writing

writing

Who I am.

November 1, 2021

Hello there!

Last night I was doing some journalling for a course, and one of the questions was: who are you?

You had to answer it in one sentence.

In. One. Sentence.

Now I am sure that many of you out there could do that without any problems, but until very recently I was not one of those people.

A few years ago, when we could still be in a confined spaces with other humans, I was in a shared taxi to the airport. As the driver navigated the busy roads of San Jose, the Canadians in the back seat asked the inevitable question: so what do you do?

I remember babbling a bit about leading online courses, but I could never find that magical thing that would tell people who I really was.

Last night it came to me, loud and clear: I am a Writer. (Who lives in the jungle.)

Yes, I do more than that, and I am about to be doing even more than that, but Writer is truly the central core of what I do. It’s my soul work. It’s my truth. (And the space I have chosen to occupy has a huge influence on what I write.)

I write. It’s not what I do, it’s who I am.

It took me a lot of years to get that clear.

But that clarity and that ownership have changed everything. And it feels… magical.

How about you? Who are you? Are you clear?

Can you write it in one sentence? And if not, how can I help you get there?

with love,

writing

1000 Days

August 24, 2020

I have now written every single day for over 1000 days in a row.

Technically today I am on day 1120. I know, I should have done this on day 1000, but the amazing thing is that somewhere in the 400 – 500 range, it stopped being surprising that I was showing up. I even stopped talking about it on Social Media. (Can you imagine!?)

I am still doing it. I intend to keep doing it. I have now done it so long that it has become a part of who I am and what I do. It’s like brushing my teeth: it would feel too weird not to do it.

I have written about this before here and here, and I have talked about it on instagram and in my courses and offerings, but what I have discovered is that it all boils down to devotion*.

People ask me about it all of the time. Many say that they were inspired by my journey and that they are now on day ____, others just shake their heads and tell me that they ‘could never do that.’ To the first group, I grin and say, ‘YAY! YOU!’ To the second group, I just smile, because as long as they say that, it will be true for them (but I actually don’t believe them.)

You have it in you to believe in yourself and to devote yourself so something that matters. You do. You just have to pick something that really matters and then change your mind – one day at a time.

Here is what I have learned in 1000+ days of showing up for something that matters to me:

You have to do something that matters to your soul. Showing up every day for anything not in alignment who Who You Are will be much much more difficult.
Make it easy. You have to choose something that you can do without making it a big bloody deal. Creating any sorts of complications or fancy rituals or specific rules will just give you something to rebel against or use to make an excuse not to show up.
You have to make it non-negotiable. This was a big piece for me. If you give yourself any way out, you’ll probably find it. I have shown up to write every day no matter what because that was the one boundary/ rule I set. (And this doesn’t necessarily mean you have to do whatever it is every day. But the days you DO commit to showing up? Those have to be non-negotiable.)
Equally, you have to focus on today. If you didn’t show up yesterday it can’t matter. Take the question of why you didn’t show up to your work, but show up today anyway. WAY too many dreams have been shelved because ‘I didn’t do it today/ yesterday/ the month/ this year so why bother?‘ I’ll tell you why: because it matters enough for you to want to do it and to come back to it over and over again. Just show up again today and then repeat that over and over and over again.
Doing this will change everything. You will begin to see your own cycles and patterns and stories. You will bore yourself. You will surprise yourself. You will inspire yourself. You will then bore yourself all over again. This noticing of the patterns and the stories and the cycles will begin to change everything. Your perspective and your beliefs and your world will expand. Keep going.

My own 1000+ Days of Writing has brought me into a place where everything is magic. I can see stories and patterns and allies and a much, much bigger picture. I can also confidently call myself a Writer, because I show up every day to write. That alone is worth the journey of the past three years.

What calls your soul? What do you want to call yourself? What wants to come through you? Start today. Show up. See what happens.

*I have created a 48+ page workbook that will help you get really clear on your own 1000 Days Project (or 100 Days Project, or simply your Soul Work). It is a gift for my newsletter subscribers. So if you are interested in going on this journey and starting with a bit of help and a bit of inspiration and a lot of clarity, just click here to join my newsletter list.

With so much love,

Stories, writing

Let me Tell You Seven Stories

June 10, 2019

When there is a story on the tip of my tongue, it feels like champagne bubbles and tastes like honey. It’s the sparkle of sunlight on water and the warmth of golden sand under your bare feet. It’s the bright pink of a basket, woven in a faraway land. It’s the wishes that sit in that basket, wanting to be spoken aloud. It’s the waft of a scent that –just for a moment – transports you to a different time and place.

That’s the magic of story, you see. It will take you places that you never thought you would go, and ask you questions that you never thought you could ask. Story gives us the chance to play with our memories or try out new things: to dance on the deck of a ship in the moonlight, or to stumble through a dark wood, pursued by… what?

Who was with you on the deck of the ship? What was in the woods with you on a dark and stormy night?

You see, you are the key to the story. We are made up of story. We tell stories about who we are and what we want and why we can or cannot have those things. We tell stories about our loves and our laughter and our losses and our delights. We tell stories to fill the gaps in conversation and to understand the parts of ourselves that we haven’t quite gotten on a first-name basis with yet. Stories delight us, help us, distract us, and fill the spaces between our cells.

That’s what I really think stories are – the spells that hold us together. When Carl Sagan said, “We are made of Star Stuff,” for the first time many of us finally understood who we were in the universe.

Now I would like to add a little something: I believe that we are actually made of star stuff and stories.

So when I tell you that I have a story on the tip of my tongue, what I am actually saying is that – just for a moment – I was on the brink of something wonderful. The moment before a story settles feels like an eternity. Will it choose me? Is it time? Will the words come? Then there’s the moment when the story decides to stay – when it settles in and sinks into the spaces between my cells – and I get just a glimpse of swirling tents, and smoky campfires, and castle keeps, and humble hearths, and talking birds, and a pocket full of wonders, and a woman – there’s always a woman – who has something important that she wants to whisper in my ear…

“Let me tell you a story…”

There is a story on the tip of my tongue. It’s a story about how magical you are.

It’s not alone. For the past few months I have been collecting stories in my big red book; stories about magic and bridges and smells and tastes; stories about wonder and enchantment and questions, and above all, stories about the Mysteriousness and Magic of being alive and on this grand adventure of being here, now.

Would you like to hear some of them? Would you like to come along on this adventure? Stories, after all, only become magical when we become a part of them.

Come closer. Join me. Let me spin you a tale. It’s about a woman who is made up of star stuff and stories….

My new course, Seven Stories, is now open for registration. I hope you will join me.

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