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Wholehearted praise – what people are saying

July 7, 2021

Reader praise for Wholehearted: Self-leadership for women in transition and the Wholehearted Companion Workbook published on 6 September 2021 by the kind press. Available in paperback and ebook worldwide now.


What people are saying about Wholehearted

Sage Cohen

Navigating transition can be challenging. It can also be an opportunity to embrace creativity, calling, and authenticity. Terri Connellan’s Wholehearted shows us how. This panoramic journey of inquiry and insight invites readers into the discipline of self-leadership and guides us in reclaiming our passion and purpose. Read this book and come home to your wholehearted self. You will be initiated into sacred pathways and practices that help you uncover and trust your true shine.

Sage Cohen, author of Writing the Life Poetic and Fierce on the Page, writing catalyst, strategic storyteller


Pamela Slim

We need more guides like Terri who have traveled the path of transformation. She knows the exact thing to say, and the steps to suggest, for women who are tired of settling for a half-lived life. 

Pamela Slim, author, Body of Work and The Widest Net



Every once in awhile the right book lands in our hands at the perfect moment, offering a much-needed lantern to illuminate our path in dark times. This is that book. Beautifully written, insightful, and wise, Wholehearted is a gentle yet empowering guide for women navigating major transitions in their lives, work, and in the world around them.

Victoria Smith, teacher, mentor, artist—themojolab.com


Angelina Bennet

So many of us go through life with our eyes closed, running the program, doing what we think life expects of us. Wholehearted shows us how to get in touch with our own unique identity and craft a life that feeds our souls. Terri’s open and honest personal accounts, combined with her expert knowledge of personality theory and tarot, make Wholehearted engaging and insightful. Get ready to open your eyes and see what you discover!

Dr Angelina Bennet, Chartered Occupational Psychologist and Director of I Potential Ltd


Meredith Fuller

Pioneering in her capacity to conceptualise self-leadership, Terri Connellan provides a cogent way forward for women of all ages and life stages. In a time when many feel lost or dis-spirited, this book can change lives. Integrating ancient and new knowledge, she accompanies the reader with processes, advice and ideas to ensure self-efficacy in our complex world.

Meredith Fuller, psychologist and author


Blending tarot, memoir and self-leadership tools and techniques, Terri Connellan’s Wholehearted is a soul-centred manual for women in any stage of life transition looking to fuse the lessons of the past with a more fulfilling, creative and connected future.​

Louisa Deasey, author of Love + Other U-Turns and A Letter From Paris


Wholehearted is a comprehensive, woman-centric guide to owning your power and becoming the leader you’ve been waiting for. A beautiful blend of personal experience and intensive research to gently guide you in your journey towards self-leadership. Inspiring, motivating and illuminating. A thought-provoking, interactive guide to becoming your best self.

Pamela Cook, author, co-host Writes4Women podcast


Katherine Bell

Reading and working through Wholehearted is like spending time with a kind and generous companion who takes your hand and says, “I’ve walked this path, let me help you find your way”. For those who have temporarily lost heart it is an essential resource, instilling courage and hope in navigating a journey towards wholehearted and creative expression in our work. Anyone interested in leadership will also find a treasure trove of guideposts, as here is a wise woman who understands that leadership must essentially start with the self.

Katherine Bell, Higher Education administrator and leadership scholar


Beth Cregan

Wholehearted is an inspiring and generous story of Terri’s Connellan’s desire to create a purposeful, meaningful life. This book sets you on a quest to claim your ‘onlyness’—the unique blend of style, skills and strengths that only you can offer the world. Like breadcrumbs scattered along a forest path, Terri shares the wealth of resources and practical skills she used to find her way back home. But this isn’t a book you read from the sidelines. Filled with reflective exercises, journaling prompts and mini assignments, you now have a roadmap for rethinking your life and navigating the journey that awaits you.

Beth Cregan, teacher, storyteller, writer and founder of Write Away With Me


Lynn Hanford-Day

Terri Connellan inspires me with her story of turning her unlived life and dreams into the reality of living a wholehearted life. This is a book for lovers of psychology, synchronicity, and intuition. Terri offers soulful and practical reflections on her major life transition, sharing her vulnerability and the passions that sustained her while she came to terms with significant losses. I loved the combination of personal life story woven with learning prompts and wisdom for the reader to reflect on and to apply in their own lives.

Lynn Hanford-Day, artist and coach


Clare Ayers

Wholehearted is a very well-written book dealing with an issue that every one of us experiences multiple times throughout our lives – transition! What makes Terri’s book stand out for me is that she is taking us on a journey with her. Not only does Wholehearted teach good wisdom and insights, it is Terri’s own personal story and journey that is incredibly powerful and impacting. It adds so much more integrity and depth to this subject. I like how she deals with transition from a holistic perspective and also a personality perspective. While I have differing spiritual beliefs and practises to Terri, I was able to reframe her practises and learnings into my own framework. Then having the workbook alongside takes it to another level of not only being head knowledge but also being life changing. Thank you, Terri, for your gift to the world. 

Clare Ayers, Leadership and Personal Development Coach, founder of People Matters ‘unleashing your full potential’


Kirsten Pilz

Wholehearted is a unique book, part memoir, part practical resource, that should be on the nightstand of anyone seeking to travel the difficult path of transitioning into a more purposeful, self-determined and creative life. It takes enormous courage and trust in yourself to stray from the conventional path towards embracing self-leadership. Let Terri be your guide to becoming the captain of your own ship. She has traveled the path and she has collected a wide range of strategies and tools—from tarot cards, to journaling and psychological frameworks of personality types—that she shares in her book and accompanying workbook.

Kerstin Pilz, Phd, writer and coach at writeyourjourney.com


Wholehearted: Self-leadership for women in transition and the Wholehearted Companion Workbook are published by the kind press. Get your copy now to inspire your transition into what you desire!


Thank you to all advance readers for taking the time to read Wholehearted and providing such valuable and heartfelt feedback.

Wholehearted Book Club Notes

September 3, 2021

Discuss Wholehearted at your local book club and work with these Book Club notes below. You can also download them as a pdf here:

You can also get your free copy of Chapter 1 of Wholehearted here: quietwriting.net/wholehearted-chapter-1

Invite Terri to speak with your book club or association, including virtually. Just contact me.

A reader’s introduction to Wholehearted

Wholehearted: Self-leadership for women in transition is a personal recount of one woman’s journey about shifting from being a long-term government employee towards enjoying a richer, more self-directed and creative life as an inspirational life coach. It comes together as a wise mix of memoir, practical strategies and positive self-leadership resources for women going through major change in their lives.

A Wholehearted Companion Workbook published concurrently is for those who want to go deeper with applying the self-leadership resources practically in their own lives.

Terri Connellan

Photo credit: Lauren Abi-Hanna

Bio:

Terri Connellan is a certified life coach, writer and accredited psychological type practitioner who specialises in creativity, personality and self-leadership especially for women in transition to a life with deeper purpose. Terri works globally through her creative business, Quiet Writing and Wholehearted is her first book, published by The Kind Press.

Book links:

Wholehearted: https://www.quietwriting.com/wholehearted-book/

Wholehearted Companion Workbook: https://www.quietwriting.com/wholehearted-companion-workbook/

Praise for Wholehearted: Self-leadership for women in transition

________

We need more guides like Terri who have traveled the path of transformation. She knows the exact thing to say, and the steps to suggest, for women who are tired of settling for a half-lived life. 

Pamela Slim, author, Body of Work and The Widest Net

So many of us go through life with our eyes closed, running the program, doing what we think life expects of us. Wholehearted shows us how to get in touch with our own unique identity and craft a life that feeds our souls. Terri’s open and honest personal accounts, combined with her expert knowledge of personality theory and tarot, make Wholehearted engaging and insightful. Get ready to open your eyes and see what you discover!

Dr Angelina Bennet, Chartered Occupational Psychologist and Director of I Potential Ltd

Blending tarot, memoir and self-leadership tools and techniques, Terri Connellan’s Wholehearted is a soul-centred manual for women in any stage of life transition looking to fuse the lessons of the past with a more fulfilling, creative and connected future.​

Louisa Deasey, author of Love + Other U-Turns and A Letter From Paris

Further Advance reader praise can be found HERE.

Essential themes and questions for discussion

________

TRANSITION + TURNING POINTS

Terri shares her experiences of moving into a time of transition and knowing when there is no turning back. This is often accompanied by a turning point moment when it becomes very clear that change is happening. Change is external and transition is the internal journey of how we navigate and make our way in terms of mindset and practices. There is often a middle ground of transition which can feel uncertain and chaotic, but where new opportunities and creativity can flourish.

  1. How does the framing of change as external and transition as internal help response to changing environments?
  2. Where have you experienced a time of transition in your life (it might be now)?
  3. What were the turning points when you knew that change was happening? How did that feel?
  4. What footholds and practices helped you begin to move through?
  5. Did you experience that uncertain, chaotic middle ground? How did that feel?
  6. How did you begin to navigate this changing time inwardly?

SELF-LEADERSHIP

Self-leadership means leading ourselves first and takes first principles and ideas from leadership so we can feel comfortable in our skin and with how we choose to live. It involves building conscious self-awareness, self-knowledge, self-direction and making choices. It means stretching ourselves, dealing with self-sabotaging and being active rather than passive in our lives.

  1. How does self-leadership relate to leadership?
  2. How might concepts of self-leadership apply in your life?
  3. What does it mean to lead ourselves first in practical terms?

IDENTIFYING YOUR PASSIONS

A starting point in times of change can be reconnecting with our passions and what makes us unique. These can often get left by the wayside as women as we put work and/or others first in our lives. Connecting with our passions and what we value and love to do helps us get clearer on who we are and what matters.

  1. Why is it important to get back to our passions at times of transition?
  2. What are your key passions and enduring loves over time? (Think: how you want to spend your time, where you feel most alive, what you want to learn more about, what calls you.)
  3. How do they connect and blend in special ways to make you unique?
  4. How can you reconnect with and make time for your passions?

PERSONALITY + PREFERENCES, YOUR NATURAL GIFTS

Knowing how we are wired, our natural preferences and gifts and our personal style can help us navigate change with self-knowledge. Building this knowledge more consciously can be a valuable support in times of transition especially when that shift is over an extended period.

  1. Why is knowing our strengths and how we naturally operate so important to tap into when making change?
  2. What do you know about your strengths and preferences now?
  3. What are your natural gifts?
  4. How would you describe your personal style in two words?
  5. What else would you like to know and learn to help you manage change and make stronger transitions internally?

BODY OF WORK OVER TIME

Body of work is a useful concept for taking the longer view in our lives. It offers us the perspective of patterns, themes and skills in our life’s work and to see how they can be combined and developed in new ways. Terri shares the key themes in her body of work (p74). Moving through times of transition, looking at our body of work helps us identify the key threads that tie our story together.

  1. Why is body of work a helpful perspective in times of transition?
  2. What are the key ingredients and themes of your body of work over time?
  3. How can they help you navigate a new path with strength and insight?
  4. Think of key life transitions like: leaving paid employment, becoming a parent, retirement, becoming self-employed, starting a new job, becoming a carer. How can your body of work and skills learnt over time support you as you move into new phases of life?

WHOLEHEARTED SELF-LEADERSHIP SKILLS

In Chapter 6, Terri shares 15 wholehearted self-leadership skills that emerged as central supports in her transition to a new, more fulfilling life in line with her desires.

  1. How did the 15 wholehearted self-leadership skills emerge as a focus?
  2. Which of the 15 wholehearted self-leadership skills speaks to you most now?
  3. Why is that – what support do you think it might give?
  4. How might you build this skill more consciously into your life now?
  5. When will you start?

VALUING + BUILDING INFLUENCES + CONNECTIONS

Terri explores the importance of valuing our influences and consciously building our connections in new ways in times of transition including online.

  1. Why is it valuable to review our influences and connections in times of change?
  2. What influences and role models are important in your life?
  3. How might you build connections in new ways now including online?

WORKING WITH THE SHADOW SIDE

Terri highlights various ways we can explore the more shadowy sides of life as part of our journey in Chapter 8. The shadow sides explored include: shadow careers, opposites in our personality, learning from grief and other challenging times, envy, working with polarities and choosing to feel whole or less than whole.

  1. Why is it just as important to look at the shadow side of life as it is the lighter and positive sides?
  2. What have you learnt from the shadow side of life experiences?
  3. How did they help you to become more integrated and whole?
  4. Which of these shadow side elements jumped out to you as an area to explore further?

GUIDES FOR THE WHOLEHEARTED PATH

Two key guides for wholehearted living are highlighted: synchronicity and learning to become fluent in the language of coincidence and signs; and being grounded in the everyday.

  1. Why do you think these two areas—synchronicity and grounding in the everyday—emerged as key guides for wholehearted living?
  2. What experience have you had of synchronicity and how did this guide your path?
  3. How did you learn the language of symbols and signs and to listen within more intently and with wisdom?
  4. How do you ground yourself in the everyday?
  5. What practices and choices would help to do this more?

SELF-LEADERSHIP AND LOVE AS THE HEART OF WHOLEHEARTEDNESS

The final chapter of the book emphasises self-leadership and the many choices we have each day and that love is the heart of wholeheartedness.

  1. A key aspect of self-leadership is choice and making the most of what we have with our lives. How does the concept of self-leadership fit with mindset?
  2. From this list provided on pages 225-7 of choices potentially available to us, which top three jump out to you as areas to focus on in your self-leadership and transition journey?
  3. Where does love and centring what you are passionate about over time fit with your transitions and self-leadership in life?

The Wholehearted Companion Workbook: https://www.quietwriting.com/wholehearted-companion-workbook/ offers a deeper self-leadership and self-coaching guide you can work on as individuals or as a group. It tracks through the main book chapter by chapter with practical examples and prompts to apply the learning and insights in your life.

Free resources:

Get Chapter 1 of Wholehearted:Self-leadership for women in transition now: https://www.quietwriting.net/wholehearted-chapter-1

Personal Action Checklist for Creating more Meaning and Purpose – a free resource to help you get started on more wholehearted living: https://quietwriting.lpages.co/10-tips-mp-checklist/

Author and book images

Wholehearted Book
Wholehearted Companion Workbook
chillpreneur

Key excerpts from the book:

‘So following that critical turning point in July 2016, I began a journey of transition back to a life that more fully reflects me. For three decades, work had taken over and important pieces of me were missing in action.’

‘I made the crossing of this unknown sea from government employee with a regulated framework and defined job description to self-employed intuitive creative making wise choices and knowing where my practice and attention need to go next. These practices have also been an excellent way to trust my own processes and not worry about what others think.’

‘Being wholehearted is finding the self-leadership to be the explorer of your heart and to own that unique journey. It means not being captive to the smallness, meanness or insensitivity of others. Or your own shoulds. It means keeping the landscape big, the canvas open, the opportunities expansive and our hopes and dreams as real as when we first thought of them, and finding a way to navigate through them to our new way of being—the one we have imagined.’

‘I committed thirty years to my organisation and at the end of it, it just felt like a waste of time. It was not a total waste, I knew in my heart of hearts, but the lack of valuing of people is endemic and I think it’s a hole in the heart of the world that I can address. I decided I would write and reflect my way through and find a way to craft a business helping people transition from an organisation or lifestyle that no longer loves them into another future that they love with their whole heart.’

‘Writing daily as a creative practice, working on larger creative non-fiction pieces and progressing towards crafting a novel, is central to my business. If I am not authentically and creatively me—writing day in and day out, showing up, and making time for the longer pieces I have outlined or the ones there in my heart—it is not genuine. I am only able to help others with their creative lives and careers through my own writing and coaching practice of living this every day.’

You can download your pdf copy of Wholehearted Book Club Notes here:

And welcome your questions about Wholehearted! Just pop them in the comments.

self-leadership + leadership

Self-leadership as the most authentic heart of leadership

January 12, 2021
self-leadership

A review of Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude, Raymond M Kethledge and Michael S. Erwin, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017.

Leading yourself first, self-leadership and solitude in leadership

The value of solitude is a critical but often overlooked component of leadership success. Finding quiet space in leadership roles is challenging and even more so with the expectations of constant connectivity.

‘Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude’, by Raymond M Kethledge and Michael S Erwin, focuses on solitude as an essential practice for effective, high level leadership. Its central thesis is that to lead effectively, you must practise self-leadership and lead yourself first.

Leadership as a quiet journey

My own journey as a leader has a search for solitude as a central piece. When I was invited to speak to a group of emerging leaders, I chose as my topic ‘Leadership: a quiet journey’. I spoke about what I’d learned from my leadership experiences as an INTJ and introvert at the extreme of the spectrum. In this, I drew on learning and evidence from Quiet by Susan Cain and Quiet Influence by Jennifer Kahnweiler.

From experience, I had come to understand the value of making space and time in my day for deep, focused thought.  I realised that my skill in writing was just as effective a leadership strategy as speaking, if not moreso. I had learnt most about leadership when I had no direct line management of people and it was all about self-leadership.

Being quiet, writing, reading books and seeking solitude felt like a curious thing to be talking about in terms of leadership. My discomfort made me realise that my experience was not a subject that was commonly talked about.

The challenges of finding solitude in leadership

Whilst those who are naturally quiet will likely be seeking solitude spaces in their leadership days, the challenges working against it are increasing. The impact of technology and the expectations of always being available make closing the door, going for a walk or putting an hour aside to think all hard things to justify.  Technology and social media contexts create another layer for leaders as they work through the sheer amount of information and people-contact generated. It also promotes the perception of being contactable across all levels of the organisation.

The reality is that, now more than ever, all people regardless of their personality preferences, need to create the space for deep thought and reflection to enable high-level leadership practices. We need the discipline to unplug and connect with ourselves and the larger vision and purpose of our work. We need to be aware of what we are losing by not making this space in our days.

Solitude, self-leadership and leadership qualities

With ‘Lead Yourself First’, Kethledge and Erwin build on the work of Susan Cain and others, extending the context of valuing quiet strengths into the critical difference that practising self-leadership and solitude in leadership can make for all personality types.

Through research, case-studies and interviews with inspiring leaders, the authors make a strong case for establishing the discipline of leadership solitude. They create a space where leadership and solitude can be talked about together more comfortably. In addition, they provide a qualitative evidence base for this.  Most importantly, they provide practical strategies for creating solitude to enable strong self-leadership and through this, the effective leadership of others.

Kethledge and Erwin focus on four leadership qualities that solitude enhances:

  1. clarity
  2. creativity
  3. emotional balance and
  4. moral courage.

Their analysis of each of these qualities is through stories of how leaders have accessed solitude. For example, you can find clarity through both analytical clarity and intuition as shown in contrasting case studies of how Dwight Eisenhower and Jane Goodall honed their leadership skills in different contexts.  

The discipline and practice of solitude

According to Kethledge and Erwin, you can develop the discipline of developing a practice of quiet leadership solitude in two key ways. Firstly, building ‘pockets of solitude’ into your life in a systematic way and secondly, maximising any unexpected solitude opportunities.

These two disciplines weave through the case study and interview stories. Leaders create spaces of self-leadership and solitude in their lives in many ways. These include: running, swimming, walking, writing, tractor driving, reading, going to church and driving. Taking the Viktor Frankl maxim that there is a space between every stimulus and response, the leaders describe how they consistently create and commit to this space to develop considered responses.

Co-author and extrovert Michael Erwin, in his leadership role as an Intelligence Officer in combat zones, regularly went for long runs in 100 plus degree heat in the desert to clear his head and focus on his leadership decisions. Winston Churchill laid bricks as a way of creating a ‘personal bubble of quiet’.

The ability to recognise and make use of unexpected opportunities for solitude is also an art to practice. Events like unexpected life changes, flight delays and cancelled appointments are all potential opportunities for solitude and quiet work. The pandemic environment of covid has created more quiet, alone and creative time for some people with unexpected opportunities of working from home.

Photo by Toni Reed on Unsplash

Effective leadership solitude practice

The book describes effective leadership solitude practices through a series of case studies and interviews drawn from a range of contexts. These include military strategy, politics, education, religious and civil rights, scientific discovery and the corporate world. This is valuable for seeing the universal golden threads of solitude and self-leadership and its empowering capacities for leaders.

Examples of solitude self-leadership practice include:

Writing as clarifying reflection and strategic practice:

Thinking by writing is an underrated strategic and self-leadership skill; however, it has great power to connect thoughts and generate new perspectives. Dwight Eisenhower used the strategy of writing memos to himself as a way of clearing his mind. As he described it: ‘I’m just collecting my thoughts in a structured way.’ (p7).

Winston Churchill, a serious and committed writer, commenced his writing work at 11 pm. The practice was a way of focusing his thoughts and gaining historical perspective. The power of writing gave him the ability to speak with courage and authority as reflected in his speeches of the time.

Photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash

Moral courage and seeing solitude as a first principle:

Brene Brown says in her interview that the biggest mistake can be seeing solitude as a luxury. She stresses the need for it as a first principle. Whilst the social pressures to resist solitude are ever present, the courage required is worth it. As Kethledge and Erwin reinforce, solitude is ‘not the reward for great leadership but the path to it.’ (p138)

Choosing to reclaim solitude in leadership

The authors encourage readers to reclaim solitude in leadership. They provide suggestions for practical change for creating leadership solitude in contemporary times. The first and most encompassing is to reset the explicit expectations around how you plan to work differently.

Strategies include: identifying a certain number of ‘no meeting’ days a month; setting aside time to think as an identified part of the day; setting a policy of no email communication over the weekend; and more explicitly talking about the need for solitude in the workplace.

Finding physical solitude havens such as the workplace library or other quiet locations is a suggested strategy. Working from home is an option we can all hopefully explore more in current times. Identifying the life activities that help achieve the leadership qualities needed is also highlighted. This includes meditation for emotional balance, journal writing for clarity or movement for mental stillness.

Like the feelings I experienced in speaking to emerging leaders about my quiet leadership journey, we may initially feel uncomfortable in talking about solitude practices or acting on them. They may be challenging for others or we may risk being seen as non-conformist. The authors highlight that the greater consequence is a loss of priorities as we drown in lack of focus.

Contribution to solitude in leadership

‘Lead Yourself First’ is a valuable contribution to the field of leadership and to the subject of quiet influence. Susan Cain’s book, Quiet, helped make being an introvert easier to understand and talk about. I hope this book makes it easier for leaders to carve solitude into their days and to speak about it.

The experience of reading this book was, in itself, one of intense reflective solitude on my own practices. It is one I encourage you to engage in also to consider your own self-leadership practices whether you are a leader or not. I hope this book leads to people focusing on the higher purposes of leadership and to practising self-leadership, in contrast to the moment to moment response to the latest email or crisis.

As David Whyte reminds us in Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity:

‘Our bodies and our personalities are vessels, and leadership, like captaincy, is a full inhabitation of the vessel.’

We can all only benefit from that fuller inhabitation that such moments of solitude and self-leadership provide.

Author note

This post was originally a guest post for WorkSearch published on their site in 2017. As their site is no longer live, it is reproduced here with amendments to reflect current times. Thanks to Bree Rackley for social media and guest posting support for the initial guest posting.

It’s fascinating how this post written a few years ago now resonates so strongly as many deal with increased solitude and quiet away from workplace environments. I hope these insights are helpful to see the opportunities for solitude and self-leadership where we can in challenging times.

Warmest wishes

Terri

About the author

Terri Connellan

Terri Connellan is a Sydney-based certified life coach, author and psychological type practitioner accredited in the Majors Personality Type Inventory™ and Majors PT-Elements™. She has a Master of Arts in Language and Literacy, two teaching qualifications and a successful 30-year career as a teacher of reading and writing and a leader in adult vocational education. Her coaching and writing focus on three elements—creativity, personality and self-leadership—especially for women in transition to a life with deeper purpose. Terri works with women globally through her creative business, Quiet Writing, encouraging deeper self-understanding of body of work, creativity and psychological type for more wholehearted and fulfilling lives. Her book ‘Wholehearted: Self-leadership for women in transition’ will be published in 2021 by the kind press.

Book your Self-leadership Discovery Call with Terri here.

Further related reading on Quiet Writing:

Tarot writing

Weathering the Storm: Anchoring Yourself with Writing and Tarot in Challenging Times

July 24, 2024

In my book, Wholehearted: Self-leadership for women in transition, I share about anchoring practices for challenging times. In this post, I describe the linked writing and tarot practice that has helped me navigate a difficult period of change recently. So powerful for me as a grounding and clarifying practice, I hope the writing and tarot insights below provide tips and ideas you can apply in your life.

Challenging times and writing practice

With the sudden death of my beloved partner Keith in late 2022, everything changed and life was difficult. I felt so lost as I navigated the shock and unexpected challenges. This went deep, touching every aspect of my being and daily life with uncertainty.

I am a regular writer. Call it Morning Pages, journalling, daily writing – whatever works for you. I call it Morning Pages, but I make it my own, writing any time of the day, as much or as little as I want. But with Keith’s sudden death, the shock meant I couldn’t immediately engage with these regular practices that supported me like swimming, writing and tarot. I was just surviving day to day in the fog of grief, making it through the initial shock, organising the immediate priorities.

After about two weeks, I returned to the page, writing to make sense of what had happened, was happening. I tapped into that rich weave of practices I already knew as I navigated this time. It has helped immensely. Over time, this practice has grown stronger, helping me navigate the difficult circumstances and intense emotions of deep grief. It continues to support me every day as I move through the stages of grief.

So here is what that practice now looks like and how it might help you.

First steps, working digitally and connecting practices

I write Morning Pages on my computer in a Google doc and I have done this for years now. Here are some reasons:

  • I have osteoarthritis so it is easier on my hands.
  • I can search the document for when the same tarot cards and themes have come up before and learn from my own insights.
  • It is private, transportable, easily accessible anywhere, anytime.
  • I copy and paste the weekly oracle card, monthly intentions, word of the year – whatever is important – to keep front of mind as I write.

I have a connected practice with the lunar cycle, monthly intentions, a weekly oracle card, and a daily tarot card. Writing helps us live more consciously and reflectively. Tarot is a way of tapping into our unconscious, what is just beneath the surface, making connections between what we might otherwise miss. It is a powerful source of self-awareness, self-leadership and conscious living. Connecting the two, writing and tarot, and making sure we have our intentions in front of us provides a powerhouse of guidance.

Example from my Morning Pages practice

Here is what a recent ‘frontispiece’ to my Morning Pages writing looked like:

Gibbous Moon (Doing) – I trust that the perfect intention is coming into form at the perfect time.
New moon intentions for this cycle:
Virgo: I find safety in connection. I nurture my most honest hopes and dreams for the future.
Aquarius: Each day is an opportunity to live a life that feeds me and improves my sense of wellness
Soulful Woman card of the week: 7 Loving from the Inside – It is a blessing to give myself the gift of my own presence.
Card for the day: Strength – fortitude, patience, gentle power (The Spacious Tarot)
‘Strength coaxes you to take a gentle but confident approach. There is a similar boldness in Strength as that found in the Chariot, but there is more grace and softness here. Strength affirms that you can bloom delicately even if you find yourself in a harsh environment. 
Approach challenges with fortitude, instead of ruthlessly bulldozing forward. Find empathy for the terrain you find yourself in. Have the patience to understand your circumstances and find ways to work with them instead of against them. The cactus lives in a dry environment yet holds reserves of water within. As such, this card reminds you that you also have great reserves of gentle power. Tap into those reserves. You are strong and compassionate – believe this, know this, and act accordingly.

Sources and scene setting for writing and tarot

Here are some sources for the entry above that support me:

I copy over the previous days ‘frontispiece’ as a template and some of it stays the same. This all sets the scene, helping me to focus and keep in touch with the lunar cycle and my intentions. I often check in with other tarot guides. The Gentle Tarot deck and Guidebook and The Creative Tarot by Jessa Crispin stay on my desk for further insight.

But the ground-breaking piece in this time of change has been connecting the daily tarot card with other occasions when it has arrived. Searching through my current and previous Google Morning Pages documents, I can see where this tarot card has come up before. Engaging with this has yielded powerful insights and learning.

Learning from our own wisdom

Working with a Google Doc makes this so easy. Using the Edit/Find and Replace function and popping in the card’s name, we can locate other times it has come up. It helps us see if it’s a frequent, rare or new card arriving. If it is a card that has popped up many times, that is enlightening. What did we reflect on last time and learn from its arrival?

I scan through the previous times and see what was happening: circumstances, emotions, realisations, priorities, how I coped, what I moved through, recurring struggles. Often I see the progress I have made and that in itself is helpful. We forget how far we have come in challenging times, often focusing on what is before us now. I frequently uncover useful insights, tools and wisdom that I apply anew as an anchor in uncertain times.

Sometimes I copy the text and learning from that time as a way into today’s writing and reflections. I come across lists of ideas already brainstormed I can add to or draw from. This method helps you rediscover a forgotten body of work with the links between writing and tarot strengthening focus.

Try linking writing and tarot more consciously!

It might seem like a lot and sometimes it takes time, but once in the rhythm, it is easily and quickly done. The insights gained far outweigh the time involved. It helps to stitch your progress into the fabric of your ongoing experience. Setting up this platform helps to have richer and deeper awareness to guide you forward. You also identify where you’re going over the same ground and need to try a fresh approach.

The reason I started using a digital approach to Morning Pages was twofold: my hand condition and exploring the advantages of digital methods. I have benefited in both those ways and many more. It provides a structured way to tap into your intuition and go deeper with writing and tarot. The outcomes for supporting you in navigating challenging times are supportive and anchoring.

So try it and see how it works for you. We all need frameworks, guides and anchors in swirly, uncertain times. And you can always fashion your own practice. You can find more tips, strategies and frameworks to inspire conscious, intuitive living in challenging times in Wholehearted: Self-leadership for women in transition and the Wholehearted Companion Workbook. Wholehearted is available in audiobook, print and ebook here.

creativity inspiration & influence

Creative space – how space and place inspires our creativity

September 24, 2018

creative space

As part of the #quietwriting hashtag and Instagram Challenge, we begin with a focus on honouring and celebrating creative space.

Use the #quietwriting hashtag across platforms – for the challenge and beyond – as a way to create, connect and link us together on our ongoing journey to draft, process, create, make space for writing and other creativity and otherwise live a wholehearted creative life. Read on to discover more and connect with creative others about creative space.

Creative space 

When I was thinking of prompts for the #quietwriting challenge, creative space was the first thing that came to mind!

Why? Because it’s the beginning of it all – our creativity and that quiet space, wherever it is, inside our house, inside our heads or outside in nature where conditions and influences help us to see afresh or make connections.

What creative space helps you go deep or inspires and fosters your creativity?

Today is an opportunity to reflect on this. Here are some ideas to prompt you!

