Posted on

how to spark transformation

writing
Aloha Dear One, 

If you’re anything like me, you want to evolve beyond your fears and elevate the space around you. Being an active participant in my healing journey to live an extraordinary life of everyday enlightenment requires daily practices. One of these is foundational to wellbeing: keeping a journal.

Noticing the story we tell ourselves, and being courageous enough to write a new ending to this chapter of life allow us to live a good life and be of maximum service to others.

We change in here to ignite out there.

We can spark transformation by cultivating a writing practice. 

Here’s a few highlights from an article called Journal Writing as a Powerful Adjunct to Therapy by Kathleen Adams. M.A., LPC to inspire us all to reimagine our relationship with writing:

10 Reasons Why (journal writing is a powerful adjunct to therapy)

One. Immediacy and Availability. A journal teaches containment, present-centeredness, and self-direction. The journal truly is “life’s companion.”

Two. Catharsis. It’s vitally important to have a place to scream, rant, rave, ventilate and express without fear of judgment or reprisal.

Three. Object Constancy. The relationship with the journal can become a living metaphor for the relationship with self, and from there, the relationship with others. 

Four. Repetition. One of the most important therapeutic tasks for people in pain is to break the silence and tell the story.

Five. Reality Check. It is true that writing it down makes it much more difficult to continue a pattern of denial.

Six. Self-Pacing. The self-pacing aspects of the journal can become a way of regulating and monitoring the life process, of learning balance and choice-making and natural consequences.

Seven. Communication. The journal becomes a forum, a testing ground for ideas, opinions, awarenesses, fears, and insights that are moving from the pre-verbal to the verbal realm.

Eight. Self-Esteem. The very act of journal writing, in which thought is put into tangible expression, is a life-affirming celebration of self: I write, therefore I am. I exist. I have a voice. It can be heard.

Nine. Clarity and Commitment. The process of reflective writing has a cumulative effect; after weeks or months of journaling, one may discover, I no longer have to be a victim.

Ten. A Witness to Healing. The journal is a wonderful witness, it provides an ongoing trail map and trip log of the journey of healing.

There is no right or wrong way to journal. Reply and tell me about your practice now.
Posted on

What made you decide to write and publish your first book?

writing

Where are you from originally and where do you reside now?

Central Florida, Big Island Hawaii

If you currently reside somewhere besides where you were born, what’s the story that lead from there to here?

I escaped the tropic of torpor of Florida and journeyed to the Rocky Mountains and on to the Pacific Northwest, with my soul leading the way. I needed warmth, and Hawaii beckoned me home to myself. I resonate deeply with the notion of Kapu Aloha, sacred compassion, that fills the island consciousness with great healing and presence.

What made you decide to write and publish your first book?

To be of maximum service to God and my fellows. If I didn’t write and publish this memoir, it was going to eat me alive. It is still gnawing at me, but less aggressively.

How would you describe your books to first time readers?

A transformational memoir full of grit and grace and gratitude. The journey into dark neighborhoods of the human mind and shedding light on the shadowy corners of human experience. A poetic heart-felt perspective of the Divine Feminine that human consciousness embraces.

Who do you feel is most likely to connect with the topics you write about?

People who recognize they are addicted to substances or behaviors that are getting in the way of their extraordinary lives. People who are willing to be responsible for living an extraordinary life of resilience, compassion and service. People who want to know there is no challenge too great or no trauma too debilitating to overcome and be of service. Yoginis, Buddhists, holistic practitioners, recovering Americans.

What unexpected or surprising thing did you learn during the process of writing and publishing?

Balboa Press told me mentioning my brothers bought me booze when I was underage or mentioning the Catholic Church could raise issues of libel and they encouraged me to cut it from the manuscript or use a pseudonym.

If you could, what advice would you give to your past self before embarking on this journey?

write it earlier
people thought I was too young to write a memoir in my 40s.
this is untrue.

to read the rest of this interview visit authorvoices.com or simply click this link

Interview with Amy Elizabeth Gordon