Tag: creativity

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Creative Breakthroughs For Writers: News, Workshops, Tips, Advice thoughts on writing

The Artist’s Way, LIVE

Do you ever wonder if your life could be different, or feel like there’s more you still want to experience, but you’re not sure where to start?

Millions of people around the world (including me) have followed Julia Cameron’s ‘spiritual path to higher creativity’ and felt the change. Get the most out of this course by sharing the journey with others, celebrating, laughing, commiserating, and uplifting. As Cameron says in her book, artists rise together.

The Artist’s Way changed my life.

Firstly, let me be clear:

  • You don’t have to be an artist or creative of any kind to do this course.
  • You don’t have to have ANY special talents, training or skills to do this course.

This course is not about:

  • developing skills or talents of any kind.

This course is about:

  • fun, play, joy, experimentation, being brave, following your intuition, listening to yourself, being gentle, connecting with others (if you want to), feeling, honouring, being generous, and deepening self-care.

This course might be right for you if:

  • you’re burnt out from your job, career or just all the things in life
  • you’re working on a creative field but you feel like you’ve lost the joy
  • you’re feeling dispirited because the realities of pursuing your creative passion just keep getting squashed by time, money, and a culture that does not value and prioritise creativity
  • you’re feeling disconnected from people, and feeling lonely or isolated
  • you just don’t know what to do with yourself anymore.

(Ech… if this is you, I’m sorry, lovely. These are big feelings and ones that (I know) are difficult to deal with.)

This course might also be for you if:

  • you’d just like to find more fun and joy in a life that has become weighed down by the daily grind and awful news cycle.
  • you know you need more restorative practice in your life, but you can’t see even a tiny moment in the day or week to find it.

Trust me – this course is for you. Yes, you! 🙂

Have questions? Want to hear me chatter on about the many ways The Artist’s Way changed my life? Email me. hello@josephinemoon.com

Like most things in life, the best way to get the most out of this course is to join a cohort of fellow recovering creatives who will keep you motivated.

Over three months, The Artist’s Way (the bestselling book written by Julia Cameron) will lay out how to recover your creative birthright – even if you think you can’t do anything even remotely “artistic”. If that’s you, you’re not alone. Many people feel that way. But if you’ve ever watched small children (or puppies or kittens!), you’ll have noticed that one of our first instincts in life is to play. And that’s all that creativity is: play. Sadly, though, must of us have (temporarily) forgotten how to do it. That’s why we need The Artist’s Way.

Twenty years ago, I completed The Artist’s Way to recover my innate creativity. I met with a small group of people every Thursday evening and we shared what we’d done during the week – the struggles, the breakthroughs, and the camaraderie of shared experience. We also brought our posters and other various practical activities to ‘show and share’, which was tremendous fun. We wrote our morning pages and we went on artist’s dates. And during that time, I figured out how to be a writer and live as an artistic being.

Since the day I got a book contract, I’ve been telling anyone and everyone about The Artist’s Way. This is the book that made me a writer. Yet, it’s not a book about writing, it’s a book about creativity and right to have it, use it and enjoy it, whatever your passion or special interest might be, and whether or not it sells, is financially successful, or has an ‘important’ outcome of any kind.

Since then, I have opened the book to revise a section of The Artist’s Way every year that I’ve been writing professionally. It’s just that good.

Finally, I know it’s time for me to go back and do The Artist’s Way again and this time I want to share it with you too.

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Exclusive, Personalised Writing Retreat

Fellow writers, for the first time, I’m offering 2-3 places for you to receive personalised attention on your manuscript and enjoy a three-night writing retreat in the quaint, peaceful town of Cooran on the Sunshine Coast, Qld.

(If this is the first time you’ve been to my site, you can find out about me here.)

Dates: Thursday 23 November to Sunday 26th November, 2023

What: Novels, children’s, memoirs and other non-fiction are all welcome to apply.

