I'm writing a contemporary fantasy, a Hogwarts for middle aged women where the women learn magic to buy humanity time to address the climate crisis. I'm not allowing myself any thoughts that I can't finish a solid first draft but this morning I stepped into a plot hole. So needing the good energy coming from all you shimmying dreamers!
Just got back from Glastonbury, England, where magic reigns supreme. Saw (and talked with) high priestesses at the top of the Glastonbury Tor greeting the dawn in song and chants as they ushered women through their final initiation ritual before officially becoming priestesses. They were from Sweden. And then they gathered us visitors--also there to greet the dawn--into a giant circle and led us in song about being one with nature, the world, each other. It was incredibly moving. And we were watching the sun rise over Avalon with the legendary mists arising at the same time. Let me know if I can cheer you on or share some magical moments for inspiration. Jeanne Ambrose
Get out of here Jeanne! OMG this sounds like the most amazing experience. The shimmering of the veil and you got to witness it. I can almost feel the power of ritual from your words.
I'm cheering you on big time! The world needs more eco-focused fiction to get our creativity working toward making the necessary shifts!!
BTW I'm writing an eco-romance novel at the moment - on a smaller scale than your contemporary fantasy, but with a heroine who is fighting the entrenched agri-business world. :)
my gosh! that is so great! How is it going? How far along are you? fYI: I want to do a round up of "it's not too late" fiction here. Got any titles you love?
I started a year ago and then took a 6 month break and I'm back at it after figuring out why I was stuck. I'm about 30,000 words in and getting into a better groove than I started out with.
As for titles, I feel like Tara McMullen @taramcmullin would have some great ones to share that line up with the "it's not too late" aspect as well! :)
At 74 I just published my first book based on my personal and professional experience as a cancer research nurse and daughter and friend of cancer patients. 4 Paths of Cancer: A Journey Through Myths, Grief, Hope, Love was written to demystify, destigmatize and humanize cancer. I am so happy I created this. I wasn't too old and it was not a frivolous dream as some may have thought. With love to all.
Thank you for this post; it gives me hope. It also makes me recall when I read Wild a decade ago and thought, "if Cheryl Strayed waited 17 years to write her memoir, then there's hope for me," and when I read Lessons in Chemistry and thought, "If Bonnie Garmus waited til her mid-60s to write her first novel, then there's hope for me."
My "past due dream" is to live in England - not sure what I would "do" there - but my dream is to live there, to explore, to immerse myself in that culture, and to expand my horizons. The irony is that when I was 18-19 I nearly went there to spend a summer working, but I was discouraged going "because it's not safe for a girl on her own" - this was in the late 1970's, and travelling to Europe actually was a "thing" . . . Also, now my 28 year old daughter is living there (is she living my dream? No, this is definitely her dream and her life!), and I feel all kinds of weird thinking I would dream to live there too. So much confusion, and so many doubts - and I tie myself up in knots. When really my dream is simply to go and live there for a while and see what would happen. Do I dare to dream? What other dreams do I dare to let myself dream?
Hi Chris! Oh, I so relate! I had really wanted to go to the University of California, Berkeley. I lived in Virginia at the time, early '70's, and was talked out of it. Because "it wasn't safe for a girl to travel that far alone", but mostly because my mother needed me. I found the journal entry where I made the decision to postpone going until my mother got her act together. Well, that never happened. And I never went. Just one in a long series of given-up dreams to be the caretaker.
I love you asking yourself these questions, with no pressure to follow through, just curiosity (as Jen would say). ❤️
Isn't it interesting how we give up our dreams to look after others . . . I hear what you're saying, Demian, I hear you! And maybe it's asking the questions that's important, and daring to dream, and letting myself dream . . .
Tonight I’m leading a local in-person meditation event. Only my second one since certification (the rest have been on Zoom). It will be real and raw. And right now I’m in that “what was I thinking” mindset. 😂 Let’s shimmy!
Oh glad you reminded me to come back! Yes! It was lovely - a full range of brand new meditators to 40 years of formal experience. We co-created a space together that we want to do again! 🎉
I love the idea and reminder that it's NOT TOO LATE! It's never too late, what we are drawn to we are drawn to for a purpose. Dreams take time and energy and sometimes waiting.
