Creative Life Midwife

Inspiring Artistic Rebirth

Shopping Cart Haiku + Assemblage Art

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Haiku 346/377 

ship wreck stuck in time

on a deserted island

where is the captain?

My first photo of a shopping cart was in 2013. Many people think this is a downright bizarre fascination. Abandoned shopping carts, photographed in “the wild”. My one rule is I cannot take photos in a grocery or big box store parking lot.

Each shopping cart photo tells a story. The one for this haiku was on a center island on Ming Avenue near New Stine in Bakersfield. I almost passed it by on the way to “something better” but after I saw a second abandoned shopping cart I knew I had to go back and honor the unheard storyteller who left his or her shopping-cart- home behind.

When I looked at the photos and realized none of them clearly illustrated how this cart was on a median, in the middle of a busy street, distinctively on an island…. this haiku fell onto the “page” here on my phone in an instant.

I’m reminded of the movie “The Dead Poet’s Society” when the boys climb on their desks and say, one by one “oh captain, my captain” as their beloved teacher Mr. Keating leaves the classroom. Administrators meant his dismissal to be in shame and for his students, it wasn’t shame they felt at all, it was honor and love and compassion and understanding.

Your task today if you choose to take it is when you come upon someone you haven’t taken the time to see lately, pause and see them, wholly and holy.

*This is an excerpt from Julie’s soon to be published book, Living the Haiku Life*

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is recently finished her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch exclusive reels, videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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How Stream of Consciousness Writing Makes Everything Better

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How Knowing What You Want (Even in the “Little Things” helps with more than you might think) … and putting your desire awareness in the forefront of your subconscious mind helps with even more than that

What my morning writing practice told me:

It came up over and over during my morning writing practice.

What do I want? What are my true desires right now?

I spent five minutes to investigate via writing, stream of consciousness style, the most basic of what was happening right then, what happened yesterday, and what was the plan for today:

I am doing my morning writing practice. Is this what I want? Yes, it is good to be here again

I had a conversation with Marifran yesterday. Was that what I wanted? YES. Definitely.

I went to that pizza place yesterday. Did I want that? Meh. That was an “I settled for that.”

Today I am doing double open mic duty. Yes, I definitely want that.

Today I wanted to be outside and walking before 6 am. Did I make it? I was outside at 6:03 and had a marvelous time before coming here to write with Rob who is working on his screen play. Stakes, he reminded me of stakes. Did I want that? 

I wanted to be outside and I was close to being on time so that was a win. 

Did I want to work with Rob? I was looking forward to working with Andrea so was surprised when Rob appeared  – and was immediately engaged and reminded “What are my stakes?” in my own writing projects.

 Even though I didn’t realize I wanted that, now I see the desire is always underneath, to connect and be inspired.

Were my wants all met and did I only do what I believed I wanted? 

No, they weren’t all met and no, I didn’t only do what I believed I wanted and YES I am satisfied, content and ready to face the day with much more happiness – and devotion to following my desires, finding the place where my desires and wants in the moment match my vision for the day and my future.

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is recently finished her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch exclusive reels, videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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I finished! The book is done!

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Haiku 3/37

Sleep in Saturday

Slanted light slips through the space

Lean back on pillows

———–

I woke up at 7:05 on Saturday morning, which for me is luxurious. Most mornings I’m happily working in my office downstairs by now, often co-working with someone in Europe at this time of day.

Yesterday I completed the final section of the book during a co-working session with a woman named Sara. I co-work with two different Saras.

This Sara works in tech and her tasks are often in sharp contrast to mine. All I knew was I was very close to finishing and needed one more session to hopefully complete these last revisions.

I scheduled a co-working session based on who was available among the people I knew (I know this makes zero sense to people who don’t use focusmate but I have a list of favorite people. Lately I have perused my favorites and chosen from then instead of being assigned to random co-working partners.)

It was a completely ordinary and beautiful and fulfilling and remarkable 25 minute session.

Now the next phase begins on the way to getting this book on its way to “the world”.

This morning as I leaned back onto the pillows I had carefully arranged before journaling and meditating, I saw the light come into the window and I felt that same feeling as when I reported to Sara “I finished the conclusion. The book is done.”

Ordinary excitement from deep inside.

Another day is here. I am here. You are here.

All is well.

