Podcast Show Notes
To comment on this post on Substack: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/p/a60c6926-4832-4ba7-b2a8-8bd552d92e03
Episode Title:
Laura Davis on Aging, Memory Loss, and the Fear She's Carried for Decades
Episode Description:
As she approached her 70th birthday, Laura Davis found herself facing a fear she'd carried for the last twenty years. In this episode, the acclaimed author and writing teacher shares the personal essay she wrote in response, a piece that took her to some of the most vulnerable places she's ever gone on the page. Laura reflects on where the writing came from, what it cost her to share it, and why she ultimately decided to publish it now.
What Laura Covers in This Episode:
The family legacy she's spent decades afraid of repeating
The writing prompt from her friend and colleague Nancy London that cracked the piece open
Her process of writing into fear late at night and early in the morning
What happened the first time she read the essay aloud
Why she set the finished piece aside for a month before publishing it
The connection between this essay and her memoir, The Burning Light of Two Stars
Her invitation to readers and listeners to share their own fears around aging and memory
Episode Highlights:
The origin story behind the prompt "Without the brain I am used to" and the friend who gave it to her
What it felt like to write about her deepest fear without holding back
Laura's account of reading the piece aloud for the first time — and how that experience changed on the second reading
Why she let the essay "lay fallow" in a folder before deciding to share it
The unexpected response to an earlier essay that inspired her to publish this one
How editing the piece changed her relationship to the fear itself
Laura's closing reflection, drawn from the Buddhist Five Remembrances, on impermanence and what truly matters
About Host Laura Davis:
Laura Davis is an acclaimed author and writing teacher with more than 35 years of experience helping writers tell their truest stories. She is the author of the award-winning memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars (BookLife Prize Winner, 2021) and co-author of the groundbreaking bestseller The Courage to Heal. Laura is the founder of The Writer's Journey LLC, where she teaches the full spectrum of the writing craft — not memoir alone — through online classes, workshops, and international retreats. She hosts The Writer's Journey podcast and Substack, where she writes candidly about the writing life, aging, and the courage it takes to put difficult truths on the page.
Resources Laura Mentions:
The Burning Light of Two Stars — Laura's BookLife Prize–winning memoir
The Ripening by Nancy London — the friend and colleague who offered Laura the writing prompt behind this essay
Still Alice by Lisa Genova — the novel Laura references in reflecting on memory, identity, and choice
The Writer's Journey Substack — home to Laura's essays, poetry, and reflections on writing
Laura's writing classes, workshops, and retreats
Key Takeaways from This Episode:
A single, well-chosen writing prompt can unlock material that's been buried for decades.
Writing into a fear — rather than around it — can loosen its grip, even before anything is resolved.
Reading a difficult piece aloud, more than once, changes a writer's relationship to their own words.
Letting a finished piece "lay fallow" before publishing can offer valuable distance and clarity.
Sharing a vulnerable truth publicly can open space for others carrying the same silent fear.
Episode Call-to-Action:
Listeners are invited to read Laura's full essay on The Writer's Journey Substack and to respond in the comments with their own experiences, fears, or strategies around aging and memory. Writers wrestling with their own difficult material are encouraged to explore Laura's classes and retreats for support in bringing their stories to the page.
Connect with Laura Davis:
Substack: https://laurasaridavis.substack.com/
Website, classes, and retreats: https://lauradavis.net/
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