Cosy crime in the style of Phryne Fisher, Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder or The Maid is welcome.

“Thank you so, very, much  – it was lovely meeting you and thank you for being so gentle and positive with your feedback. I was incredibly trepidatious, and knowing that there is some merit in my attempt at  long-form… Well I don’t think I can put into words just how much this means to me!”

A Full Manuscript appraisal client

What’s included?

  • A full manuscript appraisal (or up to 100,000 words). You will get your feedback prior to the retreat so that you have time to think about it before you get to retreat.
  • Three nights of accommodation (own room and queen sized bed for each participant), full kitchen facilities and two bathrooms (shared). The property has WiFi, fireplace, ceiling fans, all linen, fridge, microwave, dishwasher, stovetop, coffee and coffee maker.
  • Drinks and grazing platters on the first night of arrival. (Dietary requests are important, valued and lovingly provided.)
  • Airport transfers, if necessary. We can also help you get to the store for food supplies if needed.
  • Coffee… I will make sure there is plenty of coffee! Or tea or hot chocolate depending on your preference. Chocolate… you cannot write without it! I’ll make sure you have it.
  • Time with me for an individual consult/chat/brainstorm about the way forward for your manuscript, group sessions and facilitated writing/group time.
  • Special gifts from me to you.

Your notes have been brilliant, thanks again.
 
I look forward to being in your group and wonderful community.

A first three chapters client

Food

It’s a short drive to shops and cafes in Cooran and Pomona. Cooran has a really cute little general store, which might easily have enough to help you out over the three days, including artisanal bread, gluten free treats, meat, fruit, veg, pasta, Kenilworth cheese and more. If you don’t have a car, let me know and we’ll sort out a bit of shopping for you on the way in.

You’ll also find Hinterland restaurant and bar in Cooran.

Pomona Hotel and Pomona Distilling Co are in Pomona, as well as several cafes and an IGA.

Retreat Structure

Rest assured, you are in control of your time. Everything is optional. If you decide you want to hibernate for three days, that’s fine! Join in, or fly solo. This retreat is yours!

Thursday 23rd November. Travel to Cooran. Check in from 2pm. Settle in with drinks and grazing platters for dinner as we get to know each other and chat books and writing. (Check with me in if you need an airport transfer.)

Friday 24th November. Manuscript focus. Group chat plus individual brainstorming/consult/chats with me about your development plan for your manuscript.

Saturday 25th November. Free time in the morning. Writing sprints and live readings in the afternoon.

Sunday 26th November. Check out by 10am and back to the everyday world. (Check with me in if you need an airport transfer… I’ll do my best to help!)

Your place on retreat includes:

  • your opportunity to send me your whole manuscript (or at least 50% of it), whereupon I will read every single word of it and make loads of scrawly notes along the way (which I will then type up neatly for you)
  • my reading, preparing and reporting time
  • an emailed copy of my notes, feedback and suggestions
  • notes will include reflections on a variety of observations, such as character, story arc, plot, writing style, sub-plots, themes, word lengths, balance of chapters, points of view, tense, contradictions, logic issues, and any potential problems I might spot in regards to sensitive content, global trends or legalities**
  • a mountain of useful information to help you take the next right steps
  • complimentary digital assets and working resources, delivered to your inbox
  • lifetime membership* to my private coaching/mentoring/assessment email list, with exclusive content just for this group
  • FREE access to my e-course on how to find the time to write
  • lifetime invitation* to a quarterly Zoom call for all my students, where you can ask me anything, and also (if you want to) connect with other writers who might be writing similar stories to you. (Writing buddies are the best! You might find a new one here.) 
  • GST, processing fees and printing costs

* “lifetime membership” and “lifetime invitation” means for the duration of the time that I am offering these services… which is hopefully many years
**Please note that a manuscript assessment does not include editing services. Editing is an entirely different process. This means, I do not fix your words, sentences, paragraphs, typos, spelling, punctuation or grammar. (Having said that, it is highly likely I will pull out sections of text to demonstrate how you could improve your writing style and fluency.)

Thank you so much for yesterday and for sending these notes. Your suggestions and line notes are amazing. So much to think about and go through. I am especially impressed since I had the first fifty pages looked at by [an organisation] and your suggestions resonate so much better with me… I have a lot of work to do but am very grateful for your feedback.

First 50 pages client

Who is This For?

This retreat is for a writer who has a completed manuscript (at least a full first draft) and who is seeking feedback and is committed to embarking on another draft of development.

This retreat is for a writer:

  • who understands that drafting is a process that can go on for many drafts … and that it is absolutely normal (and necessary) to do so.
  • who realises that a book won’t (and shouldn’t) go to print before, likely, at least six rounds of drafting/editing has occurred (through the various levels of structural editing, copy editing and proofreading).
  • who understands that it is normal to sometimes have to delete an entire character (or family) from an early draft, or to have to strip and rewrite 10,000 words, or to go back and build in more subplot or take some out to let the rest breathe.
  • who sees feedback and drafting as the exciting bit because you know it’s bringing your book closer to reaching the outside world (even if it is daunting… that’s what coffee and chocolate are for!).

What: Novels, children’s, memoirs and other non-fiction are all welcome to apply.

Cosy crime in the style of Phryne Fisher, Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder or The Maid is welcome.

Your Investment

$3,300 (all inclusive, from manuscript assessment to farewell at checkout/the airport).

If you and your project sounds like something I believe I can add value to, I will send you a booking sheet ASAP so we can get the ball(point pen) rolling.

Apply for a Place on Retreat

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Thank you for your response. ✨

Want More? Why Not Extend Your Stay

Cooran is part of the Noosa hinterland. You will be perfectly placed to extend your stay on either side of retreat. The famous Eumundi Markets are on Saturdays and Wednesdays. Glorious Main Beach at Noosa Heads is a mere 40-minute drive from Cooran.

Lastly… Please Note these Physical Access Specifics

This is a rural property with uneven terrain surrounding the house. There are 10 steps that lead to the house entry. There is no disabled access in this home. I apologise for, well, the world, really… that everything is not created with disability access requirements in mind, especially since 1 in 5 people in Australia has a disability, and that disability is a normal variation of human beings. I will always try to find ways to work around the world’s shortcomings if possible. I hope this will change for future events.

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Bribie Island Weekend Writing Retreat

This course is HOT!!

By popular demand… this is the SECOND workshop (the first one sold out!)

Writing retreats are, hands down, one of the most important things you can do as a writer. Having just come back from my twice-yearly writing retreat week, I am bubbling with enthusiasm to share the joy. Why not join me for a weekend of writing at Bribie Island (Qld) this October to find the time and space to go deeper.

Are you writing a novel, memoir, short story or lived experience self-help book?

You’re invited to join a small group of fellow word lovers to spend quality time diving deeper into your project.

Writing retreats take us physically out of our everyday, which translates nicely to transporting our minds to different places too. Writers can and will write under any circumstances, if they are so determined. Yet, in my considerable experience of writing retreats, absolutely nothing comes close to the value of dedicated writing time and (possibly more importantly) mental space for our creative brains to expand and grow.

I’ve balanced this retreat with enough structure to give you guidance but also enough free time for you to follow your heart.

Retreat Structure

  • Our home base will be in the Bribie Island Library on Saturday and Sunday, from 9am to 2pm.
  • We will spend time talking about our projects and brainstorming our way through problem areas. We’ll practise different ways to access the deeper parts of our characters and their backstories.
  • We’ll break between 11am and 12pm for coffee and lunch. You can wander solo or join with others to continue chatting over food.
  • We’ll leave the library at 2pm, at which point, you decide how to best continue your retreat. You might head for coffee and cake with fellow writers and continue book chat, wander the extensive walking path along the foreshore and get some sea air to allow your subconscious some processing time before heading back to your accommodation to write some more, or head out again for dinner. It’s your call.
  • The theme of this weekend is Diving Deeper, with the focus on adding depth and value to our words rather than racing to add words to our total word count. (Don’t worry, though, we’ll also do that too.)

