“There’s this idea that creativity has to be some kind of war, a torturous process of extraction that maddens us until we finally experience that sweet victory against all the odds…”

 

Hello friends and happy almost spring!

I hope 2023 has been treating you well so far.

I haven’t posted in the blog this year yet because I’ve been working on a different sort of writing project…as mentioned in the title of this post, I’m writing a book!

I signed up for The Tiny Book Course which is a neat little course created by two savvy women who have a ton of experience in all things book related, from traditional publishing, to self-publishing, to writing, to literary agenting, to owning an actual bookshop.

The goal of the course is to demystify the process of writing a book, break it down into tiny little do-able steps, and finish with a completed published book!

I’ve always wanted to write a book, but thus far it hadn’t felt like the right time yet. But then over the course of last year, I found that I had really honed my writing process – from something that used to feel stressful and agonizing to something that was enjoyable, energizing, even a flow state at times.

And the way I did that was through writing these newsletters to you!

In one of those newsletters I mentioned how I had been tweaking my writing process so that it felt less awful, and it seemed like it resonated with some of you, too. You can revisit that here at the end of this previous newsletter.

There’s this idea that creativity has to be some kind of war, a torturous process of extraction that maddens us until we finally experience that sweet victory against all the odds.

I’m gonna tell you…it definitely doesn’t have to be that way! At moments, sure, it can feel that way. But those are usually the moments when we’re getting in our own way.

And I definitely don’t believe that creativity is something that is only bestowed upon a select gifted few. It’s there for all of us, we just have to understand ourselves, and understand how to access it.

That’s the fun part, and something I’d love to share more about in the future as it can be a cool intersection of some of my favorite topics:

• Understanding our unique personality and brain wiring;
• Knowing how to access our individual flow state;
• Identifying the way our intuition and inner wisdom shows up for us – which isn’t the same for everyone;

as well as the idea that creativity is intricately linked with our spirituality, which many of us are disconnected from; our ability to play, which many of us have forgotten; as well as our passion and purpose, which many of us are seeking.

Much of the content I wrote last year is actually going into the book. I didn’t plan it that way, but towards the end of the year I noticed that I was perhaps writing a book without realizing it.

It was fun to gather up all the content I’ve written over the last five years as part of my business, whether it was originally in the blog, sent via the newsletter, or lives on my website, and start to meld it into something new.

My friends have a smart marketing strategy they call the “slice ‘n sling” method where you take one long piece of content and slice it up into lots of little pieces of content that you can then sling around to other places like social media.

I think what I just did was the opposite – I’ll call it the “gather ‘n meld” method whereby I gathered existing pieces of content and melded them into something shiny and new.

As the saying often attributed to Aristotle goes, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts – “ which I think will be true in this case!

What’s the book about?

At its core, the book is about finding balance, feeling better, and awakening to the deeper level of the soul.

It’s a self-coaching journey, over twelve months, organized by season – Spring, Summer, Late Summer, Fall and Winter. Each month, there’s an essay for inspiration as well as a practice to engage more deeply with the content.

The idea is that you can either read it all at once, and then go back and focus in on the one singular practice associated with whatever month you’re currently in; OR you can engage with it in a slow-drip fashion, savoring each chapter month-by-month as your trusty guide and companion for your journey of evolution throughout the year.

It’s kind of like having me in your pocket all year whispering helpful reminders to you throughout each month.

Creepy, or super cool.

Going Forward

I’ll keep you updated here on the progress of the book – if you’re not already subscribed to the newsletter be sure to do so as these blog posts go out first (and sometimes exclusively) to the newsletter list. So you’ll be the first to know when it’s available!

With love,

Angela