Reclaiming Desire as Your Holy Compass

Consider this: that your brightest moments of living, the sharpest memories old and new, the days where you felt aligned with your purpose and meaning, are probably those in which you have truly felt the depths of your Desire.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day: a day of construction paper pink and white doilies and perfectly long-stemmed pesticide-ridden red roses aplenty.  Around the world, people celebrated love in both beautiful and tasteless ways, and for a lot of us (maybe, you.  maybe, me.) there was a longing for something beyond our fingertips and our ability to name names.  Even in some of the happy V-Day moments, the well-adjusted relationships, there was a whiff of that feeling that something deeper is being missed.  

I noticed that many of my friends were quick to ridicule Valentine's Day – and not only my single friends.  A hallmark card holiday, they say.  A day of consumerism, inferior chocolate consumption, and over-idealized notions of heterosexual love.  

But Valentine's Day isn’t simply Black Friday for florists -- its fiery origins are kindled in the courage of those who were willing to risk their lives to declare and honor Love.  

St. Valentine was Christian priest who was said to have been beheaded for marrying young couples against the command of Claudius the 2nd.  The Emperor believed that unmarried men made better soldiers for his war games, but Valentine believed that marriage was God's sacrament, and should available to anyone who wished it.  He was a man of courage, dedication, and passion.  He had found his life work, in service to Love and his god.

Consider this: that Valentine's Day is a day devoted to Desire, in its whole, majestic, dangerous glory.  Desire that dares us to break laws -- the laws that tell us who can and can't marry, perhaps, or confining social norms, or even laws of nature as they are espoused by hardened "red in tooth and claw" scientists that claim our instinctual ways are competitive and selfish.  Desire that is a yearning for meaning, for contribution, for wealth in its most expansive sense, for beauty and connection and white-hot, sweaty sex.

This kind of Desire won’t easily nestle into the inside of a card with a cute picture of a kitten and pithy phrase about being together.   But it just might change your life.

From my friend T. Thorn Coyle, who is such an inspiration to me:

Desire harnesses life energy so that we can move forward into what my core tradition calls The Work of This God, which can be interpreted as our purpose or destiny.  This is the idea that there is some work -- some practice, joy, or way of being -- that only we can manifest in this world.  This may sound like a platitude, but it is a statement that I find to be deeply true.  Without desire, we can languish in our lives, never dedicating ourselves to the practices that will point us toward our Divine Work... In seeking our soul's desire, we have the opportunity to see our deepest selves.  In manifesting our will into the world, we take our places as cocreators of the cosmos, as true denizens and full participants of this gorgeous earth.                                                                                                --Make Magic of Your Life

Your authentic desire, which since you were a child has led you to what feels good, and right, and sustains your life and your will to live, is yearning for you to open wide to it.  To notice it's voice, it's wisdom, and to unbridle your willingness to follow it through whatever scavenger hunt it will lead you through until you find yourself -- all of your parts, the bright and the shadow, the parts that your nurture and love and those that you leave outside in the alley, hoping they'll go away or at least that no one will notice them.  Your Desire wants you to remember that it is your holy compass.

Our Desire challenges us to see who we are in this moment, and who we want to become.  It may sometimes like a quiet murmuring beneath minutes passing and items checked off of our bucket lists and to-do lists; other times, it rips apart our lives like a bolt of lightening striking the carefully built towers of our schedules, goals, fitness regimens and morality systems.  

Whatever form Desire takes, it sets before you a choice, and reveals whole caverns of your own dark mystery: do you go for it, in the face of how hard it might be, and what people will say, and what you thought you wanted before?   Do you hide away?  Do you medicate yourself with sugar, cannabis, Mad Men, work?  Does your desire ring clear and strong and true inside of you, you who have made yourself a worthy vessel for it, and does it carry you through to the finish line?  Or does it get stymied and cloudy within you, puttering out into the grey dregs of longing?

Many spiritual paths tend wane bipolar on the matter of Desire.