Creative spaces inside

The first thoughts that comes to mind around creative space are where we actually do our work, which is often inside. Inside our homes or other work spaces – offices, cafes, co-working spaces, our studies, lounge rooms or bedrooms! Then of course there’s what happens in the creative space inside our minds and hearts. Think about:

  • Where do you work creatively at home?
  • What is around you to inspire you?
  • What does your creative workspace look like?
  • How do you organise your creative space wherever you work – the ergonomics, the tidiness or chaos?
  • What does it feel like?
  • What in your creative space helps you get moving – tarot, candles, music, silence, standing or sitting?
  • Do you like to look out a window or at a wall with special images and words in front of you?
  • What do you see as you work in your creative space?
  • What accompanies you as you work – tea, coffee, wine, chocolate, water, incense, oils diffusing?
  • Do you prefer silence or music to accompany you?

Love to hear your thoughts and see any images on Instagram – just use the hashtag #quietwriting for the challenge or anytime so we can connect with you. Or share your thoughts in the comments or on Facebook.

Creative spaces outside

This prompt made me think of the creative spaces outside that inspire me. For me, this is the beach and as I shared in my Instagram post:

I do a lot of my creating and writing sitting at a desk at home. But the space that truly inspires my creativity is the beach. Being by the water, in the water, watching the waves, sitting on the sand. Watching the sunrise like this stunner recently in Hoi An. It is all about making connections, relaxing into it, feeling, being inspired. It’s why I chose to live near the beach. It is why when I walk on the beach, I take so many photos capturing that feeling. And it’s also why my new logo and colour palette for Quiet Writing – which I’ll share soon – features these rose gold, watery colours. It’s the deep beginning of so much.

Living near the beach and swimming in the sea stimulates my creativity in so many ways. I love walking on the sand and noticing the shells, gathering the ones that connect with me. In my poem, Narrative, in this post, I share how a walk down to the beach can be so clarifying. I am inspired to gather myself, collect thoughts, connect ideas and often, notebook or camera in hand, new inspiration comes.

When I was in Hoi An and visited An Bang Beach at sunrise recently, I could feel the same sense of creativity and calm. The sound of the waves helped me to settle into my creativity in a new way there. It made me reflect on just how powerful the beach and sea is as a creative space in my life, these colours reflecting my Quiet Writing palette. And those colours reflect everything about me and what matters.

creative space

Creative places

Another aspect of creative space is the actual places that inspire or host your creativity.

  • Why is it that some places inspire you more than others?
  • Do you have a love affair with a particular country, city or village that means you return to try to engage with it and capture it?
  • Are there some places that you want to write about or create from?
  • Or is there somewhere you just long to be, somewhere where you can retreat for a week to create art and write story?
  • Is there somewhere unexpected that grabs your attention and make you want to craft something from the story that you feel there?

Think of Daphne Du Maurier and her love of Cornwall as Jessa Crispin reminds us for the Four of Wands in The Creative Tarot:

Many writers and artists pull inspiration from their surroundings: think of Daphne Du Maurier, who wrote novel after novel with the region of Cornwall as her muse.

What place is your muse? Why?

Creative and connected via #quietwriting

So I welcome your comments here or on social media. I look forward to seeing #quietwriting images that share thoughts and open up dialogue on creative space. All you need to do is share an image on Instagram using the tag #quietwriting and follow the prompts each day for stimulation. Here are the prompts:

#quietwriting

And the #quietwriting hashtag will continue beyond the week of the challenge, so use it anytime to create and connect. You can learn more here about #quietwriting

Just a reminder of the key points:

  • Quiet Writing is about the strength that comes from working steadily and without fanfare in writing and other spheres to create, coalesce, influence and connect.
  • Hashtags are such a fabulous way to gather, finding our creative kindred souls and inspiration online.
  • On Instagram, you can now follow hashtags as well as individual profiles. So follow #quietwriting now and into the future to connect around creativity and your quiet work, writing and making art.
  • You can head on over to the #quietwriting hashtag on Instagram or Facebook or other social media anytime and see what’s popping up. 
  • You could also post on your own profile on Facebook as well using the hashtag.
  • Often we write quietly, behind closed doors or in busy cafes, privately. Let’s shine a light behind the scenes and capture the process of writing and creativity in action, wherever we are and whatever we are up to.

Here’s a beautiful snapshot of our hands in action, quietly writing in a sacred creative space at our recent retreat in Hoi An, led by Kirsten Pilz of Write Your Journey. And of course, there is tea! This image is by Nigel Rowles and used with permission and thanks.

creative space

Get on board with #quietwriting + the hashtag challenge!

These are just some ideas and they will evolve as we all contribute. It doesn’t have to be all about writing – it can be any form of creativity. Nor do you need to be an introvert; all of us need quiet writing time to get creative work done.

I’ll feature my favourite images from the tag here and on Instagram and Facebook so share your images for the chance to be featured!

So join the #quietwriting party and let us know what you are up to! Who knows what creative connections you might make to support you on your journey or inspire your next creation?

Welcome your comments and images to inspire and connect our creativity online from your quiet spaces and lives!

creative space

Keep in touch & free ebook on the ’36 Books that Shaped my Story’

You can work with me to help reset your creativity and wholehearted self-leadership. Free 30-45 minute coaching consults chats are available so please get in touch at terri@quietwriting.com to talk further. I’d love to be a guide alongside to help you conduct creativity and magic with spirit and heart in your own unique way. Consults available now for an October coaching start!

