the gift of un-editing yourself
group journaling session tomorrow at 12 pm et
Hi friends,
Today I’m writing with some encouragement for showing up as your full, quirky, awkward, beautiful, creative self in all your glory all the time. I’m not saying it’s always comfortable at first, but from my experience, it’s always expansive and it’s always worth it.
Tomorrow from 12 - 1:30 pm et, we have The Practice, our 90-minute monthly group journaling session and we’ll be joined by Delanea Davis (
) who will lead us in an exercise on un-editing yourself. Read on for more thoughts on the courage needed for creative expression, and details on how both free and paid subscribers can join us for Saturday’s session.You Can’t Please Everyone
The fear of rejection. Being disliked or ignored. Showing a side of yourself that no one knows. The fear of ruffling feathers, being judged, laughed at, or looked down upon. The fear of hearing your own voice. The fear of creating your own lane. How others will feel about it, react to it, and what they will say about it. The mental thought loops are exhausting, aren’t they?
Worrying about what people will think about your creative expression will keep you from finding your voice. Ask me how I know!
I used to hold back because I didn’t think my writing was good enough, or I wouldn’t post as often as I wanted because I didn’t want to bother people. I was easily discouraged when I didn’t get likes and follows, and I worried about being liked and fitting in and keeping up.
All of that distracted me from the reasons I started writing in the first place: to heal, to connect, to do work that comes from my soul and that I enjoy.
Sometimes you have an idea or calling and you’re so inspired but it goes out the window when it’s time to put pen to paper and speak from the heart because all the fears of judgment come up. These fears may stop you altogether or if not, they will suck the joy out of your creative process.
Your creative work will require you to face any people-pleasing habits that you’re not aware of or haven’t addressed. (By the way, we had a great talk with boundaries expert
about this in January, and the video is available in our growing library of author chats in the Inner Story Writing Circle. I highly recommend her book, The Joy of Saying No.Returning to Yourself
Every time we abandon ourselves we have to put in work to regain our own self-trust.
When you turn down your authentic, creative voice in certain situations, watering yourself down to be more palatable for certain people, it’s much harder to get back to full expression when you eventually return to yourself.
The self-consciousness lingers. The self-editing lingers. If we stop abandoning ourselves, that energy can go into showing up everywhere—in our creative work, in our relationships, in our careers—fully expressed with our voices aligned with our truths and not our fears and insecurities.
Committing to a creative practice heightens self-awareness and allows you to experience deeper levels of authenticity and alignment that improve your overall well-being.
In what situations do you dim your light or hide parts of yourself?
These moments can become opportunities to pause and choose differently than you have in the past, each encounter letting you know if you are rooted in self-worth or if you are still willing to abandon yourself to be accepted.
Reframing Rejection
When you face rejection and disappointment, remember that means you were courageous enough to put yourself out there. It means you are venturing out of your comfort zone, pushing against your limits. You are being true to yourself. Isn’t this its own reward?
Reminder to all my sensitive souls: Don’t let rejection swallow you up. Don’t take it personally: the rejection, the indifference, the silence of non-response. Feel it, know it, but don’t hold onto it.
Rejection will question you. It will question your conviction and devotion. It will question your spirit and your ego. It will ask you to remember what your effort is for, what you are seeking, and why. Rejection will even create illusions that convince you that it’s there when it’s not.
When you’re ready to reframe it, rejection reminds you that:
Art is about vulnerability and generosity. It’s a form of love, and sometimes it’s unrequited. The point is to love anyway, to make the art anyway, and keep your heart and mind open to the intimate rewards: the life lessons, the soul growth, the peace of mind that comes with sincerity.
The more you trust your expression, in spite of uncertainty, the more freedom you grant yourself. The stronger you become in self-compassion and commitment to your craft for the sake of itself. So friends, feel the discomfort and let it go.
We need your art. Keep creating.
Creative Coaching and Support
The Inner Story Writing Circle is a guided writing community to support your personal story work & creative development. A monthly subscription for people seeking guidance and strategies for the heart-centered work of writing about their lives. Each month members have access to a variety of virtual sessions to study, share, and celebrate personal storytelling.
There are now two levels available: Core and Mastermind.
If you're seeking personalized support for a creative project or goal, the Inner Story Mastermind Group is a three-month container that includes all the features of the Core offering, and also includes 1:1 guidance and accountability, and small group coaching sessions to support you in navigating strategic and emotional challenges.
Mastermind participants will work closely with me to build a strong emotional foundation for your efforts, a growth mindset for the learning curves, and renewed faith in the creative process. Participants come into the program with different needs: feedback on their writing and process, coaching on the creative mindset, guidance on building a writer platform, help with researching and finding resources, exercises for creative development, accountability that ends procrastination, and more. Together, we demystify processes, make plans, and build momentum.
A creative project can be as general or as specific as you like. Taking your writing more seriously can be a project. Learning how to express your creativity in public can be a project. You might want to build a journaling practice or to use writing to figure out a calling that isn’t clear to you just yet. The only requirement is that you are seeking up close and personalized guidance on your creative development.
You can learn more about the Inner Story Core and Mastermind offerings here. (Mastermind spots are limited.)
Below you will find our upcoming sessions where you can join us in community to show up for your craft, receive guidance, and build courage in a space where vulnerability and authentic expression is the norm.
write with us this month:
Free subscribers, you can pay to drop in for these workshops or consider becoming a paid subscriber:
March 23. The Practice Session #13: Group Journaling w/ guest Delanea Davis // 12 pm - 1:30 pm et (free for paid subscribers or $15 drop-in fee)
March 30. Writing to Heal: An Expressive Writing Workshop // 3 pm - 5 pm et (free for paid subscribers or $40 drop-in fee)
April 5. Free Monthly Writing the Layers Workshop // 7 - 8 pm et (this one is free for all)
Paid subscribers, please RSVP: