creating, living, and loving your professional writing ......soul coloring book, she called back ten...

creating, living, and loving

your professional writing life in The Intersection

with Janet Conner

www.janetconner.com Plug In for Writers Part 1 ©2018 Janet Conner

Welcome to Plug In for Writers!

I’m Janet Conner, prayer artist, deep soul explorer, and field guide for the Your Soul Wants Five Things system of mystical practices that transform you into an energetic container strong enough to hold the astonishing truth of who you are and who you came here to be—a complete Divine-Human.

Four of the five books in the series are published: Writing Down Your Soul (2009), The Lotus and The Lily (2012), and Soul Vows (2015), Find Your Soul’s Purpose, (April 2017). I also designed two journals for soul writers, My Soul Pages (2011) and My Life Pages (2013). And then, there’s the coloring book! When I asked my agent to ask Conari if they wanted a Writing Down Your Soul coloring book, she called back ten minutes later with a contract and pub date for The Soul Discovery Coloring Book (2016). Christine Pensa

and I had the most delicious time creating the first and only adult coloring book that goes WAY beyond coloring to activate 5 ways to access your soul’s beauty and brilliance and grace.

I’m also the creator and host of The Soul-Directed Life radio show on the UnityFM network, which has been downloaded over 200,000 times. The show has always been an experiment, following a full-year circular theme like the Medicine Wheel. In 2017, we explored one mystical prayer in depth—The 9 Containers of Love. In 2018, we are exploring The Unified Field of Prayer!

I created a professional Facebook page for the radio show. Marina Phillips, the publicity director, posts my pre-and post-show videos and creates quote posters for each guest. Please join the conversation and share the posters, videos, and links with your friends.

http://www.janetconner.com/

https://www.facebook.com/JanetConnerTheSoulDirectedLife/?pnref=lhc


soul wants

book & deep soul exploration

mystical practice

to connect with Source

Writing Down Your Soul My Soul Pages

activate your unique internal divine Voice by soul writing in the theta brain wave state

to commit to values

Soul Vows

gather the Presence of the Divine in and through and as you as you practice and embody your soul’s most precious values

to serve a purpose

Find Your Soul’s Purpose

walk the sacred spiral—the accelerator of consciousness—to discover who you are, remember why you are here, and live a life you love

to express beauty

Plug in for Writers Express Your Soul’s Beauty

create in The Intersection of artistic expression & mystical practice

to create life

The Lotus and The Lily My Life Pages

create the life that wants to be lived in and through and as you with 2 engines of change: intention mandala & full body prayer practice



Introduction to The Intersection

I have been blessed to enjoy a relationship with my publisher. This is what I wish for you. Yes, it’s exciting to see your first book in print, but the real joy of the writing life comes when you are able to bring many of your creative ideas to life. And not just in books. You might also blog, speak, teach, perform, coach, mentor, record podcasts and radio shows…. There is no end to the creative expressions that will flow through you when you know how to create in The Intersection.

Plug In for Writers is divided into two radically different and equally important halves Part 1—The Work Before the Work

I developed Plug In for Writers to share the power, ease, and joy of working in The Intersection between the craft of writing and the spiritual practices that feed and sustain the writing life. No other writing course addresses the spiritual component of the writing life quite like Plug In (to The Intersection) for Writers. Following Parker Palmer, I call this spiritual foundation The Work Before The Work. This is the spiritual foundation on which a professional writing life is built. I will teach you all the spiritual tools I rely on to open The Intersection and keep it open not just while I’m writing, but around the clock.

A few of those foundational practices include:

• Creating Sacred Space, including anointing • Writing Blessing • Writing Altar • Morning Theta (theta all the time, but especially first thing in the morning) • Removing the rocks in your energy fields with the Great Writer • Your Spiritual Brand—Your Beating Heart • Creating your space in the bookstore—Your Neighborhood • Finding your niche in the publishing world on The Publishing Grid



Part 2—The Work & The Village

With a strong foundation of craft and spiritual practice in place, you are ready to dive into The Work. You may write your book in solitude, but The Work is actually not done in isolation. It takes a village—and a surprisingly large one—to help you massage your message into its perfect form, and get that message into the hands and hearts who are hungry for the wisdom, the beauty, the grace, the healing in your words. It is my joy to introduce you to my publishing village.

These women have all expanded my writing, my message, and my life:

• Jennifer Hill Robenalt, the publicist who make the success of Writing Down Your Soul possible

• Kat Sanborn, sr publicist at Llewellyn who gave me the gorgeous inspiration for “Circles of Influence”

• Brenda Knight, a rare double talented acquisition editor and marketing guru. Brenda found me writing for UPI and brought me into Conari when she was the associate publisher

• Ginger Price, publicist for Monkfish • Jo Ann Deck, publishing consultant and proposal guru. I don’t know what I would do

without Jo Ann. I turn to her for all things publishing and she helps me see publishing from a higher, eagle-eye view. She has saved me from countless mistakes. Jo Ann has helped dozens of Plug In members write their proposals and get published.

• Nancy Barton, my agent • Caroline Pincus, my editor at Conari Press, now consulting with authors and

acquiring books for Sounds True. Caroline listened to Tara Cousineau’s pitch in 2015 and helped her massage the structure of The Kindness Cure into a shape that would attract a contract from New Harbinger Press

Over the next 5 months, I’ll share the resources I personally use to improve my craft and all the mystical practices I rely on to dramatically increase the flow of creative ideas and energy. My intent is to show you how to open the door to your own Intersection and keep it open, so you fully express your beautiful creative soul. When we share our creative gifts, we bless ourselves, but of equal and greater importance, we increase the earth’s collective wisdom and joy. And wisdom and joy are just what the world needs right now. A wide variety of creative souls have played the Plug In for Writers game. Novelists, writers of children’s literature, poets, bloggers, coaches, speakers, and lots of non-fiction writers have all jumped into The Intersection and experienced what happens when we continually expand access to the creative forces flowing through the universe. Regardless of your message or medium, I’m confident you will find value and support and truly useful tools and contacts in Plug In for Writers.



Our Time Frame Most writing courses are short term intensives. Every summer, people spend small fortunes traveling to weekend or week-long writing workshops. But research shows it takes thirty days to begin to build new neural pathways and forty to begin to integrate them. In Plug in for Writers, you will play with several mystical practices that are new to you and refine others you already use. It takes time to incorporate each of these new ideas and practices into your life and begin to see shifts and improvements as a result.

In addition to spiritual practice, you are making a commitment to improve your craft. A decision to improve both craft and spiritual practice simultaneously is big. We’ve all experienced what happens when you make a big commitment and then don’t, or can’t, maintain it. To ensure that you experience the tangible results of working in The Intersection, I’ve divided the course into digestible bites, structured the content so each new concept builds on the one before, and paced sessions two weeks apart so you have time to digest an idea, experiment with the concept, and begin to incorporate it into your writing life. Some weeks you may find the pace moving quickly. Other times, you may feel an urge to leap ahead. Any time you’re feeling off-kilter, begin a dialogue with your wise loving Voice on the page. Discuss how you feel and what’s happening or not happening in your life. Ask for and use the guidance you receive. But at the same time, trust the process. Know that in the end, you will develop habits that fit your life and your soul’s expressive evolution and desires. You are doing something big. You are creating yourself and you are creating your world. It’s big and it’s important. Please be patient and kind to yourself. What is Plug In for Writers? This is a unique course. I’m not sure there’s a precedent. It’s not a therapy group, although our personal stories come up. After all, it is our stories that provide the material for our souls to evolve and express. And our stories are often our greatest blessing to others. Writing Down Your Soul is certainly an example of how one person’s story became a blessing for many. Our focus as a group, however, will be on supporting one another to develop practices and habits that improve our creative access, not on giving advice on how to heal or how to write.

This is not a purely educational course either, although there is much to learn— probably more than you have ever digested at one time. And Plug In for Writers is not a typical writing course. We will discuss how we are improving our craft and we will celebrate one another’s efforts, but our focus is not on providing feedback on one another’s work; it is on creating and sustaining the practices that support a successful professional writing life.



Finally, Plug In for Writers, although it is clearly about how to build a vibrant spiritual life, is not a typical spiritual course.

So what is it? Plug In for Writers is a marriage of two worlds—the world of profound heart-deep mystical practice and the practical complex world of publishing. This partnership is, I think, the real world of creativity. This real world is both deeply spiritual—because when we create we work hand-in-hand with the creative force of the universe, and deeply practical—because the only way our work can bless the world is if the world knows about it.

Getting Started Glance through this PlayBook to see how it is laid out. This first installment has the introductory material and the content for Session 1. You will receive the pages for each session a couple days before we meet. Read over the pages prior to class if you can. If you have not heard the seven steps to get into theta, or want a refresher, listen to the 45-minute teaching video on the Seven Steps to Get Into Theta that comes with this course. Deep soul writing is the foundational practice of Plug In for Writers and of all five mystical practices in Your Soul Wants Five Things. Here’s our special bonus and resource page: If you have it, play the Theta Music CD to support your soul writing. If you don’t, it’s available at my site. This music really does induce and support the theta brain wave state. Be sure to look at the information on accessing theta in the morning at the bottom of page 9 on accessing theta. I will talk about this on opening night, but start practicing using theta as you fall asleep and as you awaken. By the end of the course you will be proficient at accessing theta around the clock. I promised you all the resources I use for both the development of my craft and for inspiration and spiritual development. Look at pages 13 for the first infusion of resources. Play with them and begin to use the ones that speak to you. This PlayBook is set up as a PDF so links to online resources are intact.

Print out your PlayBook and set up a binder. Note that at the end of each session, there is a page called Bring it to life. This is your home-play. (I avoid the word home-work. We are playing in a giant field of creative possibility, so I call it home-play.) Over time, your binder will be bulging with new learning. When we get together for each session, we’ll begin by sharing our experiences with the home-play from the previous class.



Our Community Our writing circle will bond closely as we share our discoveries and cheer one another on in The Intersection. I’ve set up a private 2018 Plug In for Writers Facebook discussion group just for our class. There’s no obligation to join, but it’s a lovely easy way to stay connected. And, as you’ll soon learn from our social media experts, the writing life is also a marketing life. Publishers want to know your social media reach, so it’s wise to start now. (There are writers who are not online, but they are rare and they have a large community through other sources.)

Our “Textbooks”

I could recommend several dozen writing books and I do give you many in the resource section, but if I had to narrow the field to these 4 which I reread every year during Plug In for Writers:

• Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury who wrote every day!

• Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet by Matthew Fox

• Stoking the Creative Fires by Phil Cousineau who is creative in multiple arenas and a

personal student of Joseph Campbell

• The Writing Life by Annie Dillard who won the Pulitzer Prize for Pilgrim at Tinker’s Creek. Start reading one of these during our time together and commit to reading something about the writing and creative life every month from now on. Also, be sure to read the BEST in your genre. Starting immediately, do not read anything mediocre. All great writers are great readers, so feed your mind and your soul with great writing. If a book is mediocre, put it down, no matter how many people say you should read it.



Accessing Theta in Soul Writing and in the Morning

Three things happen when you write down your soul 1. You exit conscious (beta) mind and enter creative (theta brain wave) mind 2. As you tell your stories, you get in touch with your authentic, whole, and holy self—your soul 3. As you connect with and activate the Voice of infinite intelligence, wisdom, and grace, you ask for

and receive the guidance and direction you need to live the life you are here to live

How to write in theta 1. Set your intention to connect with the Voice 2. Address the Voice directly: “Dear ______,” 3. Write by hand 4. Activate all five senses Vision, hearing, and touch are automatic, but you can play theta music to support you in the theta brain wave state. Smell—candle, flowers, oils… Taste—slowly drink water while whispering insights

5. Ask open-ended questions, let the questions come through. Access to deep wisdom is all through

the questions. 6. Write fast

Let your handwriting relax, even collapse Don’t worry about grammar, endings, punctuation Write like you talk—in bursts and phrases, not sentences No editing, thinking, judging, going back, scratching out—just go forward, forward, forward

7. Be grateful for the experience; say thank you

How to maximize theta at night and in the morning

1. Put a pad next to your bed with an open ballpoint pen 2. Ask for guidance or ask a question as you drift off to sleep 3. If awakened, roll over, (do not turn on light or sit up) write what you

hear or see briefly, clip the pen below where you wrote, say thank you, go back to sleep

4. When you wake in the morning, stay in theta as long as you can. Lie still with eyes closed. Allow dreams, words ideas, and information to come to you (if you have to wake to an alarm, set it ten minutes early)

5. When you’re ready to get up, look at your night messages, if you need clarification, take them to the page, ponder, and/or act on them

6. Be grateful; say thank you—and show up the next night for more!



A welcome blessing from Hafiz

So You Can Plant More Wheat

I would like to remove some rocks from your field

so that you can plant more wheat.

And those hills I see that are part of you, I have some trees in mind for them and flowering grasses

so that you won't erode when the elements pour.

Are we not lovers? Cannot I speak to you like this? Do I need to ask your permission to hitch up my

ox and sing to him as I improve your vast terrain.

The title to your heart came to my office, in looking at it a great interest in your soul developed,

so, I would like to remove some stones from your meadows,

then an orchard you can grow,

and the world, then the world will come to taste your riches.

from A Year With Hafiz, Rendering by Daniel Ladinsky



Other Voices of Welcome

“One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice… But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own, that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world, determined to do the only

thing you could do— Determined to save the only life you could save.” Mary Oliver, The Journey

“Creativity isn’t a luxury, but a necessity—a means of survival.” Phil Cousineau Stoking the Creative Fires

“The only hope Mother Earth has for survival is our recovering creativity— which is of course, our divine power. Creativity is so satisfying, so important, not because it produces something but because the process is cosmological. There’s joy and delight in giving birth.”

Matthew Fox

“At the deepest level, creativity is holiness” John O’Donohue, Beauty

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost, the world will not have it.”

Martha Graham

“Empower me to be a bold participant, rather than a timid saint in waiting.” Ted Loder

“Power is safest in a poet’s hands, thus for the artist God will pose.” Hafiz, Love Poems from God

“Words create the bridges between us. Without them we would be lost islands. Affection, recognition and understanding travel across these fragile bridges and enable us to discover each

other and awaken friendship and intimacy. Words are never just words. The range and depth of a person’s soul is inevitably revealed in the quality of the words she uses. When chosen with

reverence and care, words not only describe what they say but also suggest what can never be said. John O’Donohue, Beauty

“The gauge of a good poem is the size of the love-bruise it leaves on your neck.” Hafiz, The Subject Tonight is Love



“Oh God, help me to believe the truth about myself No matter how beautiful it is!”

Macrina Wiederkehr (erroneously attributed to Marianne Williamson)

“No one can read my poems out loud in a tender, loving voice And not narrow the difference, not narrow the gap between you and God.”

Hafiz, The Subject Tonight is Love

“There are beautiful wild forces within us. Let them turn the mills inside and fill sacks that feed even heaven.

St Francis of Assisi, Love Poems from God

“What kind of work can I do in this world? Maybe I could become a poet. Maybe the Beloved will make my love so pure that He will come to sit upon all my beautiful empty pages.”

Hafiz, I Heard God Laughing

“While the outside world has long settled for who we are in terms of name, personality, and role, when we creatively engage our life, we enable the signature, taste and imprint of our uniqueness to emerge. This is what begins to emerge when we come to the desk and look into the mirror of the white page. Beneath that white page, in the stillness, a harvest of untouched possibility waits.

John O’Donohue, Beauty

“They can be a like a sun—words.

They can do for the heart what light can for a field.” St John of the Cross, Love Poems from God

“Who will teach me to write? A reader wanted to know. The page, the page, the eternal blankness, the blankness of eternity which you cover slowly, affirming time’s scrawl as a right and your daring as

necessity; the page, which you cover woodenly, ruining it, but asserting your freedom and power to act, acknowledging that you ruin everything you touch but touching it nevertheless, because acting is better than being here in mere opacity; the page, which you cover slowly with the crabbed thread of your gut; the page in the purity of its possibilities; the page of your death, against which you pit such flawed excellences as you can muster with all your life’s strength; that page will teach you to write.”

Annie Dillard, The Writing Life



Resources

Writing Craft Daphne Gray-Grant—quick clear writing instruction, I always read this http://www.publicationcoach.com/ Visual Thesaurus—nifty online thesaurus, fun daily vocabulary email http://www.visualthesaurus.com/ Magazines Superb article in Publishers Weekly by Donald Ray Pollock on how to write http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/home/index.html Poets & Writers http://www.pw.org/ Writers Digest magazine get their email newsletter http://writersdigest.com/bea/ Sample article on point of view Newsletters Jane Friedman—single best resource, was Writers Digest editor, now professor, brilliant on technology for writers and publishers, sign up for her blog Electric Speed http://janefriedman.com Story Circle Network—superb organization, great newsletter http://www.storycircle.org/index.php BookBub Partners https://www.bookbub.com/partners Shelf Awareness, daily newsletter for bookstores and the industry as a whole. http://www.shelf-awareness.com Sandra Beckwith—Build Book Buzz http://www.sandrabeckwith.com http://buildbookbuzz.com sign up for the newsletter here


http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/70972-5-writing-tips-donald-ray-pollock.html?utm_source=Publishers+Weekly&utm_campaign=4f91d5f05d-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0bb2959cbb-4f91d5f05d-304663517

http://www.writersdigest.com/point-of-view


Videos Why a Good Book is a Secret Door http://www.ted.com/talks/mac_barnett_why_a_good_book_is_a_secret_door?utm_s ource=newsletter_weekly_2014-09- 20&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_content=talk_of_t he_week_button Ira Glass on Creativity http://omeleto.com/188186/ Neil Gaiman—LISTEN to this! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikAb-NYkseI Writing Blogs Cowbird http://www.cowbird.com/ Top 10 blogs for Writers—pick what speaks to you http://writetodone.com/top-10-blogs-for-writers-2015/ The Write Life http://thewritelife.com/ Best websites for writers http://thewritelife.com/100-best-websites-for-writers-2015/#.1onu62:OxGL Poetry Knopf Poem for a Day—get a poem in your inbox everyday in April—divine! http://poem-a-day.knopfdoubleday.com TED Ted—videos by artists and scientists on every interesting topic under the sun http://www.ted.com



My Core Bibliography On Writing

Zen in the Art of Writing, Ray Bradbury The Writing Life, Annie Dillard This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, Ann Patchett Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert

On the Creative Life

Stoking the Creative Fires, Phil Cousineau 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women, Gail McMeekin Letters to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke Living Color, Natalie Goldberg (painting to support your writing) Marrying Your Muse, Jan Phillips How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci Michael Gelb

On the Magical Confluence of the Creative and Spiritual

Creativity, Matthew Fox Beauty, John O’Donohue Care of the Soul, Thomas Moore The Artist’s Rule, Christine Valters Paintner

Mystical Poetry

The Rumi Collection, Kabir Helminski A Year with Hafiz, The Gift, I Heard God Laughing, The Subject Tonight is Love, Love Poems from God, Daniel Ladinsky (a smorgasbord of 12 mystics) The House of Belonging, David Whyte (anything by) Thirst, Mary Oliver (anything by) Book of Hours, Rainer Maria Rilke The Enlightened Heart, translations by Stephen Mitchell Thomas Merton A Book of Hours, edited by Kathleen Diegnan

On the Craft of Writing

The Elements of Style, Strunk and White Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Lynne Truss

On Publishing

How to Write a Book Proposal, Michael Larsen Spiritual Writing, Deborah Levine Herman with Cynthia Black Think Like a Publisher, Randy Davila



Session 1

May 5

Welcome to The Intersection

How I discovered The Intersection I grew up observing adults separate their work and spiritual lives. Spiritual practice occurred on the weekend and perhaps a few daily prayers like saying grace. When I entered the world of work, I replicated what I’d seen. I never thought of my classroom as sacred ground and I did not bless my students or my work. And headhunting was as far removed from a spiritual life as work can be.

Over time I began to feel that something was missing and I attempted to bring some sense of spiritual awareness into my work.

When I received the contract for Writing Down Your Soul, I made a conscious decision to incorporate the two. I began my day saying my Soul Vows and Writing Blessing. Then, I asked for help on the book in my morning deep soul writing, and again as I was falling asleep. I began to experience 24/7 wide-open, totally reliable connection with divine guidance.

Result • Received writing guidance day and night • People to interview and books to research appeared effortlessly—Bermans, Colts, Lauralyn Bunn… • Wrote a completely different—and much better—book than the proposal • Created the first ever profile of questions that activate the Voice • Asked for and received the last chapter the night before the book was due • Completed a 70k word manuscript in 10 weeks, a technical impossibility • Editor said WDYS was the first “spiritual how-to that’s a page turner” • I requested a blue and white on the page… • The editor turned out to be a soul writer and she edited with her “Committee”

Spiritual life Craft or

profession

Spiritual life

Craft or profession



The Intersection is the confluence of 3 forces:

Craft– red circle Spiritual practice – blue circle Creative flow – golden light Ever-expanding Vesica Piscis overlap The Intersection is not an idea. It’s a place.

“Creativity is intimate because it is us most truly, spontaneously, and totally. It is also intimate because it is Spirit working through us in a way that Meister Eckhart says God “becomes the space where” we want to act. Creativity is not a noun or even a verb—it is a place, a space, a gathering, a union, a where—wherein the Divine powers of creativity and the human power of imagination join forces. Where the two come together is where beauty and grace happen, and indeed, explode. Creativity constitutes the ultimate in intimacy, for it is the place where the Divine and the human are most destined to interact. The word “where” contains its own sense of the infinite as well as the intimate. We speak of “somewhere” and “everywhere,” of “nowhere” and “anywhere,” of “elsewhere” and “wherever.” The word “where” offers an invitation to the imagination to stretch to extremes of nothingness and everythingness…and beyond.”

Matthew Fox Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet p 5

Craft • Commit to becoming the best writer you can be. • Write consistently. Put your art first. Earn your AIC degree. • Feed yourself by reading great writers. • Reduce or eliminate junk media. Carefully select your inputs. • Begin selecting and using some of the recommended tools. • Set aside time to learn and improve your craft.

Spiritual Practice

• Personal mystical prayers and rituals • Writing prayers & rituals: Writing Blessing, Creative Manifesto, etc • Sacred space and writing altar • Ever-expanding time in theta • Deep soul writing • Active awareness of angels, guides, messengers, goddesses • Recognizing and following guidance • Spiritual Brand—or as I prefer, “My Beating Heart” • And more…



How the Intersection evolved

I always taught Plug In as TWO overlapping circles, writing and spiritual practice:

In 2016, my agent called to say she’d been to a lengthy publishing conference and they emphasized the 3 components of the writing life: writing, marketing and the business. I wondered what the marketing and business pieces look like:



So I asked Marina to design the full 4 component Intersection—and the only one that includes the spiritual circle. You can SEE how the spiritual practices in Plug In for Writers infuse not only your writing but also your marketing and activities in the business of publishing with creative energy and juice. This is a rich, exciting PLACE in which to write and live.



Why work in The Intersection? Your Writing

• Faster—things move quickly in The Intersection • Easier—because you’re not the only writer • Higher quality—you’ll be astonished by what

you write • More creative, more break-through solutions,

fresh ideas • Comes in rapid “downloads” at any time • Everything and everyone becomes a writing

teacher, even your dreams • Attracts what you need when you need it—endless synchronicity • Detracts what you don’t need—much less wasted time • More fun, more successful • Has a higher purpose of service, your work feels and is holy

You

• Spend more time in the all-important creative theta brain wave state

• Experience more inspiration, writer’s block? What’s writer’s block!

• Feel less stuck, experience more breakthroughs

• Stop feeling alone, start working in partnership with your divine guides

• Access the Field of Consciousness of All Writers and All Writing

• Bring your soul’s purpose to life in your work • Focus more fully and effortlessly, time flies in theta or kairos time • More productive • Less exhausted by work, more energized by it • Experience whole-heartedness—your heart and soul are fully engaged • Fall in love with your work (or begin to attract work you love) • High sense of gratefulness for your writing and life—cup overfloweth! • More joy • Hopeful about your future • Greater sense of trust, know you are guided and protected • Swelling pride in your work • Notice miracles, big and small, all the time • Fear, doubt, worry, jealousy—and any other negative emotions that have been your

nemeses—appear less often and pass more quickly



Elements that Expand the Vesica Piscis of The Intersection

The Intersection is filled with rituals, blessings, prayers, and other practices that you customize to fit your life and support your soul’s creative expression. As you consistently practice your blessings and rituals, you will become more comfortable and confident in what you’re doing, and you will begin to sense that the vesica piscis shape of The Intersection is getting larger and wider, allowing more and more creative energy and information to flow in and through and to you.