The maximum number of spaces for this weekend is 7.

Your Investment: $225pp.

(Accommodation is not included. See below for suggestions.)

Yes, Please! I’m in!

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Attending?(required)

The Area

This lovely library is situated on the foreshore of Pumicestone passage (Bongaree) and is an easy, flat, few minutes walk to cafes, coffee, ice cream, and various shops. I recently ate at Annie Lane cafe every day while on retreat and enjoyed coffee and incredible cakes from Scoopy’s, just over the road. I also enjoyed the foreshore walk, which has a wealth of historical photos, information and quotes to inspire a dozen new stories or characters that you might even weave into your own project.

Accommodation

Bribie Island has a wide range of accomodation options available so you are sure to find something to suit your needs.

Bongaree Caravan and Cabins has simple but affordable options that can suit up to 4 people art once, in some cases. They are also just a stone’s throw from the library!

Big4 also has luxury cabins available.

And of course there are the usual online accommodation searches to find plenty of other options (e.g. AirBnB, Wotif, Booking)

I look forward to sharing a weekend of writing with you soon!

Jo

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23 Bookish Things to Do: Free Gift for You

Subscribers to my LOVE LETTERS are getting a free thing I made (with doodling illustrations, too… it’s my new thing… I’m crediting my new ADHD medication).

Anyway…. I’ve made a guide of 23 things you can do after closing the book to keep the love going. Perfect if you have a book hangover and you just aren’t ready to let the story go.

Sign up now to make sure you get yours! Hurry! I’ll be sending it out soon!

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The Bees Behind the Book

 

Autan

‘You could come and see my bees if you like. I’d be happy to show you around the hives.’

The beekeeper was standing at my local market stall, his pyramids of honey for sale around him. We’d been talking for about a minute and a half when he made his offer, one I think he actually regretted the moment it came out of his mouth. But all I could think was it’s a sign!

When I begin research on a book, I look for signs. Signs that I’m going the right way. Signs that the universe/muse/creative spirit (whatever you like to call it) is onboard with what I’m doing and will support the direction my work is going.

I’d previously been researching coffee for my third foodie fiction novel, but although I was really intellectually interested in the history of coffee, particularly, I knew I didn’t have enough fire in the belly to sustain it over the course of a couple of years to get a whole novel out. So I let it go and started looking for something else, and everywhere I went I saw bees. I started reading about them in books and online and watching loads of YouTube videos on bee handling. And then I met the beekeeper and he offered to take me to his hives, which was so random that I knew I was definitely on the right path.

I took the beekeeper’s number but later thought, hmm, as nice as that offer was, maybe I shouldn’t actually be heading out into the bush with a complete stranger!

But the universe wasn’t done with me yet. I continued my research and went to the Ginger Factory’s Super Bee Show here on the Sunshine Coast. Gayle Currie, head beekeeper, conducted the show and her knowledge and enthusiasm was addictive. We got talking over a number of weeks and then she too invited me to see her bees.

What I learned while researching and writing this book is that there is no ‘one’ way to handle and keep bees. Beekeepers all do things differently (much like horse people or dog people do, I suppose). And there’s a huge range of humane, ethical and holistic ways to do this (or not). Something I loved so much about Gayle was her very obvious and real love for her bees, her exceptional reverence and respect for them, and her very ‘feminine’ way of handling them. Those values and details carried through to Maria, my main character, who treats her bees as family.

Until I started researching bees, I didn’t even realise that we had an array of native bees in Australia. I always thought bees were great, but I had no idea just how outstanding they are and how much humans depend on them and how much we need to be urgently acting to save them right now. I do hope my book inspires others to love bees, just as I fell in love with them when researching.