Happy July

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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Haiku: Leaps to Steady the Course

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I was doing my best to stick with my normal routine this morning but had very little success due to connections not working. I did some testing – all appears to be well now but I also felt strongly I was meant to go for a haiku field trip.

I ate my breakfast and headed out to Liberty Loop Trail, 12 minutes from my house and a part of the Walkill River Preserve like the Wood Duck trail.

I was reminded how a change in scenery, even quite brief, changes so much.

Bridge over the Walkill river with this Haiku written on it. Haiku 6/37 Yellow pike lifts, leaps black shoes hover above ground scales flop, meet water

I’m now sitting at the Winding Waters trail where an AT thru hiker just moseyed by, also. I have seen quite a few hikers this morning as the Appalachian trail intersects with rhe Liberty Loop.

Many are wearing shorts and I temporarily halt the Mom in me from saying “are you wearing repellant? There are ticks around here!”

Both of these trails are flat and easy loops – perfect for this sticky weather.

If you wonder how I got to be such a good fish identifier, google is magic, as is my bird call app which just informed me within 1 minute 9 different birds were singing alongside me. Later I will listen to each of the 9 and continue to practice listening more faithfully.

I knew a fish 🐟 was jumping near me, shallow jumps – so I was primed to spot this grand leap. So I googled and found “walleye” which they also told me is also called a yellow pike. There is a lot of fishing here and they stock the river with these….seeing as I’ve only managed to catch one fish in all my years of living, all fish ought to feel safe around me. 🐠

The first year I wrote haiku was also the first year I saw a fish leap like the Yellow Pike did, today. I believe it is something about practicing close, quiet attention and presence.

I did not want to do much of anything today, but the devotion to writing haiku every day because you might be looking for it dragged me up and out of my doldrums to be on the Liberty Loop Trail and experience these moments of haiku with you.

Do you ever use apps to identify the nature around you?

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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Welcome to Summer Expansion & Your Next Chapter: The Preface

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I didn’t realize how long I have been away from my blog.

I left at the same time I started a 5 day a week, 5 hour a day job after more than twenty years as a creative entrepreneur and freelancer. It was quite a shift to work every Monday through Friday on a contract with an educational institution.

While I am grateful I did so, I am also even more grateful to be back for a time of expansion with you.

I have finished my draft of my book (with a working title) “Living the Haiku Life” which will be going to beta readers next week for the first round of revisions based on other-readers-insights.

The Primary Focus of the Summer Expansion will be sharing a daily haiku with inspirational narrative.

These are the building blocks of the Living the Haiku Life Book and are a part of that celebration. I hope you will return daily in July to continue spreading the joy and experiencing self growth in the process.

Expansion doesn’t have to be a struggle. It may be as easy as an inhale – and an exhale.

Let’s begin now.

Haiku 1/37 Summer 2023

Three birds sing one large,
one melodic, one dainty
Welcome to the porch

Sometimes it is the invisible that matters most.

This morning I took notes before this haiku made itself clear to me. I watched a watery, cool morning breeze play with my hair and the leaves of the bushes in front of me as I rock on this front porch, so different from the Alta Vista front porch.

Last night I had a sacred moment, a time of honoring, with a skunk who took cover in the plants beside the porch to the left of where I am sitting now. What a dear one. They skittered when I turned into the driveway, on an emotional high from spending a good chunk of time with the grandbaby where we sang along to Carly Simon, Jackson Browne and danced with the GoGo’s as we sang.

There is almost nothing more precious than a baby shaping her lips to make the just right sound – and being so thrilled with the result her entire body quivers and leaps as a result.

In July I’ll be sharing haiku from exactly where I am because by the time we are complete at the end of the month days, I will also be complete with my braided memoir which tells the story of how haiku saved my life (across 377 days that time!) after I almost died from Valley Fever & Sepsis in Fall, 2019.

Returning and being in a completely different place seemed so glaringly obvious – and just right.

I am so grateful to share this time with you!

Woman (Julie Jordan Scott Julie JordanScott) seeming to burst through a broken wall on an abandoned home.

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.


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Best Tasks to Assign to ChatGPT or Other AI for Writers & Bloggers

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I get stuck with writing effective titles more often than I care to admit.

I still get tangled up in wanting to be the just right level of attractive, engaging and “Will this intrigue a newcomer to my writing to want to read more?”

On Monday’s blog post, I was in my usual quandary of not knowing what to write for my title so I asked both ChatGPT and Canva’s Magic Write to share with me their best titles.