There are many elements inside The Intersection, each with the potential to expand the size of The Intersection. Here are 16 I rely on. But this is not a definitive list. As you spend more and more time writing, creating, and living in The Intersection, you will find yourself naturally creating the physical space and personal activities that feel right for you. Look at this list as a catalyst to help you awaken to how you really want to work in concert with the creative energy of the universe.

1. Sacred Desire—Find Your Soul’s Purpose

• To be of service • To live your soul’s purpose • To be available to the creative energy and desires of the universe • To use what you receive • To be joyful and grateful • If nothing else, say, “I am ready, willing and worthy” every day

2. Soul Vows—Soul Vows

• Your soul’s most precious divine qualities • Your personal covenant with the Divine Mystery • Core values through which all decisions are filtered • Values that gather and express the living Presence of the Divine

in, through, and as you • Read mine in Soul Vows and Writing Down Your Soul

3. Writing Blessing—Session 1

• Induces theta brain wave state • Reminds you your purpose is sacred, your work holy • Blesses your body, mind, spirit, hands • Reframes and heals fears or concerns • Renews your commitment to the writing life • Lifts your emotional state • Calls Spirit and Guides to support and guide you as you create



4. Sacred Space—Session 1 “Sacred space is needed if sacred work is to be done. You must find a way to transform

even the most mundane room into numinous atmosphere.”

“Make sure that your room is filled with those things that make you passionate, make you curious, make you alive, and more vital, yet make you want to work.

Enthusiastically, not grudgingly.”

“When you enter the room each day, be conscious of crossing the threshold, sitting in your chair, how the materials you use to create support the act of creation.”

Phil Cousineau, Stoking the Creative Fires

• Your work space is sacred space, bless it, be grateful for it • Select everything in your work space to support your creative life including your Soul

Vows, Writing Blessing, artwork… • Set up a creative altar that feeds your spirit and reminds you of your sacred purpose • Use a Feng Shui placement approach if that speaks to you • Consider the impact of color, light, furniture, ergonomics, etc. • Make sure you love entering your space and everything in it

My altar with Soul Vows, Writing Blessing My office: soul writing chair, altar lilies, candle from Michael’s, my mother’s favorite painting of Mary, and the crystal writing angel I gave her 30 years ago Note the copper orange color. That’s Gabriel—the angel of writers’—color. I had to paint my office this color years before I knew its profound significance.



5. Guides and Guidance—session 2 • Your creative teacher/daimon ala Elizabeth Gilbert’s Ted talk • Spirit, Source, the Voice—by any name that resonates with you • Gods, Goddesses—Hestia! • Angels, Saints, ascended masters • Masters and Teachers of the Akashic Record • Ancestors, family members, others who have completed this life • Animal totems • Any Guides you feel drawn to and nurtured by

6. Deep Soul Writing—Writing Down Your Soul, ongoing

• Receive daily guidance and wisdom on the page • Create space for real creativity, breakthrough ideas,

deep questions • Gets you into theta • Ask for anything you need for your writing, you’ll be

amazed at how your Writing Guides take it from there • As you spend more time writing in theta, you become

more accessible to creativity throughout the day and night

7. Your Craft—ongoing

• Commitment to excellence • Highest professional and personal integrity • Exceed professional standards • Constant learning, growth • Curiosity about your profession and everything around it • Professional community, contacts, organizations • Dedication, show up—earn your AIC degree!

A surprising thing happens as you write with dedication and love in The Intersection: the book that wants to be written begins to come through and not only guide you to write it, but it also teaches you how to write. (see Annie Dillard)



8. Prayer—ongoing

Visual prayer—writing space and home are sacred chapels

• Surround yourself and your writing space with images and

symbols to stimulate your subconscious mind and radiate energy to attract all that you want to fulfill your purpose.

• Examples: Intention Mandala (The Lotus and The Lily), Spiritual Brand statement and image such as a logo, Prayer Flag, sacred art, found objects like the dragonfly on my altar… anything beautiful that feeds your writing soul.

Full body personal prayer

• Spoken or chanted declarations and prayers reinforce that you are ready, willing, and

worthy to become the writer you are here to be. • Chant your prayers aloud: “When you speak with 100% of your being, your prayers

become mantra, a sacred formula with the power to transform reality.” Thich Nhat Hanh You are Here

• Write and chant an invocation like Invocation to Sophia or Song of Increase Design prayer practices throughout the day.