My dream is to walk beside people (metaphorically, although I do enjoy a good walk!) as a mentor, to offer tools, approaches, and practices that can open up possibilities and bring people back to their own inner authority.
This project of yours is so meaningful. I need to see, hear, read, and be reminded over and over and over again that it's not too late. Like you said, especially now more than ever in the midst of world heartache, in the midst of climate crisis. So thank you for being my constant reminder. I am forever grateful for you and your work in the world.
This is so important to say and hear, especially now. I leave today for a writing retreat and the questions I'll be asking is which dreams how, and when? Or maybe it's only the first that matters and the rest will follow... Thank you!
Love this thread. Will revisit on days my confidence flags. Just signed a contract to publish a novel with an indie press. Switched to short stories and my goal is to go from "good" rejection to acceptance in a literary journal. I am in my sixties and have been writing for years.
I'm also working on my first novel - and it's also something I've attempted in the past and haven't gotten all the way across the finish line.
It does feel "frivolous" but at the same time, it's giving me a way to process a lot of what's happening in the world and maybe even open a way for us to change how we respond in tough situations. It's an eco-romance (I know that's not a genre, but I'm making it one ;).
This line alone is magic: "Or maybe you’re thinking about starting and want to share one wobbly first step you’re taking. So beautiful, thank you in advance!" Sharing one wobbly step. Seems so easy, so small, so low stakes. But eeesh, the scariest too. Here it is: serializing something.
After 30 some years writing non-fiction, I’m determined to finish an eco-thriller. I want it to feel “raw,” like a first draft almost, mostly to get perfectionism off the table. An experiment, for sure, but really enjoying it! Let the shimmy begin!
I love this article so much!! My dream is to finish my book ‘Letters from Butterflies’, to help sensitive hearts see themselves through a softer lens. There’s a lot more to it but that’s the gist: a deep and whimsical personal development book, written from the perspective of a butterfly. ✨ My first (next) wobbly step, after a long break from regular writing, is to convert my Scrivener file to Google Docs and dive back in. During my break I created art and poetry which might just be some of the puzzle pieces I was missing, so I’m beyond excited.
And it’s not too late, in fact now is the perfect time ... I feel stronger physically and mentally at 48 than I’ve felt for the past decade. As you said there’s a LOT going on in the world, but if I can help just a few hearts heal and hope, I’ll be blissfully happy. 💛
After years of reading books about others' accounts, I finally at 48 years od took a sabbatical and solo thru hiked the 500 mile colorado trail. I didn't think it would ever be possible for me to get the 6 weeks off from my demanding job as a lawyer. The trail changed me and inspired me so much I am seriously contemplating a move to CO and thru hiking the 3000 mile continental divide trail. What was scarey to do by myself and seemed impossible will likely change the trajectory of my life.
Look at all the amazing people in this community sharing their dreams, I love it so much. My dream is to be part of, and also create a community like this. Sharing important conversations with like-minded, heart-centered folks. I feel this kind of work, like you are doing Jennifer, is important because we need these anchors to go out into our own little world from a place of wholeness.
Yes, the world has gone completely bonkers, beyond our wildest imaginings. We are all shattered and feel helpless. At these times, more than ever, we need each other and we need our dreams, the things that light us up.
So, yes my dream is to contribute to and also create community. It is also to gain the courage to show up fully as myself in my writing. I know it sounds so cliche and overdone...'to show up as myself' but as a not yet fully recovered people pleaser it's a challenge I'm working on.
Not cliched at all! I think true idea if cliches can too often keep us from tending our dreams. Why do we think what we do needs to be unique? I know the answer is course - marketing! Niches! I get it but ugh! I want all this for you! It’s so needed. ❤️🌟🌟❤️🫶🏽we are so lonely we need community.
Just wanted to say thank you Jen; for your newsletters and books.
