I’m in a big transition right now. Maybe you are too.
To ride these turbulent waves and make sense of it all, I journal.
I’ve been journaling since I was 13 years old. But in the last 10 or 20 years I have been using journaling less as a place to process and more as a place to take notes.
In the last few months, I've returned to using journaling as a place to process anything and everything and find my Self in all the noise.
Free-writing my thoughts and feelings helps me get clear about what is going on internally. I share all of it -- my fears, my hopes, yearnings, my secrets, my ramblings -- all of it.
All this writing as been helping me feel centered and connected.
When I am clear with myself and connected to what I truly want and feel, then everything else in my life can go smoother. I’m calmer and grounded. Then it's easier to make decisions.
Perhaps you'd like to use journaling too -- to listen to yourself, get grounded and centered, and clear about what you want and don't want.
If so, I invite you to go for it! And let me know how it goes.
If you need some help getting started, use some of the prompts I use to get started with my journal writing.
(Feel free to borrow these or make your own. These prompts and variations of them live in a place I can see them each time I write in my Notion journal. {If you'd like to see my template, let me know.})
Journaling Prompts
- What I’m really trying to say is...
- What I really want is...
- What would help me feel safe is...
- If I could wave a magic wand, what I really want is...
- What I’m afraid of is...
- Here’s what I’m really angry about today...
The one about anger indicates to me where I need to set new boundaries, new principles to help me stay more connected to what I really want, places where I need to say NO to myself or to others.
And... - The number one thing that is important to me is...
Today the number one thing that is important to me is remembering how much writing fiction makes me happy.
You may be surprised to learn that I forget and remember this truth almost daily. I don’t know why I need to do forget and remember, but I have become really really good at it. :D
I've accepted it as the way I am wired, and that’s okay.
When you see yourself for who you are and not who you wish to be, all the parts of you that have been clamoring for acceptance and appreciation will calm down, and then maybe you can get to work on the thing that is most important to you.
What is that thing? Let me know! I am so curious...
If you’re here on my list, I’m assuming it’s writing fiction. But maybe it’s something else today or maybe it’s something else deep in your heart. That’s okay too. It’s liberating to know what you really want.
I’m clearly of the mind that we can have what we want in life; it just may not be in the form we think it needs to be in.
My desire to be a creative writer is only half of it. The other half is what happens when I sit down to write. I encounter a mystery, the unknown, that I can guide and mold. But I cannot tell you where my ideas come from. I cannot tell you how it is I am able to even create fiction. It’s a great mystery. And I welcome it.
Segue to offers...
Just a quick reminder that if you want to learn more to up-level your writing, marketing, and publishing, then check out this Write Publish Profit 5.0 bundle that ends Tuesday, Oct. 4, 9 pm Pacific/12midnight Eastern.
I’m offering a deeply discounted coaching session with me through the special promotion. It’s a great way to get some support. More on that below.
Student & Clients Request -- Can You Help?
I have two requests from students and clients in our community.
Looking For Sensitivity Readers
(Also posted in the Fellowship of the Pen Facebook group here.)
Looking For A Critique Group Jasper is looking for a critique group. Here's his request:
Novelist Looking for a Chill Critique Group
Hello! My name is Jasper. I'm an as-of-yet unpublished novelist working on completing my first ever novel. I intend to publish it and make a career off of my work. I feel it's very important to me to have a small group of like-minded writers to help me with my writing in this phase of my process.
Here is what I'm looking for in a writer's group:
- authors who are serious about their career
- people who are willing to help with brainstorming
- a group that encourages constructive criticism
- a judgement free zone that is comfortable wit controversial subjects
- an LGBT+ friendly space comfortable with LGBT+ characters and themes
- a small group with maximum five members
- meets once or twice monthly online
If you are interested in starting a small group of 2 -3 or have a writer's group that fits this description looking for a new member, please contact me at jasperezekielk@gmail.com.
(also posted in Fellowship of the Pen Facebook group here.)
If you have a request for an upcoming newsletter, send it to me and I can send it to this list. Also, you can post it in the Fellowship of the Pen group.
♥
More about my coaching offer inside of Write Publish Profit 5.0 next...
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