• Experiment with a first prayer as you open your eyes. • Say daily prayers or blessings, prayers of your spiritual tradition, grace before

meals, a blessing when you enter your writing space, etc. • Bless your writing office and computer. • Develop prayer habits you love and repeat them daily. Bless others • Bless others with The Perfect Prayer, the Love Loving Love prayer or other

prayers. • Bless your agent, publisher, readers long before you know who they are • Bless your sister writers in Plug In for Writers. • Send blessings to people before meetings and phone calls; say prayers in the

car or plane, when you pay bills. or receive income bless both your income and outgo…



9. Remove the rocks/blocks in your energy fields—Session 3

• Partner with The Great Writer to find your blocks and release them • Forgiveness and release is essential to freedom. It creates space in your psyche for a

radiant positive belief in yourself and your future • Explore possible gifts in what appear to be negative situations • Shift in awareness: there is nothing to forgive • Use EFT to release cellular negativity

10. Spiritual Brand—Your Beating Heart—Session 4

• Deep clarity about your foundational beliefs, how your writing serves those beliefs, and the impact your work has on the world

• Magnetically attracts only the people and situations that match the vibration and purpose of your work

11. Your Neighborhood—Session 5 and 6

• Rich gestalt experience of where your work will be seen by the public, your dreams

become real when you take them out of the possibility realm and see them completed in physical reality

• Enter the “Neighborhood to the Nightstand” and experience the perfect reader purchasing your book and bringing it home

• Put an image of your Neighborhood in your writing space • Your Neighborhood will be further refined down to your “block” or niche in the

publishing world in the 6th session on The Publishing Grid

12. Solitude—Bonus recording • Experience the great paradox of solitude: you are alone in your writing space AND you

are not alone. • Standing in The Intersection, you stand in a living vibrant field of writing, populated by

writers, guides, angels—a whole host of support

13. Soul-cation

• Scheduled periods of rest and renewal • Plus give yourself mini-moments of soul rest throughout the day



14. Gratitude and Celebration

• Writing opens an expanded awareness of so much to be grateful for • Create an Evidence Shelf and keep track of all gifts from the universe supporting your

writing, emails, notecards, gifts… • Express thanksgiving for information and other gifts received—say

something, shout of joy, ring a bell… • Habit of gratitude for small and large things, arriving safely, being paid,

finding a book for your research, getting a contract… • Ask your writing sisters to celebrate with you! • Daily prayers of gratitude such as A Grateful Heart, M.J. Ryan • Celebrate your work, find something to celebrate every day • Occasionally throw a party to celebrate your work

15. Community—ongoing

• Draw a community of like-minded creatives around you and not just writers. I find spending time with artists feeds something I didn’t even know I was hungry for.

• You may find that people who do not support your creative work and dreams fall away. If they need to go, let them go. Do not allow toxic people to poison your belief in yourself and your work. If you must speak with them (perhaps because they’re family) carefully choose the time, do not start your day with people who doubt you)

• Fully utilize your Plug In for Writers soul community o Turn to your community for support o Ask your community for research assistance, ideas, sources o Promote and encourage the community members o Celebrate successes with our community

16. Spiritual practice—ongoing Morning

• Upon waking, lie perfectly still while you’re still in theta. Allow rich details about your

dreams to return. Allow any new information or ideas to come to you (this is how and when I get all my titles). Once you have remembered all you want to capture, write notes on the pad next to your bed

• As you get out of bed bless the day with a saying, prayer, visual, invocation, let the

first words out of your mouth be holy. I used to say Psalm 118: This is the day the Lord has made, I am grateful and rejoice in it” Since Find Your Soul’s Purpose, I know begin my day saying this chakra blessing: “This is the treasury of our life, this is the treasury of our creativity, this is the treasury of our presence in the world, this is the treasury



of our love, this is the treasury of our voice, this is the treasury of our knowing, and this is the treasury of our prayers.” Whatever you choose, bless the day as your feet touch the ground.

Writing time

• As you enter your work space, smile, bless it, see it as beautiful, tell it you love it, thank

it for being in your life

• Begin your writing time with a ritual that opens the Intersection. Perhaps:

o Stand in front of your Writing Altar, smile and breathe deeply. Light a candle or in some way activate the sense of smell. Anoint your body with essential oil or holy water.

o Chant your Soul Vows, Writing Blessing, Soul Purpose, Prayer of the 8 Directions, or any other prayers with 100% of your being as instructed by Buddha so your prayers become Mantra with the power to transform reality.

o Call on your Guides, Daimon, Angels to bless your hands, mind, body. o Express gratitude for the gift of writing o Ring a bell, make a joyful sound o If you have an Intention Mandala, look at it or other sacred images. Put them

where they can feed your subconscious all day

• Write down your soul. Get into the daily habit of talking about your writing and what you’re writing about and asking for insight and guidance. Almost all my writing ideas start on the page in dialogue and as the writing continues, poof, something unexpected will come through me onto the page. Capture your insights & guidance and whisper them aloud as you drink water—whether you understand them or not—to take your insights into your body on a cellular level.

• Throughout your writing time, use the guidance you received in dreams, during the

night, in theta in the morning, and in soul writing. Stop and request help from your Guides throughout the day. (I will stop typing, look up into Gabriel’s eyes in the Greek Icon painting and have outload chats with her!) Listen to the guidance you receive in your mind and your body. (My body will tell me to get up and go for a walk.) Say thank you for every idea or blessing that comes your way.

• At the end of your writing time, say thank you, and bless your space



Night

• End the day with gratitude

• Bless your hands, bathe them consciously and gratefully

• Read something lifting; don’t watch TV or read the paper or anything else you know upsets you.