___________________

This post is currently featured as a guest post on ‘Love That Book’, a blog by Melissa Sargent.

Pic credit “Autan” from Flickr.

 

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Filling the Well in 2016

images-8
Hungry unicorn

To keep myself accountable to my unicorn for providing her with input from which to draw inspiration for new work, this year, I am keeping a list of everything I’m feeding her. She’s a hungry magical being–an insatiable appetite for creativity–and does tend to get stroppy if I neglect her.

I’m excited about what’s on there already, and looking forward to seeing this grow. If you have any awesome events you know of in the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane or southeast Queensland area, I’m keen to hear them. 🙂

So far, I have:

Books Read (completed, or at least half way, not including the hundreds I read to my toddler). Don’t be alarmed by the brevity of this list. As I’ve said many times, I’m a very slow reader.

  • Hester & Harriet, by Hilary Spiers
  • Fall of the Beasts (Spirit Animals), Immortal Guardians, by Eliot Schaefer
  • Diamond Spirit, by Karen Wood

Theatre Productions/Music

  • Australia Day (Noosa Arts Theatre), February
  • 2016 Season of One Act Plays (BATS, Buderim), April
  • Educating Rita (The Events Centre), April

Speakers

  • Elizabeth Gilbert, February

Workshops/Courses

  • Cheesemaking, Brisbane, March

Travel (research, inspiration)

  • Melbourne, April
  • Writing Retreat, June
  • Burdekin Writers Festival, July
  • Bundaberg Writers Festival, October
  • Tuscany, September

Movies

  • Under the Tuscan Sun
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Creative Tuesdays

Creative Tuesdays and Feeding My Unicorn

Wait, did I just say “feeding my unicorn”? Yep. It’s a thing.

And now, too, is my self-appointed weekly exercise I’ve called Creative Tuesdays. In short, I have challenged myself to crete something new, something I’ve never done before, once a week on a Tuesday. Why Tuesday? Simply because it fits in with my childcare and writing schedule.

One of the fundamental premises of The Artist’s Way is taking yourself on a weekly artist’s date. But if you’ve got tiny people in your life (babies and toddlers, that is, not fairies, though I say yay for you if you have fairies), it’s really difficult to get out of the house on schedule. But as I am a creative being in a creative job, I need to feed my unicorn. And the in-home Creative Tuesday is the only way I feel I can do that right now.

But do it I must! Because I don’t want to drain the well or there’ll be nothing left to creative yummy books to read. And I love that and want to keep doing that.

So, here are my first two efforts for Creative Tuesdays.

Week 2: Relish! The kitchen was a freaking disaster but I declare the relish a triumph. Yummo!
Week 2: Relish! The kitchen was a freaking disaster but I declare the relish a triumph. Yummo!

Week 1: Christmas ornaments made from recycled wood and wire from our farm
Week 1: Christmas ornaments made from recycled wood and wire from our farm

Want to join me? I’d love to hear from you 🙂

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What if following your dreams causes pain?

This was an excellent question posed by a reader of my Dream time article in Sunday Life magazine last weekend.

images-3Opal from Twitter asked said, “I know someone who is so angry they can’t get £ for their passion. Bankrupt over it & dragged his kids all over the country chasing the dream for 20 years. When dreams hurt, I say stop!”

This comment had me thinking for a long time and I decided there was so much in it that I would need to write a whole post on it to reply.

So firstly, I have to say that of course I don’t know anything about the specifics of the person Opal is talking about so I am not making any comment there. And I also have to say, straight up, that if you have small children then your first priority, always, is their welfare, no arguments about it. So if your actions are hurting your children then yes, stop right now.

