My clever-minx friend Therese over at Message Gap made such a great point in a recent post about facing the proverbial blank piece of paper.

She writes “perhaps you’re inspired to act by a charismatic chief executive but not sure where to bring all that energy back to the day’s work.”

Here’s what strikes me about this point. Put this into any context. Take someone who’s just been inspired by a book or a talk or a song or a conversation or by surviving an incredibly rough journey that is on the upswing and suddenly this person feels magnificently motivated and inspired to do …  something.

That something could be to sit down in front of a piece of paper and start writing or drawing; it could be to pick up the phone to have that overdue conversation or learn how to finally write that business plan or adopt a child or join the Peace Corp.

That first rush of YESness is so energizing.

The second eventual rush of NOW WHATness is so … confusing. Even deflating, to the tune of “Ah, fughetaboutit.”

Of course this is why people are going to coaches and counselors and joining common-interest groups and communities: to take that inspiration and make it into something over the course of time. Instead of letting another bloom of YESness wilt away, what if you listened? 

Don’t discount a returning idea or vision or calling as just your imagination running away with you.

Write it down. Tell someone. Fan it, nurture it and love it by asking around to see who else might share your interest. Have you ever noticed that the second you discover a new interest or idea, everyone you talk to has something to say about it? When I first started writing poetry about 12 years ago, that’s how it seemed to work. Instead of saying Oh, I don’t write poetry, I told people I worked with I was curious about poetry. Suddenly: books of poets were stacking on my desk and the ACCOUNTANT of all people was emailing me his favorite poems. It was important stuff let me tell you.

Life gets filled with meaning, joy, and rich connections when you add to it pursuits that really inspire you.

So what if it feels hard and confusing. Anything worth doing well that brings the OH WOW rewards starts off with a big What the F–? In other words, it’s effort, and there’s fumbling but it’s new and energizing too.

What’s important is matching the right actions to the inspiration.

You don’t feel like it?

That’s okay. Nobody ever really wakes up like a super hero and charges to it.

People who live their conviction and make their visions come true do so by stringing together a series of actions that over time makes something happen. Think of a daisy chain of small efforts.

Be a creator. Show yourself what you’re made of. And remember — you don’t have to do it alone.

are the ones you have while you’re wide awake.

The best, most successful dreams are the ones you follow up on and make happen. It’s easy to rest on the laurels of your big, groovy vision and take comfort in it happening one day.

But this is also why “dreams” get a bad name: so many of us procrastinate on turning our dreams into reality that the word “dream” elicits many an eye roll these days. Dreams are for airy-fairy dreamers.

In some cases it’s okay if a dream dies an early death. An occasional idea, thought or inspirational burst may come in and hang out for a while, we play with it a bit and then we realize Nah, not so much and it can float on past to someone else. But somewhere in there, we’re hopefully catching other ideas and callings and working on making a few of those legitimate.

If it’s a reoccuring real-life dream, something that grabs at you physically, spiritually, mentally and keeps you up at night — that’s a dream that wants to come true.

Stop dreaming and …
start with a series of small steps that are within your control. So, if you’re giving in to a years-long nagging to write that book, start by making 15 minutes three times a week to scribble and write. Sign up for a writing class in your neighborhood, or online. If you’ve always wanted to run a marathon, go buy a pair of running shoes, get a training plan and start talking about what you’re doing until you find other runners to play with.

All big dreams start with small bite sized pieces and take patience and an investment in the process.

You really don’t know where you’ll end up once you start.  That’s the excitement of adventures, and following your dreams.

Remember the days when we used to know what our friends’ and loved ones’ handwriting looked like?

I recently received a postcard from a friend I’ve known for a while, who was traveling overseas. I’d never seen his handwriting before. It felt like such a personal, intimate expression, especially in this modern age of emails and texts and  Times New Roman font.

This reminded me of how years ago, after the end of a relationship, I felt saddened by the fact that I had no idea what my boyfriend’s handwriting looked like — like something vital was missing.

Handwriting feels intimate. That’s probably why you can’t beat the impact of a handwritten letter.