Buddhism tends to teach that desire is the root of human suffering, unless you happen to like spending time with Tantric Buddhists, who believe that Desire is the foundation of compassion.  "When our habitual self-centered desire turns toward care for others, a kind of spiritual transformation is possible...Accompanied by strong commitment and clarity of mind, transformed desire is a kind of contagious fever of compassion," says Judith Simmer Brown in her piece, “Pure Passion.”

Christians are notorious for their condemnation of passion and desire, and yet, with the tidal reclamation of Mary Magdalene within the church and outside of it, we see a faith radically reorienting itself towards reclaiming Desire as a holy compass for finding our way in dark times.  "The divine energetic flow is more like eros (passionate love) than agape (selfless, spiritual love), as mystics of all spiritual traditions have intuitively known," writes Reverend Cynthia Bourgeault in “Cosmic Intimacy.”  "It's yearning is palpably felt in our own hearts, with an intensity almost more than we can bear."

The witches, though, can be counted on to advocate for Desire's worthiness.  “Desire is the heart's wish for deep fulfillment, “ Thorn says.  “To be complete is not to become static.  To be complete is to have realized that our deeper purpose is to live in harmony with the field of life that is God Hirself.  We are enacting our destiny as surely as the stars enact their own.”

Weaving a web between desire, and destiny, and the stars makes perfect sense entomologically.  The word desire comes from old French (wouldn't you know it) phrase de sidere, and it literally means "of the stars," or "to await what the stars will bring."   Compare this to the word want, which comes from the Latin word which means "to lack" or "coming from lack."  This root difference is essential to understanding the true nature of Desire versus Wanting, and the schism in the ancient wisdom teachings around Desire.  

When we come from lack, we do experience our wanting as suffering, as an insatiable compulsion of the mind to acquire, control, and fixate on specific forms that we think some other person or entity should fulfill for us.  Want is a gap between what is and what we think should be, and this gap is painful.  Read: it causes suffering and disconnection, from one another, and from the divine.

But authentic desire is not born of lack, or of wanting -- it comes from our deep connection to shining mystery and to the beautiful beings who are kin, our lovers, and our confidantes.  It reveals itself when you ask yourself not what you want here and now, but what you desire to experience, and to offer, and to know.  Authentic desire reveals itself when your body, mind, heart and spirit are aligned, and you feel powerful, whole, and connected to life -- to the moon and stars above, to people, to this green earth.  It reveals itself when you can make out the most subtle, nuanced voices of your being.  It makes itself known when you have the energy, time, and space to listen to its slow enchanting melodies, and to take action on its mighty callings.

When I tell people that I am passionate about Desire these days, sometimes they inadvertently snicker.  Occasionally the more ornery ones challenge me. 

"What if my desire is to own a small fleet of gas-guzzling cars, eat nothing but chocolate, and spray Roundup all over my yard to make it perfectly green?" they say.  "Doesn't desire lead to gluttony and consumerism and the destruction of the earth?  I thought you were against that kind of thing."

Often, I'll just look these folks straight in the eye and ask, "Well, is it?  Is that your deepest desire?"  Or, if I really want to stump them, I'll ask, "Is that truly your heart's desire?"

"Well, no, not mine.  But it could be somebody's."

The thing is, it isn't.  No one's heart's desire is to make millions of dollars off of child sweatshop labor in other countries.  No one's deepest yearning is to destroy a pristine forest to build a cheep condominium complex.  In fact, these are the kinds of things that happen when we don't listen to our hearts, and our bodies, and those quiet yet confident voices within us that are trying to get our attention.  Our deepest desires tell us to write, to create music and works of art and other people, to travel the world and explore unknown terrain, to make love in every beautiful way imaginable, to rest quietly in peace and faith, to let our most vulnerable places see the light so that we can find true acceptance and self-expression.

Earlier this week, author Stephen Elliott sent out his nearly-daily “Rumpus” email, which was, as usual, rambley and raw.  The very last sentence was this: "Sometimes I fill with desires so specific they could be written on the head of a pin."