Have been back and forth with balancing an art practise that's nothing to do with selling and earning money doing design work and feeling pulled between them both since college. Have recently been made redundant and so many 'shoulds' and 'ought tos' and guilt coming up. I know rationally I don't need to listen, and anyway I found the 'permission slip' in your Why Bother book so helpful the other day (the 'I care about ______. I will honor it by _____ 'one). And have written it out; finding it so helpful, especially the 'I am not demanding that it be perfect or profitable, only that I wonder and become by doing'
Ha, yes, I realised after I posted that I hadn't actually shared the first wobbly step. It's more a reminder to *keep taking* those wobbly steps (permission slip, tweaked with thanks, below):
"I care about expressing my creativity in the studio. I will be intentional and honour it by going there regularly. Persisting even when the shouty voice inside says no, 'it's an indulgence'. Documenting it. Sharing it. Talking to other people about it. I am not demanding that it be perfect or profitable, only that I wonder and become by doing. I am not proving anything, or expecting to arrive somewhere where I will finally be enough. I am enough already. I am listening, and tending to it, and making it up as I go along. I have nothing to hide or be ashamed of about not knowing, or not doing this already, or changing my mind. I do not need others' approval or seek their validation. I want to share with you what I'm up to at this moment. Thank you."
I'm writing a contemporary fantasy, a Hogwarts for middle aged women where the women learn magic to buy humanity time to address the climate crisis. I'm not allowing myself any thoughts that I can't finish a solid first draft but this morning I stepped into a plot hole. So needing the good energy coming from all you shimmying dreamers!
Just got back from Glastonbury, England, where magic reigns supreme. Saw (and talked with) high priestesses at the top of the Glastonbury Tor greeting the dawn in song and chants as they ushered women through their final initiation ritual before officially becoming priestesses. They were from Sweden. And then they gathered us visitors--also there to greet the dawn--into a giant circle and led us in song about being one with nature, the world, each other. It was incredibly moving. And we were watching the sun rise over Avalon with the legendary mists arising at the same time. Let me know if I can cheer you on or share some magical moments for inspiration. Jeanne Ambrose
Wow what a wonderful experience! I can just see you there! So magical!!❤️❤️
Get out of here Jeanne! OMG this sounds like the most amazing experience. The shimmering of the veil and you got to witness it. I can almost feel the power of ritual from your words.
I'm cheering you on big time! The world needs more eco-focused fiction to get our creativity working toward making the necessary shifts!!
BTW I'm writing an eco-romance novel at the moment - on a smaller scale than your contemporary fantasy, but with a heroine who is fighting the entrenched agri-business world. :)
my gosh! that is so great! How is it going? How far along are you? fYI: I want to do a round up of "it's not too late" fiction here. Got any titles you love?
I started a year ago and then took a 6 month break and I'm back at it after figuring out why I was stuck. I'm about 30,000 words in and getting into a better groove than I started out with.
As for titles, I feel like Tara McMullen @taramcmullin would have some great ones to share that line up with the "it's not too late" aspect as well! :)
thanks for that tip! 30K is fantastic! And hell yes for a good groove!!
I would read this all day too :) Sending you a shimmy as you dance through the plot hole, and for your heart-felt share of my comment in your post x
hope it gets you some new subscribers!!
Thank you :)
I would read this all day!
thank you friend!! I could write it all day after I solve this plot problem!!
You will :)
I think I did!
I can't wait to read it. That sounds like my kind of book.
appreciate that so much!
This sounds amazing! I'm sending good vibes for you to walk right on outta that hole.
i got out of that one and into another one! :)
I would read that book, Jen. You got this!
super appreciate that!!
At 74 I just published my first book based on my personal and professional experience as a cancer research nurse and daughter and friend of cancer patients. 4 Paths of Cancer: A Journey Through Myths, Grief, Hope, Love was written to demystify, destigmatize and humanize cancer. I am so happy I created this. I wasn't too old and it was not a frivolous dream as some may have thought. With love to all.
oh that's totally fantastic! Terry way to go!!! I'm so happy for you.
Congratulations! Job well done, and thank you for your beautiful way-showing of encouragement. ❤️
I am in awe, well done!
Thank you for this post; it gives me hope. It also makes me recall when I read Wild a decade ago and thought, "if Cheryl Strayed waited 17 years to write her memoir, then there's hope for me," and when I read Lessons in Chemistry and thought, "If Bonnie Garmus waited til her mid-60s to write her first novel, then there's hope for me."
yes! Exactly! Me too!
