loneliness as creative fuel
Write with Us: Free Voice + Vision Workshop and Showcase
In addition to the free features of this newsletter, paid subscribers receive weekly Story Work exercises delivered every Sunday night at 8 pm et, and access to The Practice, our monthly group journaling session with special guests. If you are interested in receiving this weekly flow of self-reflection ideas for your writing practice, and more access to a creative community, consider becoming a paid subscriber.
Hi everyone,
As most of you know we have a free one-hour writing workshop on Zoom every first Friday. Our upcoming December workshop will be a bit different. To close out the year and celebrate our creative community, I’m hosting a two-hour workshop and showcase featuring readings and prompts with the theme of Voice and Vision. This will be a night of writing, storytelling, and setting intentions for 2024.
You’re invited to join us! We’re gathering on Zoom on Friday, December 1 from 7 - 9 pm et. Registration is free and you can RSVP here.
Read on for some updates on the creative courage writing intensive, then a reflection on loneliness as creative fuel.
creative courage
What do you need creative courage for in the new year?
I’ll go first. I could list a bunch of specific and universal things that I’m channeling courage for, but all of it involves continuing to reclaim my story. The last few years have shown me that centering my authentic needs and values creates a fulfillment in my life that I once thought was impossible. The catalyst has been facing and reframing my shadows, shame, and limiting beliefs. The parts of ourselves that we avoid the most hold the key to our healing and evolution, and it takes courage to open those doors.
The next cohort of The Creative Courage Writing Intensive opens soon. This is my signature offering that lays the foundation for how I coach, mentor, and of course, navigate my own creative journey.
In the Creative Courage Writing Intensive, we break the heart-centered work of self-discovery down into a process that benefits you, not just creatively, but holistically. The Creative Courage framework is based on my personal + professional journey, years of research and client work. You will be guided through a 3-month transformation of how you think about your creative work and how it fits into your life. With mentorship and community, you will develop the courage to ask yourself hard questions and explore the answers through creative expression. All while learning strategies to cultivate a lifestyle that fuels that courage.
To be notified when registration opens and get access to the early bird discount, you can sign up here.
This experience will be a transformational to the souls that have been craving fuller expression and are ready to expand. Does that sound like you? What stories are you carrying that are blocking you from letting your authentic self become more visible?
Recently I was thinking about the particular kind of loneliness that comes from not feeling safe or worthy to fully express yourself in the world. Maybe you can relate. Below I wrote about this kind of loneliness and how it can be a portal to creative expression.
loneliness as creative fuel
“We have all known the long loneliness.” — Dorothy Day
Life is lonely enough. When you ignore parts of your self to please other people, that is a particular kind of loneliness.
I remember he and I, laying on our backs, physically entwined, but mentally worlds apart. Side by side in two different realities. I didn’t feel alone because his needs were always with me, but I was lonely. What do you call it when you are loved, but not known? Valued, but for the wrong reasons?
Loneliness is a trembling voice that you don’t use and a naked face that you don’t show. A fear of being seen and unwanted. The loneliness asks: What’s left, when everyone goes home? How do you breathe in the small quiet room? How do you find peace in the beat of your own heart?
I remember she and I, wanting to coexist, biologically entwined, but perceptually worlds apart. Face to face in two different realities. I didn’t feel alone because her delusions were always with me, but I was lonely. What do you call it when you are loved, but not recognized? Valued, but misunderstood?
How could I be lonely, when my life was full of family and friendship, laughter and love? It grew from the words I didn’t say. The questions I didn’t ask. The space I didn’t feel worthy to claim. If you’re hiding what you value, loneliness will taunt you. If you’re suppressing your voice, loneliness will isolate you. You can be the life of the party, telling the world you are doing just fine, and the lie will keep you up at night, trapped in a void you can conceal but can’t escape.
I remember me, myself, and I staring in the mirror, realizing that I was lonely because I had abandoned myself. What do you call it when you are a source of hope to others, but not to yourself? When you are in your body, but numb to your pain?
Loneliness put a pen in my hand. It became a portal to expression and a journey back to myself. Walking through this portal, I discovered the difference between loneliness and solitude. While loneliness was a separation from myself, solitude was a sacred reconnection. Creative expression made this shift in perception possible.
Writing cured the isolation that has plagued me ever since I was a little girl with no voice all the way to becoming a grown woman with low worth. The loneliness that I’ve carried, the loneliness I sense in every person, every place I go; it drives me to create, to write, to put together the most heart-opening words I can find to help us all feel less alone.
Loneliness is part of life. When you recognize that loneliness is a disconnection from yourself, a cry for reconnection, you know what to do. Embrace it. Creating heals the divide you feel within yourself. Express it. Being creative reconnects you not just to yourself, but to the oneness of us all.
I’ll be back soon with more reflections on creative courage and story work. In the meantime, here’s a question for you to ponder: What does loneliness mean to you? How does it make its presence known in your life? What is your loneliness calling you to create? I invite you to share with us in the comments below.
write with us in december:
December 1. Voice and Vision Year-End Workshop and Showcase (free) // 7 - 9 pm et
December 16. The Practice: Group Journaling Session #10 w/ Dr. Sophia Godkin // 11 - 12:30 pm
Reminder: The Practice, our monthly group journaling sessions, are free for paid subscribers, or you can drop in for a $15 fee.