So, I dare you: no matter what your Valentine’s Day was like, feel out your deepest desires and let them burn brightly.  The ones you've known have been there forever, and those that you suspect lay beyond the door in your heart or your body that you refuse to open.  Those that involve your sweetie, and those that don't.  

Toss away the ones that seem to bubble up from the yabbering of your talking self, and listen to your body, your heart, and your spirit.  

Find a moment to do this, and you might discover those big, expansive yearnings that lead the way to the work in this world that you're uniquely meant to do.  Find an hour or two, and you might find those specific yearnings that could fit on the head of a pin.  Or it might happen the other way around – if anything, Desire is non-linear, intemporal, and predictably unpredictable.

But no matter what, know that this journey, once begun, is dangerous.

Towers may fall.

Heads may roll.

Certain plans and patterns may become uprooted, never to take hold again.

And best of all, your life might become the courageous adventure that you always knew it was supposed to be.

If desire causes suffering, it may be because we do not desire wisely, or that we are inexpert at obtaining what we desire. Instead of hiding our heads in a prayer cloth and building walls against temptation, why not get better at fulfilling desire?  Salvation is for the feeble, that's what I think.  I don't want salvation, I want life, all of life, the miserable as well as the superb. If the gods would tax ecstasy, then I shall pay; however, I shall protest their taxes at each opportunity, and if Woden or Shiva or Buddha or that Christian fellow--what's his name?--cannot respect that, then I'll accept their wrath. At least I will have tasted the banquet that they have spread before me on this rich, round planet, rather than recoiling from it like a toothless bunny. I cannot believe that the most delicious things were placed here merely to test us, to tempt us, to make it the more difficult for us to capture the grand prize: the safety of the void. To fashion of life such a petty game is unworthy of both men and gods.
Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume.

Rediscover Your Love of Writing -- How to Love What You Write

Word count for yesterday: 909
(906 for the blog, 3 novel - AGH!) 

Hello everyone!

How's the writing going?  Made your goal yesterday?

Not me.  Oh wow, did I ever fall behind.  I wrote my post to you all (900 words or so) but then was pulled in by the Day of the Dead festivities and didn't get anything done on my poor novel.  It was such an amazing evening, filled with altars and candlelit processions and a delicious dinner at the Black Cat house in San Francisco.  But, it didn't get me any closer to my writer's goal for the day or the week.

I did, however, get to sit down with one my favorite authors and dear friends, Starhawk.  I asked her about writing her novel The 5th Sacred Thing -- which is kind of amazing, to think I've known her this long and never asked her about it -- and she gave me the counsel she gave to her brother when he was writing his book this year, which she said is one of the most important things to know if you want to write.

"The hardest thing about writing," she said, "is dealing with your own feelings, which the writing brings up."

It was like she voiced something that had been floating around in my mind for years, without knowing it.  Anyway, I totally agree with her-- and see the emotional component of writing, in all its highs and lows, as one of the best reasons to write.

Synchronistically, this morning in my inbox I got an email from fellow writer and coach, Jackie Joh.  It was too perfectly timed not to pass it on.

Today I'm going to lock myself away to work on the novel... I'll let you go how it's going tomorrow.

Tell us how you're doing!  We have nearly 50 people in this writing challenge now, and it would be great to begin hearing some of your thoughts and struggles.  You can post them below!

Happy writing today!
Rebecca

---

HOW TO LOVE YOUR WRITING

All writers get to a point when we look at what we have been creating and no longer see it's worth. We don't feel like moving forward because we feel our work is not good enough or it was not at all what we originally wanted it to be.  

This is a normal part of the writing practice. The good news is there are ways to get back into the place of being excited about our writing. 

This article is geared to help you move from the place of hating your writing to loving it. 

Finish the project. When we look down at the page and realize we don't like anything we have written it is so tempting to quit and move on to the next project or idea. However, doing so tells our psyche that we are not committed and that decision makes it so we will be more likely to end up with a pile of unfinished projects. 

Reaching the point of not wanting to go on is part of the writing process.

We must finish what we are working on--push though the discomfort and finish it anyway. What happens when we do this is we are able to see our work with more perspective. We will also have the sense of accomplishment that comes from finishing it. 