My "past due dream" is to live in England - not sure what I would "do" there - but my dream is to live there, to explore, to immerse myself in that culture, and to expand my horizons. The irony is that when I was 18-19 I nearly went there to spend a summer working, but I was discouraged going "because it's not safe for a girl on her own" - this was in the late 1970's, and travelling to Europe actually was a "thing" . . . Also, now my 28 year old daughter is living there (is she living my dream? No, this is definitely her dream and her life!), and I feel all kinds of weird thinking I would dream to live there too. So much confusion, and so many doubts - and I tie myself up in knots. When really my dream is simply to go and live there for a while and see what would happen. Do I dare to dream? What other dreams do I dare to let myself dream?
I remember when traveling to Europe was a thing too! I love this dream. England - where would you go? And you could write there!!
Hi Chris! Oh, I so relate! I had really wanted to go to the University of California, Berkeley. I lived in Virginia at the time, early '70's, and was talked out of it. Because "it wasn't safe for a girl to travel that far alone", but mostly because my mother needed me. I found the journal entry where I made the decision to postpone going until my mother got her act together. Well, that never happened. And I never went. Just one in a long series of given-up dreams to be the caretaker.
I love you asking yourself these questions, with no pressure to follow through, just curiosity (as Jen would say). ❤️
Isn't it interesting how we give up our dreams to look after others . . . I hear what you're saying, Demian, I hear you! And maybe it's asking the questions that's important, and daring to dream, and letting myself dream . . .
Tonight I’m leading a local in-person meditation event. Only my second one since certification (the rest have been on Zoom). It will be real and raw. And right now I’m in that “what was I thinking” mindset. 😂 Let’s shimmy!
How did it go?
Oh glad you reminded me to come back! Yes! It was lovely - a full range of brand new meditators to 40 years of formal experience. We co-created a space together that we want to do again! 🎉
Superb!! I’m happy with you!
oh that will be so beautiful! Come tell us how it went!!
I love the idea and reminder that it's NOT TOO LATE! It's never too late, what we are drawn to we are drawn to for a purpose. Dreams take time and energy and sometimes waiting.
My dream is to walk beside people (metaphorically, although I do enjoy a good walk!) as a mentor, to offer tools, approaches, and practices that can open up possibilities and bring people back to their own inner authority.
YES to this "Dreams take time and energy and sometimes waiting." so true! A walking possibility coach. What a lovely dream!
This project of yours is so meaningful. I need to see, hear, read, and be reminded over and over and over again that it's not too late. Like you said, especially now more than ever in the midst of world heartache, in the midst of climate crisis. So thank you for being my constant reminder. I am forever grateful for you and your work in the world.
oh that's so kind! thank you! that helps me keep going.
This is so important to say and hear, especially now. I leave today for a writing retreat and the questions I'll be asking is which dreams how, and when? Or maybe it's only the first that matters and the rest will follow... Thank you!
Oh Teri have the best writing retreat! I hope the projects/dreams emerge with clarity and ease!!
Thanks, Jennifer. Me too!
Love this thread. Will revisit on days my confidence flags. Just signed a contract to publish a novel with an indie press. Switched to short stories and my goal is to go from "good" rejection to acceptance in a literary journal. I am in my sixties and have been writing for years.
Oh my gosh congrats! What is the title? When does it come out??
Thank you! The title is Splenditude. Will come out in the next year.
great title!!
I'm also working on my first novel - and it's also something I've attempted in the past and haven't gotten all the way across the finish line.
It does feel "frivolous" but at the same time, it's giving me a way to process a lot of what's happening in the world and maybe even open a way for us to change how we respond in tough situations. It's an eco-romance (I know that's not a genre, but I'm making it one ;).
This line alone is magic: "Or maybe you’re thinking about starting and want to share one wobbly first step you’re taking. So beautiful, thank you in advance!" Sharing one wobbly step. Seems so easy, so small, so low stakes. But eeesh, the scariest too. Here it is: serializing something.
OH YES! Love that for you! What a blast. My heart is beating fast in the best way!