I wonder if I’ll ever get to know my niece and nephew’s handwriting.

Stare out the window, but stay in the room

A quick story of practical wisdom:

A couple years ago I was at a writer’s conference, where a novelist talked about one key ingredient that makes a writer a writer — and it wasn’t about craft.

He told a story about finishing the very first paragraph of a new novel and how he wanted to race out of the room that moment and celebrate for a year. But he didn’t. Instead he stayed in the room. And he returned to the room. And everytime he sat down to work on his novel and wanted to leave he stayed. Even if he didn’t write.

Staying in the room is a great metaphor for anything we do with mastery and commitment. Sometimes it’s called “showing up.” The room can be a writing den, your job, the gym, a classroom, the kitchen–and then sometimes the “room” is the day: getting up and going out into the world when you don’t want to.

Where could you stay in the room more — to get to the next level of mastery?

Have fun — and know you’ll be squirming with many others all over the world who have chosen to stay in the room.

It’s time for a little announcement: TOOT TOOT.

The Writing Gym is open! This one focuses on blogging.

Here’s what membership entails. Plus: It’s almost stinkin’ free for the month of February.  

So who joins this gym?

Writers and professionals who have started a blog that supports a business, a book idea or to share ideas and experiences—and would like to keep the damn thing going!

The benefits of membership?

• You want the kind of playful kick in your pants that will get—and keep—your writing going, and help your blog grow and develop into something exciting and suprising.
• You could use both 1) coaching to move past the fear and stuck spots and 2) writing tips and creative idea generating.
• You’d like to be part of a community of writers—but without it being a time drain or even having to leave home.
•  You’d like to find the right first-person voice that feels comfortable—and supports the purpose of your blog.
• You’d like to get over the fear of being exposed in public as a writer.
•  You’d like to know how on earth you can keep coming up with ideas, topics and different ways to write your pieces.

What a Writing Gym Membership includes: 

• 1 x month group coaching call: 12pm – 1pm Pacific time, the last Thursday of the month. Includes: A short talk on a writing issue; Q&As and some writing time. Each call will end with an assignment for writers to bring to their blogs the  next month. (The calls will be recorded.)
•  Bi-weekly “try-this” emails with a tip or idea to use in your writing.
• Feedback on one one-page piece of writing/month
• Unlimited email access
• Cost: $15 for February. $32/month through July.

To get the most out of your membership 

Be  prepared to give a minimum of two hours a month to your writing. This includes the one-hour phone call. Be prepared to write a minimum of one blog posting a month.  The gym will help you find a way to sustain your blog writing in a way that works for your life, schedule and personality.  All you have to do is be committed to giving it a shot and seeing the fun in it.

The point here is to get strong, sinewy writing muscles and have a great time doing it.  To join the gym, email me to sign up:

tatyana@tatyanamishel.com

COMING SOON: Paypal and a proper online sign up form.THANK YOU! 

 

Kids bring a splash of passion to daily life.

A while ago I was at a dinner and got cornered by a woman, newly divorced after a long marriage and a bit tipsy on wine and tequila who was in that What-Do-I-Do-Now threshold. She asked me this  question:

“Tell me, what are you passionate about?”

Oh, Jesus, I thought. Really? Aren’t we past all that now? Instead I  mumbled back, “Oh, I’ve stopped hanging my hat on that kind of thinking.” It seems everyone was chasing after passion around Y2K and now the frenzy has died.

Passion. Everyone wants it. And why? Did you know “Passion” is from the latin word “Passio” which means to Suffer? (To suffer for what you love, actually; I learned this on an Easter radio broadcast of Bach’s Passion of the Christ.)

Here’s my 2c: Passion doesn’t have to be about WHAT you do. Why not make it about HOW you do; how you exist inside your skin and move through life and absord the world around you, connect with people you care about. Look at kids and how passionately they express themselves. They’re not hanging their hats on one THING that makes them passionate. It’s just how they are.

OK, so yes, I get it —  it adds purpose to life to be passionate about something. But if you can tap into a current of deep feeling and caring inside yourself, you’ll find passion is tied to the simple things in life starting with being alive and connecting to whatever it is you find beautiful.

