It’s time again for my Woo Wednesday wrap up of things that I’m loving at the moment.
Woo Books
I posted this book on my Instagram earlier this week (follow me there), but I wanted to talk a bit more about it here.
The Fire Starter Sessions by Danielle LaPorte is a series of lectures and exercises by the author to help you light a spark in your life. This is common ground for self-help books, but I like LaPorte’s approach that in order to figure out your goals you first need to identify your strengths and how you want to feel. I’m only about halfway through the exercises, but I’ve already identified the main feelings I want to have from my life and work daily. Now, I’m working on the next part, figuring how to get more of these specific feelings to manifest day-to-today.
My personal feels goals are:
Aligned, Abundant, Wise, Sensual, Self-Sovereign, and acting as a Loving Catalyst.
It took me three days to create that list and now that I have it I love it. It feels sort of scary to share it with you because now I’ll have to keep these promises to myself. And also, I worry that I’ll be judged for how I want to feel.
But, as LaPorte shares in her book, this quote from the I Ching is helpful:
“The way of the Creative is to win others’ hearts through following the truth within ourselves.”
Those feels are my truths, y’all, and, honestly, comfort is terrible for creativity.
If this all sounds a little wishy-washy to you, that’s fine. It’s probably not the book for everyone, but I dig LaPorte’s vibe and can tell we have a lot of attitudes in common. Check it out if it sounds fun to you.
Woo Scent Therapy
I’ll admit it: I bought Tired Old Ass spray based solely on the name. Just seeing the name on the sticker makes me laugh so from that alone I feel less stressed.
The other reason I bought this stuff is that 2019 was the worst year of my life. That’s not hyperbole. Some of the shitstorm I was public about (my husband being hospitalized for a pulmonary embolism, my grandmother dying, my dog losing a leg), some of it I was not public, but it was HARD, y’all. I wish I could say none of the issues followed me into 2020, but, sadly, The Suck has no regard for thresholds and doesn’t have to be invited into the new year to vex you.
This being the case, I’ve had to lean in hard on things that help me get through the day. I often spray myself with the Tired Old Ass spray when I need a little pick me up. It smells lemongrass-y which is nice. It also doesn’t cling to you for the rest of the day. It just brightens things for a moment.
I got mine through Grove Collective, but I’ve also seen it at Whole Foods.
Woo Woo
I got a new tarot deck for Christmas called the “Art of Life” tarot. When I first saw this online, I knew I had to have it and “hinted” to Mr. Jaye that it would look great under the tree.
The deck was created by Charlene Livingstone, who was an art and English teacher. She combined these interests into the deck by pairing paintings that match the meaning of the assigned tarot card with a quote that captured the theme, as well.
For example, the Three of Wands image is “The Three Ages of Woman” by Klimt and the quote attached is:
“To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.” -Robert Louis Stevenson.
As an author with an art history degree the combination of words and images is delightful. It adds a new spin on a lot of the traditional tarot imagery and meaning.
The back of each card depicts a detail from “The Tree of Life” by Klimt (no the deck isn’t all Klimt—there are lots of art styles and artists represented).
The packaging is quite fun. The front looks like a framed still life, but there’s a slit at the top of the frame for you to slide in the card you’ve selected and display it while you contemplate it’s deeper meanings. I’ve never used this feature, but it’s a thoughtful touch.
The little book that comes with it is absurdly basic, but it’s good if you just want a few key words to add meaning to the image and quote.
Woo Work
I’m afraid I’m going to have to be a bit vague about this Woo. See, I got an idea for a new book. No, it’s not connected to anything I’ve written before. Right now I’m building a world and creating playlists and creating secret Pinterest boards. I haven’t done this in a while and it feels so good to be excited about an idea.
LaPorte talked about this in The Fire Starter Sessions, actually. She talks about the Buddhist concept of “Bright Faith,” which she quotes Buddhist teacher Sharon Salzberg to explain:
“This is a state of love-filled delight in possibilities and eager joy at the prospect of actualizing them. … The enthusiasm, energy, and courage we need in order to leave the safe path, to stop aligning ourselves with the familiar and the convenient, arise with bright faith.”
Friends, this is the best description of the early days of a novel I’ve ever read. It’s all promise and passion right now, and I’m feeling selfish about protecting it because I know how precious it is. I also know, intimately, how much I’ve longed for this feeling over the last two years.
That’s all I have for today. I’d love it if you shared below the last time you experienced bright faith your own life. Or just tell me what’s woo with you!
"...comfort is terrible for creativity."
Well now, those are some true damn words! I LOVE Woo Wednesday! I got a couple of new, really beautiful, Tarot decks and Brigit Esselmont's book on Tarot Card meanings. I thought it was time for a new book on reading the decks since my last one was published in the 1970's. Oh that bright faith feeling...it's wonderful. I was having a lovely video chat over the holidays with Vicki Pettersson (she volunteered to do a video chat with anyone who wanted to discuss their writing with her, so sweet) and she mentioned how I "lit up" when I was telling her about one of my story ideas and how she could see the excitement I have for the story and for putting it into words. That is that "bright faith" feeling for me. I love that story idea, I LOVE those characters and I want to tell their story. I'm trying a new thing that Vicki suggested, and you might have as well. I'm going to try using a recorder to tell my story and then transcribe it. I am so verbally focused and I can TELL the story easily whereas I get hung up when trying to type it out. We'll see...
So happy to hear that you have that bright faith bubbling excitement for your new story idea. It's the best feeling ever. Hope real life settles down a bit for you and yours. <3