My soul exhales words; my fingertips are lung cells.

A while ago I realized the #1, go-to way my ego would use to sabotage me from doing something.

It would tell me that: This is a really big deal. This is very important.

Therefore, I must put lots of planning and preparation into doing it well. And right now, I don’t have the capacity – time, energy, resources… – to handle it yet. I need to set aside lots of time and space, be in the right place, and be ready to handle it well. Because it’s a really big deal.

Recently I’ve been introduced to the beautiful Zen practice of drinking tea, a very meditative ritual that cultivates mindfulness, presence and appreciation of the macrocosmos. Needless to say I’d love to build this practice into my day, but just can’t seem to find any extra time for it.

After asking the question to the tea master and then discussing it with other tea lovers, I burst into laughter. The way to have a tea practice is exactly how I always advise others to create a writing practice or to incorporate writing into their life.

Imagine being sound asleep in the middle of the night… suddenly electricity shot through your spine, and your body started convulsing wildly, involuntarily, your limbs flailed around uncontrollably. That would probably be quite a terrifying experience for anyone.

Fortunately I was already initiated into kundalini awakening almost four years ago – obviously, without asking for it.

In my online event on How to Have a Writing Practice when You’re Super Busy, I mentioned a quote from Mary Oliver that had stopped me in my track:

“Creative work requires loyalty as complete as the loyalty of water to the force of gravity.”

Thoughts are the building blocks of Reality.

They seem so solid, and yet, have you ever tried to remember a dream after waking up, but it dissolves away like smoke, slipping through your fingers, and whittles down to nothing? Within minutes of waking up, you can’t remember, let alone hold onto what you were hallucinating about.

This is how thoughts are. This is the nature of the substance that they’re made of: ephemeral, slippery, dissolvable like smoke. 

There’s your Soul frequency – how your Soul feels about things, your Soul’s perspective on things, and then there’s your personality frequency – your human self’s perspective, how it feels, views and perceives things.

In any matter of life, whether it’s health, travel, relationship, finances, or business, there are always these 2 frequencies.

In a world where the idea of “having your book done in a week” gets touted around a lot, it’s no surprise that some writers feel an unnecessary sense of pressure and inadequacy.

Two months ago, my client Isabel Carter of Inside Out Dru Yoga released her book “The Wellness Almanac: 366 Days of Well-Being.”

Isabel is a glowing inspiration for those choosing the slow, steady, patient path with writing and sharing their books with the world.

Just now, I got her to share her tips for the writing process with the world, too.

Having been behind the whole process as her writing coach and book doula, I know for certain that this is not a book that was rushed out just so that she could say “I’ve published a book.” There is so much thoughtfulness and care in the process; Isabel wanted to make sure that what she wrote would be truly beneficial to others.

This 44-minute interview is filled with gems and golden nuggets that all those who endeavor to write, complete and publish their books will benefit from.

Writing is not really just about writing. It’s about being alive. It’s about allowing the creative life force energy that creates the Universe to flow through us, and the medium we choose in this case is words.

You will discover that once your creative energy is re-awakened, it has a ripple effect throughout all other areas of your life. Your business, your relationship, your health, your moods, and whatever else in your life. It will open up doors and horizons to places you’ve never dreamed of.

Once we’ve had the experience of immersing ourselves in this energy, it’s as if we re-learn or remember how to speak a language that’s innate and so natural to us.

My partner and I have been watching a lot of movies lately. It’s quite unusual for me, as I’m much more of a book reader than a movie watcher. Anyway, last night we were watching this rom-com, and 35 mins into it, just as I was feeling so restless and frustrated, my partner turned around and said:

“The best thing about this movie is the scenery, isn’t it?”

“I know right! I don’t know why it’s so bad.”

“Do you want to stop?”

“No, let’s keep watching. I want to find out why it’s so bad.”

I know that, in writing as well as in movies, we learn as much from terrible examples as we do from exemplary ones.

So, as frustrating as the movie was, I wanted to get down to the bottom of it and find out what made it that way. Where had the scriptwriter failed me?

Here are the 3 things I am reminded by the movie about how NOT to write and construct a story.

When you do one of these 3 things, you are literally committing an artistic crime against your readers and viewers, whether it’s a book, a movie, or just a fiction story.