[POLL] How do you find yourself again after life changes?

“I don’t know who I am anymore.”

“At one point, I did not have a choice. Now that I do, I can no longer use the past as an excuse to stay where I am.”
Cora H.

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It’s Fri-yay, as they say.

Some of you are screaming and ready to clock out.
For someone else, it is just another day living the same life again.

I will not assume which category you are in,
because you have to admit that to yourself first.

For the last few weeks, I have shifted away from only telling stories.

I want this space to feel more honest for you too.

That is why I ask every Friday what emotion we should talk about.

So what really happens after life changes you, whether you chose the change or you did not?

When I look back at the pattern of events in my own life, I can see where my fear of success began.

Not in the way most people would think.

In third grade, I moved.

Before the move became definite, I had been handpicked for student council and possibly vice president.

The new school did not have student council.
It did not have the youth cheer squad I wanted either.

Imagine how I felt.

It happened again in high school.

Before another move, I had been selected to take all AP classes, with the possibility of not spending as long in college.

Then that disappeared too.

For years, a story lived in the back of my mind:

Every time something good begins, it will be taken away.

I did not know that story was still making decisions for me until I finally saw where it came from.

I cried for my nine-year-old self…
and my sixteen-year-old self.

Maybe life taught you a story too and not to trust “good things.”

• Not to hope too much.

• Not to need anyone.

• Not to speak.

• Not to rest.

At some point, there may have been a fearless, no-excuses, unapologetic you.

Then life happened.

This is merely a suggestion.
Take it or leave it.

Creativity is my answer for almost everything when words are unavailable.

Creativity is not about being good at art.
It is about giving emotion another way to speak.

• The person scribbling on paper may be making language for anxiety.

• The person who cannot hold a note may be making language for love.

• The person pressing uneven keys on a piano may be making language for grief.

Emotion carries energy.

When that energy has nowhere to go, it stays in the body, circles through the mind, and begins shaping the story you live inside.

Creativity gives it somewhere to move.

That movement can take you from confusion to clarity.

That is only step one.

At my retreat, you will explore your own creative language through more than writing.

There are levels of creativity for the person who has never considered themselves an artist.

• You do not have to perform.

• You only have to be willing to listen.

The retreat is application only because protecting the safety of the space matters.

I want you to be able to open up, receive what you came for, and feel respected while doing it.

With you,