We can see the work as a whole rather than parts we don't like and we will be able to more easily identify what is working. 

Notice your trigger words. When you come to a section you hate, reread and find the moment when you start criticizing your work. This will be a word, a few words.

Take a piece of paper and write these down. Explore your associations, your feelings, your felt-senses that come up and reflect on what it is that makes you cringe. Maybe it is a worry, a memory, a negative association that puts your ego mind on full alert.

Now that you have explored your associations and internal triggers identify a positive association that fits the words or identify a potential that the word represents. Be kind to yourself here, take a deep breath and recognize this as just a trigger rather than your writing being less that you hoped for.  

Tap into your body's wisdom . If we are struggling with language--either it is not coming easily or we dislike how it is coming forward--we can turn our focus to our bodies for a second opinion. Our bodies hold great wisdom and knowledge.

Reread your writing but instead of focusing on the words, have your inward eye focused on your body's reactions to the work. Maybe your breath quickens at certain points. Maybe your chest contracts or expands. Maybe you are tapping your leg anxiously at another point. This is all important information.

Take note that your writing does have power and you are experiencing that first hand. Notice where you contract--is this what you want or where you could bring in some of the language of the expansive sections here? If you are feeling anxious or contracted ask yourself--is this my "stuff" meaning my own psychology reacting, or is this feeling intended for the reader. Separating the two will make it easier to like the writing you are working on because it will become less emotionally charged.

Turn off the Internet. Find the airport button on your computer and turn it off. Put your phone in a drawer, on silent. Set a time frame that you are going to only focus on writing.

When we are feeling unsure about our writing it is often because our mind is being pulled in various directions. For example, when writing all of a sudden we write a word which reminds us to look something up online. Before we know it an hour has passed and we haven't been writing.

When we don't like our writing, or our process, we are not giving it enough care and attention. We need to nurture our writing. If we are flighty with our attention our writing will be flighty as well. Put your love and focus into your work, then explore the web. 

Talk it out . Magic happens when we engage in conversation about an idea--things click for us, ideas fall into place, we may get jumbled but often what we are trying to figure out get's resolved.

If you are struggling to like your writing, talk with a friend about what this is like for you. Talk into a voice recorder, talk to your dog. When we move into our voice the voice on paper can become clearer.

Give yourself permission to play with the conversation--no pressure trust what comes up for you, allow the ideas to turn over and take new form. You will then be able to write with more vibrancy and pleasure.

Journal . Similar to talking,  journaling can lead to new insights and perspective. It can help us clear through muddy spots, or places we are not comfortable emotionally and with our work.

When I write I often have a journal on hand to jot down ideas, thoughts reflections while I am working on something else. Doing so allows me to shift gears for a moment, while still writing, to re approach the project with new clarity and acceptance. 

Envision the potential of what you are attempting to write.   What got you started writing in the first place? What are your favorite words, ideas or phrases?

Put a heart, a star, a mark of some kind next to the sections of your writing that you do like.

Take rereading one word at a time rather than thinking about not liking the project as a whole. Remind yourself that you are writing for a purpose, that there is a part of you that is so strong and dedicated to your ideas that you started writing in the first place. Holding this perspective will make it easier to like what you are working towards and the progress you have already made. 

___________________________

Writing is not always easy and it is even easier to doubt ourselves. Writing can trigger comparing ourselves to others, or a perfectionism streak we may have. It can trigger our own self-limiting beliefs such as not being good enough, not creating worth-while work.

However, when we realize that these thoughts just manifestations of fear bubbling up because writing is actually bringing us closer to love--to our true selves--we can learn to love our selves and work more. Our writing will become more expansive and lovely to ourselves and others.

Rediscover Your Love of Writing: How to Choose What to Write About

What I’m about to say about this is likely very different from the ten thousand things you may have run across on the internet about choosing what to focus on and finding inspiration for your work.  Not that those other things aren’t cool – they are.  I’ve gotten a lot out of writing prompts, and Nanowrimo’s Adopt a Plot forum, and blogs about find topics about writing blogs.