You can download my free 94-page ebook on th36 Books that Shaped my Story – just sign up with your email address in the box to the right or below You will also receive updates from Quiet Writing and its passions. This includes personality type, coaching, creativity, writing, tarot and other connections to help express your unique voice in the world.

Quiet Writing is on Facebook and Instagram – keep in touch and interact with the growing Quiet Writing community.

If you enjoyed this post, please share via your preferred social media channel – links are below.

You might also enjoy:

#quietwriting – growing creative community and connection

Creative practices in my toolkit to make the most of this year’s energies

Welcome to Quiet Writing (the first QW post from 13 September 2016)

Your body of work: the greatest gift for transition to a bright new life

6 inspiring podcasts for creatives and booklovers

Joy – 18 inspiring quotes on doing what you love

Shining a quiet light – working the gifts of introversion

creativity inspiration & influence

#quietwriting – growing creative community and connection

September 14, 2018

#quietwriting

Quiet Writing turns two today! And to celebrate I’m launching the #quietwriting hashtag as a way to increase our community connection.

Use the #quietwriting hashtag as a way to create, connect and link us together on our ongoing journey to draft, process, create, make space for writing and other creativity and otherwise live a wholehearted creative life. Read on to discover more and connect with creative others!

Why use the #quietwriting hashtag?

Did you know on Instagram, you can now follow hashtags as well as individual profiles? Launched in 2018, this is such a great way to connect with others and see content beyond those people you follow now. Plus it creates curated content around a theme to inspire and see what others on the same road or with similar interests are up to.

This idea came to me when I was working on the Instaretreat with Sara Tasker. I use the #quietwriting hashtag for all my posts on Instagram, Facebook and elsewhere. I hadn’t thought to encourage others to use it too – but it’s so obvious! Hashtags are such a fabulous way to gather, finding our creative kindred souls and inspiration online.

You can head on over to the #quietwriting hashtag on Instagram or Facebook or other social media anytime and see what’s popping up. Just as Wholehearted Stories enabled other voices to be heard and seen via Quiet Writing, let’s embrace more and different images and voices under the #quietwriting hashtag to inspire our creativity! So come on board and use #quietwriting to connect.

#quietwriting

So what’s #quietwriting all about?

Quiet Writing is about the strength that comes from working steadily and without fanfare in writing and other spheres to create, coalesce, influence and connect.

So often we write quietly, behind closed doors or in busy cafes, privately. Let’s shine a light behind the scenes and capture the process of writing and creativity in action, wherever we are and whatever we are up to.

To celebrate and connect around the spirit of quiet writing online, here are some ideas for when you might use #quietwriting

  • to share your writing locations – where you are writing, seeking inspiration, working on your craft
  • works in progress – behind the scenes snapshots, metrics, celebrations, challenges
  • the act and process of writing and other creativity – researching, drafting, editing, publishing
  • your creations – poems, novels, blog posts, artwork – the outcomes of quiet writing
  • how far you’ve come – celebrate, share your milestones, the starting point
  • writing practices – pomodoro, Morning Pages, free-writing, lists, brain-storming
  • blogging – practice and achievements
  • poetry – the art and process of the life poetic
  • quotes about writing quietly
  • books to inspire the writing and creative journey
  • writing retreats – and other creative inspiration
  • influences – who inspires you?
  • writing buddies – who are you writing with, who is supporting you?
  • wholehearted stories
  • writing over the life time – creativity for the long haul
  • being a healthy writer
  • book reviews on writing and what fosters creativity
  • your favourite tools and tips for the journey

Get on board with #quietwriting + hashtag challenge!

These are just some ideas and this will evolve as we all contribute. It doesn’t have to be all about writing – it can be any form of creativity. Nor do you need to be an introvert; extraverts also need quiet writing time to get creative work done.

I’ll also feature my favourite images from the tag here and on Instagram and Facebook weekly so share your images for the chance to be featured!

And the week of 24 – 30 September, I’m hosting a #quietwriting Instagram Challenge to connect and inspire us all around specific prompts to get us going. Here are the prompts!

#quietwriting

So join the #quietwriting party and let us know what you are up to! Who knows what creative connections you might make to support you on your journey or inspire your next creation?

Welcome your comments and images to inspire and connect our creativity online from your quiet spaces and lives!

#quietwriting

Keep in touch & free ebook on the ’36 Books that Shaped my Story’

You can work with me to help reset your creativity and wholehearted self-leadership. Free 30-45 minute coaching consults chats are available so please get in touch at terri@quietwriting.com to talk further. I’d love to be a guide alongside to help you conduct creativity and magic with spirit and heart in your own unique way. Consults available now for a September/October coaching start!

You can download my free 94-page ebook on th36 Books that Shaped my Story – just sign up with your email address in the box to the right or below You will also receive updates from Quiet Writing and its passions. This includes personality type, coaching, creativity, writing, tarot and other connections to help express your unique voice in the world.

Quiet Writing is on Facebook and Instagram – keep in touch and interact with the growing Quiet Writing community.

If you enjoyed this post, please share via your preferred social media channel – links are below.

You might also enjoy:

Welcome to Quiet Writing (the first QW post from 13 September 2016)

Your body of work: the greatest gift for transition to a bright new life

6 inspiring podcasts for creatives and booklovers

Joy – 18 inspiring quotes on doing what you love

Shining a quiet light – working the gifts of introversion

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