Self-Care When Writing Hard Stuff

Apr 15, 2015

I am writing and it is hard. Emotional. Raw. Messy with a capital M.

Add to that the fact that I don’t know what this project will become – if anything – which drives the part of me crazy that loves to be of service, and you have a very tender Jen.

But here is a cool thing: be-of-service Jen had the idea to roll the camera right after a writing session. Writer Jen was okay with it – and to understand what I mean, you need to watch the video.

I talk about:

  • How to separate out the teacher/service part of you from your creative self.
  • What cuts off the emotional flow when in the scary bits.
  • How to create “containers” of safety for yourself. This is imperative!
  • It’s okay to not let anybody see the work and how to know if you are hiding out of fear.


(Click the image above to watch the video or click here to view on YouTube.)

One idea I didn’t share for creating containers of safety – I have two writing friends: one I email the night before I write to tell her how much or for how long I will write the next morning and my second friend I email at the end of the week to say how it went, where did I stay true, where did I get lost. Sometimes I share work with both of them, more often not (too raw right now). But having someone who knows and cares I am writing? So precious.

Thanks for watching and thanks for being someone who dives deep to bring your stories into the world.

Love,

Jen

P.S. In two weeks, I’ll open registration for a small group self-care + writing retreat in upstate New York, October 1st through 5th. A combo of true self-care + containers of richly supported writing time + craft talks. Want to know more? Please sign up here to get on the list for more information.

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