But if I’m working on something bigger – a novel, the copy on my website that’s supposed to be an authentic representation of the kind of work I want to do to change the world, or a magazine article to submit to a publication that goes out to tens or even hundreds of thousands of people – my heart has to be in it, one hundred percent.  It has to be the work’s beginning, and it’s end.

Tell me if this sounds familiar: you have a feeling that there is something within you that wants to come out, if you could just put your finger on it.  Maybe it’s an idea for a whole new project, or maybe it’s finding the next step in something that you’re already working on.   It’s the perfect thing.  It feels beautiful, powerful, like a spark of fire inside of you.

But it’s also a slippery little devil.  And you can’t think of exactly what it is.  And then the monkey mind starts to have it’s fun.

One of the favorites tricks my monkey mind likes to play is search and search and search for a good idea, and when I come up with one, to tell me that it’s cliché, or rote, and that I’ll put tons of time into something that my friends will read and think less of me for, because it’s so trivial.  So then I try to think up something that will be new and fresh and unusual, which monkey mind will respond is pretentious. 

There’s just no winning in that game.  The key is getting out of the game entirely. 

We need to source our writing ideas from someplace else, other than the intensity of our analytical prowess.  It can still be from within our minds – after all, our minds include the beautiful powers of visioning and imagination.  And we can use the powers of our linear capabilities in service to our imagination and our hearts, when we are developing plot or synching up a series of blog posts to create a series, for example.

But when trying to decide what to write, or anytime you’re really stuck, it’s the heart that will guide you through.

To do that, here’s what I invite you to do:

1) Find yourself someplace lovely, and private, to be.  That could be a café, if your home is too busy for you to be undisturbed there.  It can be Tilden Park, or Bernal Hill.  It can be the shower.

2) Do something to get your mind to be quiet, and to set the judgement-and-expectation-demons at bay for a little while.  That could be some kind of breathing or meditation technique, but it also could be listening to your favorite music, or stretching and moving your body for a little while.

3) Ask yourself, “What do I want to write about?  What is pulling me right now?  What would I really like?”  Then be quiet and let your Self answer, in all of the more subtle ways that it does.  Give Self a little time to pontificate without asking it the hard questions about how, why, or for whom.  Just see what floats up.  You could also do this as an automatic writing exercise by setting a timer for five minutes, putting your pen to the page or fingers to the keypad, and letting loose until the buzzer goes off. 

4) After you have a couple of possible ideas or bare-glimpses-of-ideas (two to four is a good number), do something to shake out the energy.  That could be literally shaking, standing up to stretch, or changing the music on Pandora. 

5) Now go back to your conversation with Self.  Ask, “What’s important about this?” for each of the ideas that you came up with.  Notice that we are not asking ourselves what stinks about it or is unrealistic or is has poor marketing potential.  Just, what’s important about it, or “what will writing about this do (or mean) for me?”  You could set the old timer again if doing this as an automatic writing exercise works for you.

6) Shake out the energy again, and ask yourself, again for each idea, “How would I know that this piece of writing was successful?  What would the language be like, the tone, and how would I feel reading it, and writing it?”

7) Go take a short walk. 

8) Come back, look at what you’ve written, and make a decision based on that.  Or sleep on it, and make your decision the next day – unless, of course, you’ve committed to writing 1500 words a day and already 855 words behind, like I am.

9) Tell us all how it went and what else works for you when you’re trying to figure out what to write about in the comments below.

In the writer’s trenches with you,

Rebecca

Words for yesterday: 1845 (1200 for the blog, 645 novel) 

Rediscover Your Love of Writing: Finding Your Writer's Mission

Step 1: Figure out what your Writer’s Mission is for today, and for the week, and for the month.  Just don’t spend three hours on it when you should be writing.

Your Writer’s Mission for the day (and week, and month) is your intention.