Now it is your turn to choose which title is most likely to stir your interest enough to continue reading:

ChatGPT titles: “The Seedlings of Self-Discovery: Uncovering Hidden Strengths”

  1. “Growing Through Struggle: Nurturing the Seedlings of Healing”
  2. “Finding the Medicine Within: Harnessing the Power of Self-Discovery”
  3. “The Journey Within: Cultivating the Seedlings of Personal Growth”
  4. “Nourishing the Seedlings of Change: A Guide to Overcoming Inner Struggles”

Canva Magic Write titles:

  1. The Power of Love: A Journey of Resistance and Growth
  2. Nurturing Our Seedlings: How Love Overcomes Resistance
  3. The Invisible Force of Resistance: Love as the Key for Growth
  4. What Does Love Mean? Exploring the Meaning of Love in the Context of Resistance
  5. Planting the Seeds of Love: Overcoming Resistance to Encourage Growth

If you are curious about the original blog post these bots helped me to title, you may find it here. Do you think I made the right choice?

Yesterday, my blog post was almost 100% AI generated. To see how that turned out, you may see “Is Artificial Intelligence for Blogging the Right Choice for You?” here.

Please share in the comments your thoughts – especially about which title resonates the most with you – and if you think Artificial Intelligence will help or harm your writing in the future.

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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Is AI for Blogging Your Right Choice?

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Experimenting with ChatGPT and Canva’s Magic Write

A woman cheering surrounded by chat boxes to illustrate her excitement to use ChatGPT for her blogging needs

A few weeks ago I used artificial intelligence as a writing tool by using Canva’s tool, Magic Write. While it isn’t perfect, immediately I was using it to do things like write lists for social media posts, taking longer bits of writing and turning them into twitter threads, creating top 10 lists to then turn into reels or short form video.

I love writing, but there is some writing I don’t like – such as coming up with titles.

Today I used it to generate titles for yesterday’s blog post. In that instance, I had both ChatAI and Canva’s Magic Write generate titles.

Ways I Have Used ChapGPT & Magic Write

If you read saw my blog post yesterday, you saw me use the title “PLANTING THE SEEDS OF LOVE: OVERCOMING RESISTANCE TO ENCOURAGE GROWTH”. In tomorrow’s blog post, I will show you what other titles these two artificial intelligence writing companions suggested.

Finally, this is straight from the ChatGPT bot wrote when I requested “Write a 500 word or less blog post including 3 bullet points about how ChatGPT may help bloggers, please”:

As a blogger, you’re constantly on the lookout for ways to streamline your workflow and improve the quality of your content. One tool that can help you do both of these things is ChatGPT, a powerful language generation model developed by OpenAI. In this post, we’ll explore three key ways that ChatGPT can help bloggers to improve their craft.

  1. Generating high-quality content: ChatGPT is capable of generating text that is indistinguishable from text written by a human. This means that it can help you to produce high-quality content that is engaging, informative, and well-written. Whether you’re a blogger who struggles with writer’s block or simply wants to improve the quality of your content, ChatGPT can be a valuable tool to help you achieve your goals.
  2. Streamlining your workflow: ChatGPT can help you to streamline your workflow by automating the process of generating text. This means that you can spend more time focusing on other important aspects of your blog, such as sourcing images and promoting your content. Additionally, you can use ChatGPT to generate text for multiple blog posts at once, which can help you to be more productive and efficient.
  3. Improving your SEO: ChatGPT can also help you to improve your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts by generating text that is rich in keywords and phrases relevant to your niche. With the help of ChatGPT, you can ensure that your blog posts are optimized for search engines, which will make it easier for your target audience to find your content.

In conclusion, ChatGPT is a powerful language generation model that can help bloggers to improve their craft in multiple ways. Whether you’re looking to generate high-quality content, streamline your workflow, or improve your SEO efforts, ChatGPT can help you to achieve your goals. As long as you use it responsibly and cross-reference the contents with facts, ChatGPT can be a valuable addition to your blogging toolkit.

What ChatGPT wrote isn’t bad, but it also doesn’t sound like me.

Of all of the AI I have used in writing social media posts, I have edited slightly to make the words sound more like my voice.

Have you thought of using ChatGPT, Magic Write or other AI tools in your blogging?

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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Planting the Seeds of Love: Overcoming Resistance to Encourage Growth

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Hands touching rich, dark soil and a young seedling showing a nurturing energy

Early in the day, everyday, I start with writing practice. Today, it led to something rather extraordinary.

