Discovering What I Love

(Go ahead, answer the questions too, but here's the thing: you are not allowed the following type of questions in the equation: How will this make money? How do you do this for a living? What is the job description for this? What will my Aunt in Spokane think? Aren't there too many writers already? Do I have the right qualifications? None of those kind of questions are allowed when answering the ones below ! So here goes.....)

What do I love?
I love writing about life. I love reading about life and about people’s personal journey’s through life. I love teaching others about the power of the written word to move a person forward. I love deep intimate conversations rooted in truth and authenticity. I love nature and using nature as a teaching and healing tool or element along with writing and learning about oneself and about life. I love to see a person’s inner journey spring forth when in the presence of and embraced by nature. When working along with nature I am working in Spirit’s church, in Spirit’s home.

What do I get a kick out of?
I get a kick out of watching people come to a place within themselves where they can hear their inner voice and connect with their truth and their authenticity.

What’s right up my alley?
It is reading every book I can lay my hands on about life writing. Not the technical part of writing but the type of writing that makes people reach deep down inside, the kind of writing that helps people connect with their story. What’s right up my alley is seeing what this does for people, how gentle and kind and fruitful it is.

What fascinates’ me?
What fascinates me is how people are all craving some deeper, more intimate, more real connection with themselves and with others, with nature and with life. How people crave to live an authentic life. How some people can recognize this is what they need and want and others just can’t see it. They know something is missing or something is wrong but they can’t figure out what. And what fascinates me is that no matter who it is, once they get to a place of authenticity they become alive – even more so if they are in a place of nature, peace and tranquility and simplicity, they transform and become more in touch with the truth of who they are.

Where can I lose track of time?
When I’m writing. When I’m out in nature. A whole day can easily slip by unnoticed with I am immersed in my writing. Whether I am writing for myself, teaching writing, or putting together stuff to share around writing, I lose track of time. If I am connecting with others on a deep inner level, I lose track of time.

What’s my secret thrill?
My secret thrill is to see myself and my partner living in a cabin close to nature, having a writing/working place with huge windows facing the sun where I can see nature all around me, where I can sit and write at my desk. It is also a place with a couple of extra cabins where I can welcome people who want to come and work with me on their healing, their writing and their inner pathway to growth and well-being. In this vision, what I offer at this place is sought after by others who want the opportunity to come and live authentically and to make meaningful connections in their lives. I am known, or the place is known as “the” place to go for a time of quiet introspection, of connection, of healing, of writing, of healing through nature and the written word. All of this is what I love to do.

Am I dreaming in color? Perhaps. But so be it! My dream and my vision is a beautiful one and it deserves to materialize into this world. It needs to come to fruition. It needs to be born, to come to pass. There are many who need this place including me.

If I could do anything – if I was independently wealthy and there were no judgments, what would I do? If I had the ability I felt I required to do what I wanted to do – what would I do?
I would write. I would spend time writing my book(s) and I would teach about the power of the written word, I would teach about therapeutic writing, journal writing and life writing. I would have my place out in nature where people could come to write and to discover their truth, to connect with themselves and discover their authenticity. I would guide people through counselling, writing and nature. I would do this through my words and my example and it would happen at this sanctuary type of retreat place. I would do this with all those who come to this place and when I could, I would travel to other places to get other people the opportunity to experience this too. I would work one on one with the people who come to me by doing intensives with them and I would do groups when going to other places. Maybe it would be called Inner Pathway to Authenticity – Journeying through the Written Word.

Who are the people I envy and why?
Ken who speaks about what he’s passionate about, who speaks from the heart and who touches many lives with his words.

Edith who lived her vision and her mission and lived it simply and authentically.

Louise Hay who shaped her life regardless of background or education or a difficult past.

Julia Cameron who believed in a supportive Universe and who followed her path and her calling wherever it led her to go. She also overcame her addictions and stayed faithful to her need to heal and to write her way through life and to teach others to do the same.

I admire all people who can believe in what they want and stay focused and make it happen knowing – absolutely knowing and trusting that it will come to pass and the Universe will provide.

I admire people who can trust and speak passionately about what they believe in and who live that life fully like Barbara and Ken and Tama.

What do I consider my greatest achievements in life and why?
Raising my four children because it was the most rewarding, demanding, fulfilling, challenging and biggest life learning I’ve ever been through.

Following my own path, listening to my heart, choosing what is right for me, staying true to who I am, living life authentically - for me there is no other way.

The way I held the vision and got the ball rolling for the Women’s Wellness Conference. I knew what it could be and I held on to that vision and it came to be. I trusted and I knew.

The way I trusted and I knew that I would get the job at FCSS doing something meaningful with my life. The way I trusted and I knew I would do the Life Skill Coach training even if I didn’t know how.

The retreats I’ve organized and held for women to comet to because I was doing what I loved and it was so meaningful for me and people grew and changed and lived from their heart and formed deep connections to others and to themselves.

The writing workshops I’ve put together and gave and the people I’ve seen change through this, both live and on-line, the courses I’ve built and the people I’ve touched.

The many journals I’ve filled and all the words I’ve put down that maybe someday someone will read and perhaps learn more about me and at the same time learn more about themselves. It’s been a journey and one I’m proud of. I’ve stayed committed, I’ve grown, I’ve changed, I’ve journeyed.

Going back to school late in my life and getting a college education and then a Bachelor’s degree because I set my mind to it and I did it.