atmosphere for writing. I stare through my window a lot, where I see oaks and other neighbouring trees change with the seasons and time of day. Often, I would start writing a few lines in my notebook, and then something clicks, and I would continue on my computer.
Where do you go to feel creatively inspired and nourished?
I often get inspired while reading or listening to music.
Most nourishment comes when I allow myself to create what I truly want and indulge in the process.
I also feel inspired by nature, her vastness. Witnessing the movement of the elements, the light, the turning seasons. I seek out rivers and streams when I am out in the wild, and they nourish me deeply on an energetic level. There’s always this feeling that I could sit by the river for the rest of my life and be absolutely happy. I feel I become one with the stream, and that feels very satisfying.
That explains why you named your writing course Headwaters! What are headwaters, and what does it mean to you?
Each river begins underneath the ground. Deep within the Earth, it fuses with minerals and carves channels in the dark, where no one can see it yet. But there is a point — a birth point of a stream, which is the headwaters. Here, the river meets the external world and begins to interact with it through nourishment of the surrounding ecological systems. A similar thing happens within our psyches. Our creative life-force energy has many channels and waterways, and there are specific places where it comes to the surfacing pools.
This is where we can get nourished and regenerated. This is a place we venture to within the course, and this is the place we draw from in our writing.
What makes Headwaters different from other writing courses?
The majority of courses out there focus on the craft and technique of writing, which we all benefit from to improve our writing. But when all of that is done, one thing we actually still have to do is...write. And this is where Headwaters steps in.
I have noticed that there can be a lot of desire, but also a lot of confusion and resistance towards writing. And most of this resistance is a myriad of internal blocks that we hold within.
The Headwaters course is concerned with getting you through those blocks and into the place from which writing feels deeply natural state of being. We get to transform parts of us (that would rather not have us writing), and get to do that in a deeply supportive community of writers and those who are just starting. There are things that our egos want to write, and then there are things that our souls want to write. Headwaters addresses the latter.
Headwaters is a 6-week cohort-based course that transforms your relationship with writing and self-expression. More than 80 participants have gone through the course, and it has left many deeply transformed, with newfound clarity, focus, and a more grounded, intuitive, and aligned approach to writing and life. The course starts on 30th October, so sign up while you can! Learn more and hear from others on https://rutazem.podia.com/
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Love this interview. Makes me so excited abs glad I signed up for the course!