I’ve come to realize that the process of purposeful memoir has alchemical power. Through writing our life stories, we have the potential to transmute the inevitable sorrows and pain of existence into something more positive—the philosopher’s stone of understanding, which truly is worth its weight in gold.
Writing Life
In writing life we seek, as Shakespeare put it, “to hold a mirror up to nature”—to call into words the intangible aura of significance that, whether we realize it or not, illuminates every moment of our lives. It’s a calling that offers deep, sustaining nourishment for the journey of life.
November Inspiration for Purposeful Memoirists
In November the veils to the spirit world grow thin; a good time for a memoirist to reflect on her ancestry!
Seeking Health: The Alchemy of Purposeful Memoir
Good health is something it’s easy to take for granted, until suddenly you wake up and find it gone.
Seeking confidence
Are you one of those lucky people who was born confident? Or are you, like me, more of a self-doubter?
October Inspiration for Purposeful Memoirists
In October, an Air month, pause and ask: What conditions will best support your writing process?
September Inspiration for Purposeful Memoirists
In September, write your memoir like you’d cultivate a garden. In the early stages of writing, don’t be too choosy—let it all grow! Later you can weed and tend and harvest what seems most valuable.
Seeking Love
Exploring the potent question: who or what have you truly loved?
August Inspiration for Purposeful Memoirists
In August, let’s dare to give some thought to the strongest of emotions—anger—that crackles inevitably through our lives.
Alchemizing the Primal Mud of Memory
Memoir uses the primal mud of memory as its raw material; the art and craft of memoir is all in the telling. Part of the alchemy of purposeful memoir is in transforming the rough jewels of memory into polished gems of stories and scenes that bring the past alive again.