This season is merrier because of you
+ a note on why the holidays can be a time of healing and hope
When I started this experiment, a move from writing for myself to writing for you, I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen.
It’s a vulnerable thing to show up here and it’s a brave thing, I believe, to keep showing up when we don’t aways see the fruit of our work or words.
Ideas may plant seeds.
Word may nurture feelings or propel us to action.
Or, they might just fall flat like an old piano.
They can get lost in the flurry.
What happens after we hit “publish” - whether it’s a book or a weekly letter - is beyond the writer. We cannot control the fruit.
Yet it is also a living hope that waits to meet us in the sacred places of our experience, our stories.
If we are fortunate, writers will hear from their readers about how they are moved and these are some of my most favorite emails and messages.
How words move you moves me more than you know.
What I didn’t expect along this author marathon is how much your showing up and engaging and sharing and telling me your story, sharing your thoughts, would change me.
I’ve learned incredible things from your experiences.
I’ve been moved to tears by what your hearts have shared on the page.
I’ve been so encouraged when you’ve told me to “keep going” at just the precise moment I was about to give up. Or when you share that my words have propelled you to do the same:
Keep going.
Showing up with authenticity is tough. Especially in a world that has more opinions, content, and ideas to sift through daily.
Friends, I call you this (my friends) because I am honored to share with you and most importantly, to hear from you about your story.
Together, we can support each other in recovery, life, and writing.
Over the holidays, especially, when our lives can be even more challenging and we are faced with past traumas or new triggers, we can show up for each other and pull up a chair.
In this circle, we can create new traditions of sharing our hearts and in the process of this soul-honesty, feel a radical compassion that is beyond healing.
It is transformative.
Thank you for being a part of the circle.
You will always have a seat at the table.
Be on the look out for what’s new in 2025:
A new collab with recovery.com that is going to be amazing! More info coming in January!
The 4th annual International Women’s Day event announcements are coming soon (and this year we are doing something new!)
More resources to support your journey as a person in or seeking recovery or an affected family member.
What would you like to see here? Send me a message and share now.
"Christmas did not come after a great horde of people had completed something good, or because of the successful result of any human effort. No, it came as a miracle, as the child that comes when his time is fulfilled, as a gift of the Father which he lays into those arms that are stretched out in longing."
~ Eberhard Arnold
Merry Christmas, friends, happy holidays and a very happy and fruitful new year!