I was reminded as a theater director and writing teacher, facilitator and coach, how much I value process work. Sometimes that is where the gold is found even more so than the final product.

Today, I am going to be transparent and bold, sharing with you my process of drafting wrestling with my thoughts through words. What you will read is the question I asked at the end of the “Mining for Writing Gold” process I created and use.

I always end with asking a question of myself and then free flow writing for five minutes. This time, it was longer than five minutes because I knew there was more there for me to explore.

My hope is you find value in witnessing the process. I’m also wondering if you ever enter into loving, open-hearted conversations with yourself? Maybe you view your inner conversations differently. I would love to hear more, hopefully after you gain some gold nuggets from my process.

What are the seedlings – the sprouts – to overcome my struggles that seem so inherently cooked into me?  I can’t see or taste or notice them in me and yet they are there, like a virus or allergen that makes me sick at times.

I find myself wanting to go elsewhere. I want to look up quotes or google something. I don’t want to just sit with the imagery and the question I carefully crafted. I will stay. I will ask myself the question again.

What are the seedlings, bravely pushing through the rocky soil of resistance – the invisible destructive force, not the airy, gracious force I also say is there yet I don’t always act as if that is the case. I stay in the unripened state, the inert, filled with great question that sits in the core of the seed, not yet initiated into the seedling stage.

It is the potent question and the belief there is healing medicine within the answering of the question, the living the question where the seedling grows.

Giving space for the answer to rise – the seedling then, is the question + space + light + nourishment + belief – 

I take my hands away from the keyboard. I am onto something.

I am going to pause for a few moments and re-read, allowing the seedling I have just managed to create to bring more to us, right here right now,

The seedling grows when it is surrounded in love: the air it breathes, the water that brings it nourishment, the space around it is drenched in love. 

Once a coaching client asked me, “What does love mean?” and I had no idea what to answer.

From the perspective of the seedling:

Love is staying with me, not turning away frustrated when you don’t understand what I am trying so hard to tell you.

Love is bringing me your innermost secrets, your uniqueness – not holding back. How can you be afraid of me, a little seedling, when all I want to do is make this world a better place – just like you.

Love is witnessing the people we meet not at the surface, but at their core. Love is seeing the uniqueness of each one and the similarities we share. Honoring the uniqueness and delighting in the connections.

Love is being willing to set down the rushing agenda to be with the mindful agenda where we both find value in mutual restoration.

Second part: how to nourish the medicine within the seedlings as they grow and become stronger?

I went longer than five minutes. 

The second part may come up later. We’ll see.

Woman (Julie Jordan Scott Julie JordanScott) seeming to burst through a broken wall on an abandoned home.

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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How to Take One Prompt to Create Multiple Forms of Content

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Woman's profile in a dry, desert setting. Quote from Terry Tempest Williams: "When one woman doesn't speak, other women get hurt."

Writing Prompts help us practice taking the best action, even if it feels risky at first. Practice facing the next similar situation by courageously remembering and in effect rewriting “What happened next.”

Prompt: Have you had a time when you wish you spoke but didn’t and someone got hurt? Share the story.

Two examples:

One friend, I’ll call her Maureen, got fired from a job. Another friend, Frank,  got promoted to Maureen’s job. No one in our friend’s group said anything to Maureen about Frank being promoted after she called Frank.

She called me to ask if I knew Frank got the job. I could hear her disappointment that I didn’t speak up. She was incredulous, “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

The most common response was we didn’t want to hurt Maureen’s feelings. None of us thought, “Well, maybe Maureen will find out, anyway – and she will discover we didn’t care enough about her to let her know.”

Put the Other Person’s Desire Above Your Discomfort

More than a year later, Frank had more good luck career-wise. I took a deep breath and called Maureen. “I just wanted you to know… in case. I remember the last time…”

Maureen wasn’t upset by Frank’s success and she was grateful I remembered and acted differently than I had in the past. It was worth my discomfort and risk-taking.

New Scenario, Familiar Trauma and Trigger

Last week, my coaching client Sharon had a moment when her heart leaped into her throat and wouldn’t let go. 

She unexpectedly stumbled upon was a disagreement between family members – or rather one family member was mad at another and attempted to drag Sharon in it via a posting on social media.

Internal triggers and memories of years of loneliness and disconnection pulsed each moment Sharon did nothing. The drumming in her ears increased with each moment she did nothing.

