There is a virtual baton that is being passed around the blogging community at the moment and where normally I would not be one to jump on any bandwagon (yes, I am a rebel … or shall I say ‘unconventional’ at heart, always have been, always will be) … this felt different.
When you get your hands on the baton you take your turn in telling the world why it is you do what you do. It started off as a ‘Why I Write’ thing but seems to have evolved into a ‘Why I Do What I Do’ thing, which I kinda dig.
I received said baton from a dear client, Wildheart Alum and friend. Tracy Ashworth is a funny and wickedly talented writer and besides the fact that I couldn’t say no to her, I also couldn’t wait to hear what she had to say. Check out her post here.
Let’s jump right in, shall we??
I do what I do because I can’t stand to see someone suffering. My heart breaks for them. I feel their anguish.
I want to bring perspective, hope, joy, levity into their lives somehow.
Pain is inevitable, we all feel pain. Suffering on the other hand seems to last way longer than it needs to. It hits way too close to home for me as I know it on an extremely deep level.
My dad committed suicide when I was just 9. It was shocking and painful and confusing. I experienced sadness and anger and numbness. I felt a version or combination of all of those feelings for almost 20 years. That to me is suffering.
It took that long before I truly tackled it and tended to the root of my pain. I wish I had someone to talk to when I was younger but as an adult is when I began to make some sense of it all and do the work around it.
As a result, I also know healing and strength and extreme joy. I do what I do because I want others to know that on the other side of suffering is freedom and bliss.
This is also why I write.
If someone can read about my experience and find solace, inspiration and the desire to pursue passion and pleasure instead of pain and suffering, then mission accomplished.
But I will confess that my writing is just as much for me as it is for you.
It is my catharsis.
I semi-joke that journaling all of these years was my sanity. It’s actually pretty damn true.
There are times I write that the mere act of putting the story down in words allows the demon wrestling inside to find a way to escape and the lightness I feel afterward is unmistakable.
At 30, I spread my wings and flew from my hometown. I had been working up to that historical moment for nearly a decade. It was only a year or two before that when I declared that I was a writer.
Looking back now, I know without a doubt that opening Pandora’s Box of “I am a Writer” really did unleash my hidden desires and set the wheels in motion for me to slowly but surely go after them.
I have not looked back since.
I write because I have a gift. That one, in addition to Tarot, took me A LONG time to admit to myself.
I always described them as a hobby or something I liked to do, as opposed to something I was extremely good at doing.
Silly society … you had me believing it is self-centered to be proud of your talents and gifts or that they didn’t matter if it was not a ‘useful’ or ‘money-making’ ability.
But here is what I learned which enabled me to become a much happier person:
“It’s your life. No one else is in your shoes but you. At the end of the day, you will be with you until the day you die.”
I don’t want to regret the things I didn’t do in the efforts to please someone else.
In summary:
I read tarot cards because it brings clarity and relief and confirmation for my clients.
I coach because it helps clients untangle the knots in their heart, mind, body and soul and pushes them towards fulfillment and peace.
I write because it inspires, gives permission and offers solace to those readers that need it the most.
Last but not least, I live a life of no regrets because we only have one to live so the why fuck not?
I don’t know about you, but I would rather choose a life of adventure, passion, flow, connection, love, community, freedom …
And I plan to take as many folks along with me as I can in the process!
And now it’s time to twirl the blog-baton in the direction of these 3 Wildhearted women. I met them all in the Wildheart Revolution Group I am a part of where I sling Tarot cards and dish out love coaching on the weekly.
These women are powerful and perfect in every way! I love that they are going after their passions so boldly and can’t wait to hear about why they write/do what they do!
Kate is the soul + body connection coach at Soul Wild Free. She believes we deserve to choose how we experience our bodies, ourselves, and the world, and her mission in life is to create a world filled with love, laughter, adventures and magic for herself and others. She does this by working with women to move beyond self improvement mode and into their soul power places, where they deeply trust and act from their own gifts and instincts and feel completely at home in themselves. You can find her soulful and wild self at http://katemarolt.com.
Kelsey Abbott is a certified confidence coach (CPC and ACC), an Energy Leadership Master Practitioner, a USAT-certified triathlon coach, a triathlete, an instigator of joy, a rabble-rouser, a shit-disturber and all-around freedom-seeker. She believes in awesomeness and helps people toss their invisibility cloaks and show up as their bright shiny selves in every aspect of their lives. You can find her awesome self at http://find-your-awesome.com/.
Kristen is a soul centered marketer, writer + social media strategist. She strongly believes that you need to treat your passion as a business to succeed – whether it’s self-publishing a fiction novel, or coaching with love. She’s all about goals + glitter + Soul Architecting at Her Own Blueprints, life coaching for women who want to draft their life their own dang way, and all about her marketing side at Pen and Muse Press, providing writing and marketing advice to writers and authors at all levels of their craft. You can find her unique and glittery self at www.HerOwnBlueprints.com.
Pop on over to their sites in the next week or two to see what they have to say about why they write/do what they do!!
If you would like me to work my magic with you now that you know why I do what I do, head on over to my Coaching Page or Tarot Page and see for yourself if you want what I got to give 😉
Photo Credit: Flickr/BuzzFarmers
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