If you’ve lost your passion compass, my advice: Slow down and start paying attention to the little things that bring you into the moment with deep appreciation: a beautiful piece of writing, music, the sunrise, a conversation with someone you love, rewatching a favorite movie, staring at the water or your child’s face. You name it.

Passion? It’s inside you. Find it there first and then protect it and share it and nurture it.

And have fun with it, LOTS of fun.

I wrote a post a while back on my dislike of the elevator pitch. Why do we have to sum up What We Do and Who We Are in one canned self-promoting snap?

So hallelujah to my smart biz/communications consultant friend Therese Beale who helps businesses get their stories straight. She writes a great blog post on a kinder, gentler more human approach to how we talk about what we do in Skip the Elevator Pitch: What’s Your Sentence?

It’s important, especially as a small biz owner or an entrepreneur, to speak clearly and visually about what you do, why you do it and the killer benefits. And to convey the juice of what you do in a way that raises intrigue and antennae and gets people thinking about everyone that might need your services.

It’s also important to find a way to talk about what you do in a way that feels natural and conversational and includes the other person in the conversation.

A parting hint: How do you answer “What do you do?” in a way where you’re talking with someone rather than at them?

And how about experimenting  and playing around with your sentence(s) in a fun and creative way?

Have fun talking about what you do this week!

Going line for line with Frank Bidart

You know how it is when you haven’t written for a while?

Sounds of creak creak coming from the creative well and whispers of Can I still do this rising from the doubting monkey mind.

• Went to Poetry Daily to get  a poem. Thankfully it was a poem by a poet I love, Frank Bidart.
• Went to my local cafe and sat down with a printed out copy of the poem. I read it and then wrote to it line-by-line with this formula: I inverted every word and phrase of Bidart’s poem.
• Wrote to the end and then started to revise.
• Did I feel incompetent and out of shape and frustrated? HELL NO. It felt damn good to sit there communing with poetry. If you were at the Madison Park Starbucks on Dec 30th, and saw a woman sitting by a window with tears in her eyes, well — that was me.

Most of the time we’re writing, it’s the process that matters. We can pull in our critical selves when it’s time to do the revising and editing and prep a piece for public viewing. Until then, what matters is the doing, discovering, playing. Lock the judge in her bedroom until you’re ready for her. But back to kick starting yourself.

Use other writers, their work — or some of your previous work — as support, a writing partner or scaffolding.

Write in between the lines of a poem: write your version of each image or phrase; write the opposite, (as I did in the above example); use the lines  simply as company so you don’t have white space in front of you.

Or, write your version of the next line of that poem all the way through. When you’re done, remove the original poem and see what you have. Even if it feels like it’s going to be nonsensical, you’ll be surprised.

And if it helps to write with someone else’s poem or opening novel paragraph or brilliant essay passage, do it.

In today's world, we're all writers

Are you a writer? Hell yeah!

In today’s world where most of us spend our days writing emails and status reports, texts, tweets, blogs, and simply expressing ourselves and our ideas and intentions with colleagues and friends in some form of written communication — we’re all writers. Or what I call everyday writers.

On this note, I’d like to announce that going forward, my coaching is going to focus on helping people with their writing lives.

So, Tatyana Mishel Coaching is now called Everyday Writer: Coaching for People Who Write. People who write = everyone from formalist poets to creative professionals, solopreneurs and anyone who wants to have a more confident or playful or expressive relationship to their daily writing life, whatever that may be (writing poems, status reports, emails, love letters, blogs, business Web sites).

The coaching work  focuses on everything from how to write with more ease and find your voice to personal coaching around creative blocks and time management.

One of my projects, along with coaching packages, is to create a Writing Gym — a place where people can come together to work their writing muscle in a community and get tips and support and helpful perspectives on expressing themselves in their perfect voice and learning to fly with it. 

This is all new and if you’d like to be a part of it and let me know what you think as it moves along I welcome your thoughts!  I’m in the process of  updating the Web site content to reflect the writing focus.

Here’s to all your creative, expressive endeavors — personal and professional! Because you are creative.