Creating a new way out of her panic, she reached out to her closest family member to warn her what she would find the next time she opened her social media account.

“I didn’t want you to be hurt by what was said or how I was implicated in the posting.”

It was risky. It was scary. Yet Sharon felt instinctively it was better to reach out first. The swollen block in her throat diminished, even though for the next day or so she didn’t feel quite right. “How would I feel if I saw that, unprepared for it?”

Terry Tempest Williams wrote, “When one woman doesn’t speak, other women get hurt.”

Be devoted to being the one to prevent other women from getting hurt.

More Writing Prompt Variations to Use:

“When one woman doesn’t speak, other women get hurt.”

Terry Tempest Williams

To create a neutral gender phrasing, simply insert “person” and “people”

Questions:

  1. Have you had a time when you wish you spoke but didn’t and someone got hurt? Share the story.
  2. Have you been hurt when someone didn’t speak up for you when you couldn’t? Tell the story.
  3. What are some things you can do in your life now to build community between yourself and other people?
  4. Lists: Make a list of 1 to 10 things you would like to be forgiven for by someone else.
  5. Make a list of 1 to 10 things for which you would like to forgive other people.
  6. Bonus: Take action. Write a note of forgiveness to one of the people you want to forgive. Write a note of apology and request permission from those you have hurt.

Traditional Writing Prompts:

I remember when I spoke up and….

I remember when I didn’t speak up and….

 # #  # #There are no rights and wrongs as to following the prompts here. There is only showing up for your life and your creativity and using what inspires you to fulfill your dreams, passion and purpose.

Woman hugging a cartoon tree - white with black polka dots

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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Beyond Emotional Groundhog Day: Surrender to Empowered Yes

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Last year was supposed to be a year of living my dream life, focusing on fulfilling many dreams I had set aside for decades, moving to a manse in Northwest New Jersey and instead – very little of that came to fruition.

Almost but Not Quite: Again and Again and Again

In April and the first week of May, I felt closer to my dream life than I had in decades and then circumstances imploded which resulted in me surrendering to what was right in front of me and staying on the West Coast from May through mid-September.  

I remember in Mid-May, spinning my wheels and desperately reaching for different results everywhere I went. The single worst moment was telling my son he ought not come home on the days between his Spring Semester and Summer School. The silence on his end of the phone line followed by “ok, if you don’t want me to come home….” and then to explain to him the chaotic circumstances would not be a restful or enjoyable time for him. 

I came up with an alternative plan so I could visit him for dinner in Las Vegas and race back home. This was literally an 18 hour turn around because of that heartbreaking phone call. The ping-pong ball effect was in full force during May and June and into early July.

In June of 2022 I wrote: “I am notoriously slow at processing tough information. I usually go mute at first, perhaps out of a sense (a wish?) of denial.”

Surrender is NOT giving up, it is Being Real.

It was on an exhausted day in early July I chose to wave the metaphorical white flag and said, “I am all in. I am all in to do whatever needs to get done here in Bakersfield in order to ensure things here with my family in California will flourish when I return to the East Coast.”

I created parameters and avenues for mini-adventures like going to San Francisco and going to the Grand Canyon and Phoenix on the way to Las Vegas after the moments when my son did visit. This quick tour combined creating sweet memories and inviting better futures to be made into form.

These challenges have morphed in ways that shifted my ideas about what it means to say an empowered YES as well as the power of surrender, which is a different sort of yes.

Stepping into an Empowered Yes

Stepping into the empowered YES with love, joy, fear, regret (both accepting what has happened, even the unpleasant and prevention of future regret), sorrow and the hint of possibility. 

Life is lived in staying whole whether in bliss or sorrow. We keep our eyes on the horizon, looking for the openings, standing in and for grace. This allows us to look back and say “Thank goodness I went all in for that horrible scenario because… the celebration of overcoming and healing and transformation would not be here otherwise.”

I no longer cry when I recount last Summer. The tears did their healing work. Tears teach us “my body recognizes the magnitude of this sharing and honors it by releasing salt water, like depths of the oceans.”

I’ll take it. I’ll take a more restful form of discovery for the next time. 

Now I will continue writing from the heart, hugging trees and having meaningful conversations as I create this manse-life back in Northwest New Jersey. 

What will you continue to do this month? What will you continue doing this season and this year?

Woman hugging a cartoon tree - white with black polka dots

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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