Love that idea!
After 30 some years writing non-fiction, I’m determined to finish an eco-thriller. I want it to feel “raw,” like a first draft almost, mostly to get perfectionism off the table. An experiment, for sure, but really enjoying it! Let the shimmy begin!
Eco thriller! I love it. What’s your daily writing routine?
I love this article so much!! My dream is to finish my book ‘Letters from Butterflies’, to help sensitive hearts see themselves through a softer lens. There’s a lot more to it but that’s the gist: a deep and whimsical personal development book, written from the perspective of a butterfly. ✨ My first (next) wobbly step, after a long break from regular writing, is to convert my Scrivener file to Google Docs and dive back in. During my break I created art and poetry which might just be some of the puzzle pieces I was missing, so I’m beyond excited.
And it’s not too late, in fact now is the perfect time ... I feel stronger physically and mentally at 48 than I’ve felt for the past decade. As you said there’s a LOT going on in the world, but if I can help just a few hearts heal and hope, I’ll be blissfully happy. 💛
Beautiful!!
Here’s to breaks that give us new perspectives. I’m so excited for this book and you!
After years of reading books about others' accounts, I finally at 48 years od took a sabbatical and solo thru hiked the 500 mile colorado trail. I didn't think it would ever be possible for me to get the 6 weeks off from my demanding job as a lawyer. The trail changed me and inspired me so much I am seriously contemplating a move to CO and thru hiking the 3000 mile continental divide trail. What was scarey to do by myself and seemed impossible will likely change the trajectory of my life.
Come move here! Welcome! And what an adventure that is a serious route. I’ve run and hiked parts but wow 600 miles. That is incredible!
Look at all the amazing people in this community sharing their dreams, I love it so much. My dream is to be part of, and also create a community like this. Sharing important conversations with like-minded, heart-centered folks. I feel this kind of work, like you are doing Jennifer, is important because we need these anchors to go out into our own little world from a place of wholeness.
Yes, the world has gone completely bonkers, beyond our wildest imaginings. We are all shattered and feel helpless. At these times, more than ever, we need each other and we need our dreams, the things that light us up.
So, yes my dream is to contribute to and also create community. It is also to gain the courage to show up fully as myself in my writing. I know it sounds so cliche and overdone...'to show up as myself' but as a not yet fully recovered people pleaser it's a challenge I'm working on.
Not cliched at all! I think true idea if cliches can too often keep us from tending our dreams. Why do we think what we do needs to be unique? I know the answer is course - marketing! Niches! I get it but ugh! I want all this for you! It’s so needed. ❤️🌟🌟❤️🫶🏽we are so lonely we need community.
Just wanted to say thank you Jen; for your newsletters and books.
Have been back and forth with balancing an art practise that's nothing to do with selling and earning money doing design work and feeling pulled between them both since college. Have recently been made redundant and so many 'shoulds' and 'ought tos' and guilt coming up. I know rationally I don't need to listen, and anyway I found the 'permission slip' in your Why Bother book so helpful the other day (the 'I care about ______. I will honor it by _____ 'one). And have written it out; finding it so helpful, especially the 'I am not demanding that it be perfect or profitable, only that I wonder and become by doing'
Yes!
Thank you again.
I’m so glad Why Bother was useful. I love that book. ❤️ can I ask what you wrote in the permission slip? If you care to share 🥰
Ha, yes, I realised after I posted that I hadn't actually shared the first wobbly step. It's more a reminder to *keep taking* those wobbly steps (permission slip, tweaked with thanks, below):
"I care about expressing my creativity in the studio. I will be intentional and honour it by going there regularly. Persisting even when the shouty voice inside says no, 'it's an indulgence'. Documenting it. Sharing it. Talking to other people about it. I am not demanding that it be perfect or profitable, only that I wonder and become by doing. I am not proving anything, or expecting to arrive somewhere where I will finally be enough. I am enough already. I am listening, and tending to it, and making it up as I go along. I have nothing to hide or be ashamed of about not knowing, or not doing this already, or changing my mind. I do not need others' approval or seek their validation. I want to share with you what I'm up to at this moment. Thank you."