However, I feel there is always a way to nurture your dreams. Okay, you might not be able to pack up and head to New York or to live in an ashram. But you still have choices. And sometimes, especially when we have human responsibilities (like parenting, taking care of elderly parents and, in my case, a lifelong commitment to more than a dozen animals) that might slow the pace of our actions, but you can still chip away at your dreams one tiny drop in the vast ocean at a time.

I’d also like to suggest that this is closely related to another comment from a reader, this time from Owla on Twitter who asked, “Can we all earn from our passion thou? What about the crazy X factor ppl who want to be popstars?”

Great question. Obviously not every contestant on a talent show is going to win. This doesn’t mean they’re not meant to have a career in music or as a singer. Those careers take many forms and those dreams evolve over the years as we get to know ourselves. Putting yourself out there in a forum like that can be a really powerful life changing experience for many people, despite the fact that they may not make it past the first round. And that could even be the fact that they realise that particular career path is not for them. They may go home with an epiphany of another road to take, such as music for children, composing, leading a church choir, whatever.

I think the real key to all of this is to look for signs that you’re on the right path. If I look back over the twelve years I was writing seriously, and NOT making any money from my work, there were STILL signs that I was on the right path. Little moments here and there, little cracks in the chaos that shone through and said, there! Keep going! For me, if I am constantly banging my head on a wall until it bleeds and there are NO signs that the universe is supporting those attempts, then I need to bail on that pathway. (Again, it doesn’t mean the whole idea is wrong for me, just that chosen expression.)

A very simple example: When I start a new book, I ‘listen’ for the story that wants to be told. And I follow it for a while with research. And while I’m following that trail, I wait for signs that is the way to go. With my third foodie fiction novel (following the first book centred around tea and the second around chocolate), I was very interested in coffee for quite a while and did a lot of research. I was intellectually fascinated about the world trade and export and growing of coffee, the history of it in Australia, and all the cultural associations. But I had no fire for it. I didn’t have the passion in my belly that I would need to sustain it for years.

So I dropped it. Just like that. It doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be writing another novel. It means that story wasn’t the right one at that time.

Then I found my next subject and I began to see signs everywhere. I saw movies, pictures, events. I met a local primary producer who invited me (quite spontaneously, since we’d only been talking for a few minutes) to go to his place to see what he did. I looked on ebay for something totally unrelated and the first image that popped up with to do with my book. And I felt the fire–the heat in my belly that would sustain this book for its lifetime.

Opal and Owla, I hope some of this rambling is coming together for you as to my response to your excellent comments. We need to be wise to our journeys, to know the difference between struggle and pain, to watch for guidance to the next step forward that supports us and our loved ones.

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Snoopy Dancing: Why I Write

The Tea Chest is just days away from hitting the bookshelves. So today, I’d like to stop and look at what’s brought me to this moment. I’d like to talk about joy.

joy-235x300You see, joy is the reason I write. At a fundamental level, I am happiest when I write and I am a cranky banshee bear when I don’t. (Just ask my husband–I’m tremendous fun to be around when I’ve got writers block.) Writing makes me happy. But here’s the thing. My writing can make the person who reads it happy too. Isn’t that neat? What a great job!

I feel incredibly blessed to have had my book published after spending twelve years writing ten books (five fiction and five non-fiction), with The Tea Chest being the lucky latest. There were some pretty rough patches in that time, with so many heartbreaking near misses. There was at least one time that I came a bunny’s whisker to giving up writing. Like, for good. But as soon as I read a new great story, I felt joy, I felt inspired, I felt renewed, and back to the keyboard I went.

The world’s a tough place out there. Have you noticed? I feel like every day, with more and more technology brining the outside world into our inner world at a rapid-fire rate (often, and unfortunately, without our deliberate intention), we have to work harder and harder to say, hang on a minute, there’s joy out there too. On a bigger level, I want to shout out to the world that I choose something different. I choose kindness, I choose joy, I choose nurturing.