Think about all of those amazing fantasy movies you’ve seen about wizards and witches who need to learn to cast powerful spells.  Whether it’s Tolkien’s Middle Earth or Hogwarts or Percy Jackson, when someone wants to learn how to use magic, they always begin with gathering their thoughts and focusing on what they want – a fireball, someone to fall in love, or fall asleep – and then putting their will and lifeforce into it.  That’s what makes the magic happen.  Without the heart, and then the drive, the spell won’t work.

You probably already know that writing is magic.  But we all could use a little reminder, sometimes. 

So we begin with our intention.  Our Writer’s Mission.

I bootlegged the term “Writer’s Mission” from Roy Peter Clark’s book, Help! for Writers, which I think is pretty fabulous in many ways.   He dislikes the word goal as much as I do.  Here's what he says about why the word 'Mission' is better than other words, say, "goal" or "task-list:"

The word goal comes t us from Old English, where it meant ‘barrier,’ and Middle English, where it meant ‘boundary.’  It suggests something to hurdle.  Mission, on the other hand, comes from the Latin verb ‘to send.  I like that better.  I am sent to accomplish something important; I’m a missionary of the word.

For those of us who are doing the Nanowrimo thing of a novel-in-a-month, our Writers’ Missions might already seem spelled out for us: 1500 words a day.  Fin.  But what about if you are working on a webpage, or a collection of short stories, or… you have a life, and that life doesn’t allow you to write 1500 words every single day?

I think deciding on a writer’s mission for your day, your week, and your month should help you stretch out of your comfort zone, and be exhilarating and stimulating – but it shouldn’t burden you down with dread or disempower you by setting you up for failure.  We all have our triggers, for good and for bad.  If you know that you already feel completely overwhelmed by the thought of writing your bio or your first chapter, what’s the point of telling yourself you need to write the entire “about me” section or the whole first act before next Tuesday?  Is that really going to help you get to your ultimate goal?

So, start with what you can do, and add about 10-20% on top of that.  For me, I’m going to let this blog post count towards my 1500 words today – but, I’m also going to devote extra time this weekend to my novel, so that I feel good about where I’m at.  Will I be done with 4500 words by Sunday night?  That’s my Writer’s Mission.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

It’s already late afternoon.  Have you done any writing yet today?  If yes, awesome!  Kuddos!  Bravo and bravissimo.  If not, that’s totally okay.  Like, really, truly, totally okay.  What can you today, to set yourself up for a great weekend of writing?  Maybe you can do 250 words, and also spend a little time outlining the next two or three sections of your work, so they’re easier to write when you come to them.  You can set yourself up for success this weekend by blocking out chunks of time for writing, and maybe even calling up a writing buddy to work with you and provide some accountability (we’ll get more into setting up the conditions for inevitable success later). 

Finally, know that Writer’s Missions change.  They are subject to our moods, our bodies, heavy winds, the weightiness of living in a reality of traffic jams and children with runny noses and beautiful evenings with friends that run over.  Let this be a process where you learn about yourself, as a writer, while also pushing yourself that extra little bit.  Says our friend Clark:

A mission statement of any kind must be expressed in strategies and tactics.  It cannot be frozen in time.  It will change.  Expect it to melt and flow into something else…. And please don’t wait until the end of a project to celebrate.  You need more moments of joy than that, rewards scattered across the span of a writing projet like gorgeous shells on a long sandy beach.

I’m looking forward to hearing how it’s going from you.  And please do let me know if there’s anything I can do to help by leaving me a comment below!

In the writer’s trenches with you,

Rebecca

the truly free, Rediscover-Your-Love-of-Writing 30-day challenge

Kindle the fires of your expression.
Find focus, pleasure and clarity as a writer.
And get the darn thing done – in 30 days or less.

It’s the time of year that other folks are gearing up for Halloween and Thanksgiving, snuggly warm and safe by the fire in cozy sweaters, and drinking cider – but I often find myself living in a very different fall than other people… slithering around on the outskirts from society… or holed up in my room with a strange gleam in my eye…

I will finish this novel in thirty days.  My mantra.  This year will be different.

