secret project I created this summer
Reader
I often get asked if I'm writing another book.
While ideas are still percolating for both fiction and non-fiction, what I really wanted to do over the summer was make something creative for my enjoyment and helpful to someone else.
Plus, over the past months, I've been mulling over what it would look like to create companions for the various phases and themes in my Dare to Decide book. When you're deep in that particular phase, it can take much more thought and time than a couple chapters to find your way through it!
So this summer I made the first one:
this Awaken Self Discovery Journal: A 6-Month Guided Journey to Feeling Alive, Discovering Delight and Restoring Balance.
I'm not sure what your experience has been with the in-between, not-quite at a crossroads yet seasons of life. What I've found is that it can be hard to find a safe place in relationships to heal, explore and discover things that you don't quite know how to express yet.
For others looking in from the outside, whether friend, acquaintance or coach, answers seem obvious. They don't understand why someone is dragging out a decision, or flip-flopping between ideas, or hesitating on an audacious dream that seems like a no-brainer.
Opinions and advice abound! lol And they usually aren't helpful for YOU awakening your own revelation.
When you're in that season, often there's a lot of healing, new perspectives, belief shifts to go through. It's essential to reclaim personal agency (ie. what's yours to choose and own) and recognize where it intersects with faith and trust in God.
I've been in the season often. It has looked/felt like:
...BURNOUT, when what was driving me wasn't true to myself or my calling.
...LETTING GO of people pleasing and fitting in others' expectations instead of owning my own desires, needs and priorities.
(Side note: A couple months after my ex left, I remember buying the most expensive funky boots I had ever purchased, just because I liked them and needed to let go of what others thought. It didn't become a splurging pattern -- but at that time it was an act of me enjoying being me.)
...OVER-CARING for others at the cost of my own spiritual, physical and emotional health.
...HEALING from the breakdown of an unhealthy marriage or disappointed dream rediscovering my style, joys, opinions and values.
...FEELING BLAH when I needed to get out of auto pilot and drudgery and spark delight again.
Times when I fully embraced that perspective were some of my most healing, freeing moments. Moments that eventually become part of a bigger story than I imagined. And I believe that about you, too.
Therefore, I designed this journal for the woman who's at a crossroads...or wishes she were at one... yet not ready to decide where she's going yet because she needs time to get to know herself again. (It's also a simple way to start journaling if you aren't sure what to write about.)
If that describes you, I hope you get a copy for yourself.
And if you've been in that season before, and have found your way forward, this is a lovely opportunity to pay it forward to women you care about who are in this season. What a gift it is for them to know you care and you belief in them!
Books were some of the simple gifts of belief I treasured from coaches and friends when I was in those seasons. : )
Cheering you on,
Emily
PS: The journal is only available on Amazon US and CA. I've kept the price as low as possible to bless clients, friends and family who have shared their painful and vulnerable stories with me. However, in October, the price goes up!