Stories bring us hope, new beginnings and new endings, alternative ways of working through problems, creative answers and a chance to imagine a new life. They let us take risks in our heart and mind, to test them out, before we have to take them in real life. This is why I write. And what an honour it is to be given at the vehicle of a publishing contract, to be able to do that.

So as I work my way through the publication and publicity of my first book, each new step a huge learning adventure, I will ground that intention into everything I do and every book I write from here on. And, yeah, when I see The Tea Chest on the shelves for the first time, I’ll definitely be breaking out a little Snoopy dance.

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Elizabeth Gilbert: “Most in Show”

I just smiled and smiled when I read this today. The ever-inspirational, Elizabeth Gilbert, posted this on her Facebook site and I, like others in her comment thread, just had to share it on my blog. There’s not much I can say to add to this, other than, yeah, sister, right on. (And as an author who’d written ten manuscripts before cracking a publishing contract, I can attest to the value of ‘most in show’.) Enjoy 🙂

1536741_573424569406329_240531612_nI found this photo the other day at my mom’s house, and I burst out laughing.

This is me in 1980, ten years old, showing off everything I had made that year for our local 4-H fair. (That’s an agricultural fair, for those of you who aren’t so familiar with 4-H.)

I had a dream that year. I wanted to win BEST IN SHOW in the Home Goods department. I’d been coveting that giant purple ribbon for years, and wanted to make it mine.

My plan was to enter as many items as I could in every single category (cooking, canning, baking, gardening, sewing, industrial arts) in the hopes that at least one thing would be BEST.

I worked all summer at this. I drove my mother crazy. I cooked, I canned, I baked, I picked (and pickled) beans and beets and cucumbers, I made a teddy bear (!), I built a coat-hanger, I made a automobile first aid kit, I did needlepoint, I was out of control. (By the way — thanks, mom. Because of course I didn’t really know how to do any of this, so she spent the summer helping me as I hijacked her kitchen, her sewing machine, her craft table, her garden…)

After all that, I didn’t win BEST IN SHOW. Another kid did, for a dessert that he had made. I don’t even want to talk about it. I’m sure he was a very nice kid and the desert was probably fine — but seriously, it killed me. I was a sobbing mess.

But then some sympathetic judge must have put it together and noticed that — out of the 300 exhibitions in the Home Show that year — about 175 of them had been made by the same girl. Somebody must have been like, “Oh my god, that poor pathetic child.” Because later in the day, I was given a special award — a giant ribbon upon which some kind soul had written: “MOST IN SHOW”.

Which soothed my sad heart and made me very proud, though today in makes me laugh my ass off because: MOST IN SHOW? That it the best turn of phrase ever. “You, little girl, are not the best at any of this stuff…or even the second best…or the third best…but, by god, you are the MOST.”

But you know what? I’ve always been MOST IN SHOW. I wasn’t the best writing student in any class I ever took, but I was the MOST — I was the one who tried hardest. I think I finally got published because I was MOST IN SHOW — because I spent years writing and writing and writing and writing and sending out those stories to publishers and getting rejected and rejected and rejected, and sending out more and more and more stories until I finally wore them down and they published one at last.

I’m not the best at anything, you guys. Not the smartest, not the most talented, not the prettiest, not the strongest, not the best traveler, not the best journalist, not the best public speaker, not the best with foreign languages, not the best novelist, not the wisest, not the best meditator, not the best yogi, not the anything-est. But by god, I show up with a truckload of effort and participation and preparation, and I give to life the absolute MOST I’ve got. In every category I can.

The uniquely talented guy with the fancier dessert still usually wins the big prize, but you know what? I still wear them down (the great judges of life, that is) and they still have make up special ribbons for me all the time.

Because I just won’t go away.

Persistence forever!

MOST LOVE,

LG

Elizabeth Gilbert will be in Brisbane on 5 March at the Brisbane Powerhouse, talking about creativity and inspiration. You can find more information from the Brisbane Writers Festival program.