• Reduce electronics in bedroom, remove TV, charge cellphone elsewhere, be sure

phone is OFF, stop looking at screens at least an hour before bed, preferably sooner. The blue light of the screen upsets the melatonin in your sleep cycle.

• Create a nighttime prayer, meditation, or gratefulness practice

• As you approach sleep, do any of these that feel right:

o Set intention to maximize your night time “downloads” o o Direct your dreams to answer a particular question, give you insight, or

show you something you need to know o Request specific assistance with a project o Keep a notepad with open pen next to bed o During the night, capture your messages, (roll over and write them on a

legal pad) say thank you

• I discovered while writing Find Your Soul’s Purpose that dreams are teaching fields. I SAW the spiral loops and labyrinths and I saw and HEARD the experiences and even the words for the Guided Meditations. And then I received The 9 Containers of Love in a dream and The 1 of Hearts. I realized writing is a 24/7 activity!

• Be still in the morning, don’t move, collect images, remember your dreams, all thoughts and ideas to enter your mind (see above)



Your Writing Blessing

“What would you be doing right now, if you knew that what you wanted was coming on Friday?”

Your Writing Blessing is the core blessing you say at the beginning of your day. Speaking your Writing Blessing opens The Intersection by reaffirming your intention, reminding you of your soul’s creative purpose, and aligning your thoughts and activities for the day with that divine purpose.

There is no set formula for an effective Writing Blessing. I wrote mine around the three things I need to remember every day:

I am a writer. I am a partner. I am a lily.

None of those may apply to you. Nor is three a magic number. You must write your own Writing Blessing. Ask your Divine Voice or Hestia to help you. Your blessing may come at night, or on the page, or in the shower, or in the car, or at the least expected moment. It may come all or once, or scattered throughout the day or in pieces over several days. Here are a few ways you can ask for and receive your blessing:

• Ask as you’re falling asleep • Soul write about it—possible prompt below • Set your intention to receive your blessing and then pay attention to ideas, images, and

words floating around you. It may come at any time, even, or especially when you’re not expecting it

• Ask your Guides • Ask your favorite oracle tools for guidance on what you need to remember

Dear Voice, My soul is longing to express itself more fully as a really good writer. I want to vibrate with my purpose. I want to know my message and communicate it with joy and power. Help me. What do I need to discover or remember about myself in order to be the creative force I want to be? What grace do I need? What guidance? Help me find the words to create a sacred blessing that will awaken my soul and inspire me every day. Where shall we begin? Here’s my Writing Blessing. You are welcome to borrow any aspects of it that speak to you. But please don’t copy it verbatim. Take the time to write one that lifts your heart and reminds you of the writer you want to be. Write one that makes your heart sing an ecstatic “yes” every time you say it Write one you will love. Every day. For the rest of your life.



My Writing Blessing Written 5-15-2007 and renewed ______

I am a writer

Today I write. I write of the divine connection, the power of words,

and the presence of Spirit. I write in union with and service to the only God.

Grace abounds. It flows on me, my hands, my heart, my mind, and my soul.

It flows in me and through me as the words pour forth in perfect harmony

to excite the hearts of millions and inspire them to enter into the exquisite experience of divine dialogue.

I am a partner

Today I work in partnership. I am happy and grateful for my many, many successful partnerships and the

joyful work and abundant prosperity they produce for all.

I am a lily

I am the beloved child of the all-loving, all-giving Mother Sophia. I am ready, willing, and worthy to receive my inheritance right here and right now.

I graciously receive, joyfully spend, wisely invest, and properly tithe the generous gifts the universe bestows on me.

And all is well. More than well, all is perfect.

More than perfect, all is divine. Everything is according to divine will.

Thank you, Sophia, for this day, this life, this work, and these words.

Amen



To enhance the power of your Writing Blessing to open The Intersection, speak it with your whole body. Incorporate these elements when you say it:

1. Sacred Desire—open your heart to connect with the divine

2. Sacred Sound—ring a bell or bowl, clap your hands

3. Smell—activate the sense of smell with a candle, flowers, herbs, essential oil…

4. Emotion—allow the words to flow over you elevating your emotional state; also look at or hold something that represents how much you love your work

5. Voice—speak or chant your blessing aloud

6. Body—move with your blessing, feet firmly planted and open, hands raised, make motions that match the words, clap or make noise

7. Anoint yourself—touch your hands, heart, third eye with sacred oil or water

8. Gratitude—ring a gratitude bell or make another joyous sound at the conclusion of your blessing



Bring it to life—your home-play 1. Create your sacred writing space 2. Set up your writing altar

3. Write your Writing Blessing—and/or Creative Manifesto, Song of Increase…

4. Begin to practice opening The Intersection by anointing yourself, speaking your Writing Blessing, your soul purpose statement if you have it, and your Soul Vows if you have them, along with any other spiritual practices you like, aloud every day in your sacred creative space. Take note of how you feel when you begin your day this way and the impact it has on your work.

5. Continue seeking and using tools to support the development of your craft 6. Read something of the highest caliber in your genre.


creating, living, and loving your professional writing ......soul coloring book, she called back ten...

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