For those who don’t know, tomorrow, November 1^st, marks the beginning of the international phenomenon known as Nanowrimo.

Na-no-what?  Na-no-wri-mo.  Short for National Novel Writing Month.

Some 200,000 writers participate every year.  The intention: to complete 1500 words a day, or 50,000 in a month, the length of an average novel.

I have been one of those 200,000 intrepid souls every year, for the past five years.  For half a decade, every November, I’ve begun a Nanowrimo novel.  But I have yet to finish a single one.

But this year, it will be different.

No, not because I’m going to succumb even more madly into a state of unwashed-writer-living-in-the-attic-surviving-on-coffee-and-chocolate-alone.  This year will be different because I’ve decided to take a whole new route: I’m dedicating myself to a month of inspiration, wellness, and community for the entire month.

And I’d like you to come a long with me!

In fact, I need you.

It’s okay if you don’t want to write a novel this month – there might be something else you’ve been dying to set your mind and fingers on:

• Your marketing copy for a new program. 

• Your blog, which has been languishing idle for months and needs a fresh influx of new ideas. 

• The articles you’ve been saying you’re going to submit to Mind Body Green, Rebelle Society, Rolling Stone or the New Yorker.

• A series of letters about the summer you spent Ocheesee, Florida, selling ice cream cones on a beach boulevard frequented by a biker gang and beautiful Cuban women wearing floppy hats, which you’d like to send to your grandfather – or your grandchildren. 

Maybe you can find time to write for an hour a day, or an hour a week.  Or you might be like me… taking on the exciting dare of 50,000 words in one month.  Whatever your writing goal is, let’s do it together.  Let's stay accountable.  Let's get it done, and rediscover our love of writing in the process.

Here’s what you can expect from me:

• Daily emails to provide constant motivation and inspiration so that you can finish your dream project, whether that’s a novel or the copy of your new website or a series of newsletters on staying sane during the holidays.  You’ll get writing prompts, productivity tips, and meditation practices to help you get you out of your mind and get the words onto the page.
• Ideas to create your own writer’s sanctuary so that you have a place to focus on your work, connect to the heart of your message, and delve into your genius ideas.  (This makes it a thousand times easier to begin every writing session and also much more likely that you’ll stay in the flow… instead of getting distracted by Facebook and youtube videos of kittens doing funny things).
• Tips to begin structuring a regular writing practice that leads to the inevitable success of your creative endeavors – one that feels sacred, enjoyable, and uniquely your own.
• Comraderie.  I’ll be blogging about my Nanowrimo experience as a way to keep the social pressure on myself and also so that you know that you aren’t alone in struggling with the challenges of writing.  I'll also give you ideas on how to get through it.  This is especially helpful for new writers, and established writers taking new risks with their work.
• A 3-Day “Clear the Channel” cleanse that you can do at home and use whenever you need during the month to clean your inner slate and jumpstart your writing project if you’re in a slump (or if you’ve just been using tons of coffee and sugar as a way to get to that 1,500 word finish line every day).
• Quick, easy, nutritious and delicious recipes for writers-on-the-go AND recipes for magical herbal potions to help with focus, inspiration, and, of course, stress.
• A “Find Your Focus and Overcome Overwhelm– the Love-to-Write Strategy Session.”  Get clear on your unique writer’s process, your work, and getting past blocks, overwhelm, and distraction.  Think of it like your very own "get out of writer's block free" card, and use it when you need it most.

And yup, I’m doing this all gratis.  Why?

Because I love the energy of November as writing month, and I think that there’s something special and powerful about being a part of the shared intention of hundreds of thousands of people that can help us do things we never thought were possible.

Because I believe that the people in my community – and truly, all writers – are visionaries.

Because I think you might send me love letters about how this challenge is working for you, and what you want more of.

And because it’s going to be tons of fun, and I need it as much as you do.  To stay accountable.  To finally finish a Nanowrimo novel.  To really commit to my message and my words – just like you.

Ready to get on board, and really commit to a month of writing pleasurably?

You can join at any time during the month of November!  It’ll only take about 30 seconds.  Just click here!