S2 E5: Write Your Way to Self-Love

Listen in as I chat with Laura Munson about her journey of self-love through the written word, and how she discovered she actually is a writer. She reminds us that the path we are often often surprises us, and that we need to be the ones to see in ourselves what is already of value. We need to give ourselves permission to be who we are, have it be easy and enjoyable. In our conversation, Laura recounts her journey of writing a best-selling book and all that led to that point. She tells us about why she writes and recites quotes of other writers who inspire her to continue. Get a taste of why community is such an essential part of the process for a developing writer, and maybe you will end up on one of her famous Haven Writing Retreats here in Montana! When who we thought we wanted to become changes How community can enhance your writing experience Why be the one to give yourself permission to be just as you are Links Mentioned: Dancing Spirit Ranch  Brené Brown: The Daring Way  Fearless Self-Love Retreat  Laura Munson & Haven Writing Retreats  Laura Munson’s article in New York Times Modern Love column  Terry Tempest Williams Naomi Shihab Nye   Show Highlights: 00:58 Fearless Self-Love Retreat: at home in your heart details 02:15 Easeful Living Practice: Write Before Read 05:57 Interview begins with Laura’s story of Fearless Self-Love, including her submission to NY Times Modern Love 15:33 Laura’s journey to knowing she was a writer 25:05 How having a community enhances Laura’s writing & self-love 32:24 Haven Wander -- join Laura as she wander the globe 41:21 Strategy of being flexible   Favorite Quotes “I sat at that intersection of heart and mind and craft...for a very long time before I let people see my work.” -- Laura Munson “Writing has become my practice, my prayer, my meditation, my way of life, and sometimes my way to life.” -- Laura Munson “All writers are mining their lives.” -- Laura Munson “I write to shine a light on a dim or otherwise pitchblack corner to provide relief for myself and others.” -- Laura Munson “Nobody asks you to be a writer.” -- Laura Munson “Miss Munson, this is not cinema! Take this to the fools in the English department.” -- Laura’s impression of her screenwriting professor “I didn’t want to be a writer.” -- Laura Munson “Turn the mirror on yourself and look into how you’re already showing up in your life and where the flow is.”-- Laura Munson “I write in a solitude born of community.” -- Terry Tempest Williams “Community is the soil and all the things in the soil, the water and sunlight that are going to allow the seed to sprout, but the seed sprouts alone.” -- Andrea Catherine “Maybe if we re-invent whatever our lives give us / we find poems. Check your garage, the off sock / in your drawer, the person you almost like, but not quite. / And let me know.” -- Naomi Shihab Nye “I can be this happy, alone, at home, in my own bed, but I just had to go to Italy to find out.” -- Laura Munson “I can’t really hide if I want to get what I want.” -- Andrea Catherine “I give myself permission to be exactly who I am, and have it be easy...and fun.” -- Laura Munson   Meet Laura: Laura Munson is the author of the New York Times and international bestselling memoir This Is Not The Story You Think It Is:  A Season of Unlikely Happiness(Amy Einhorn/Putnam 2010) which Book of the Month Club named one of the best books of the year.  It has been published in nine countries and has been featured in Vanity Fair, Elle, Redbook, Time, Newsweek, Washington Post, Publisher’s Weekly and many other newspapers, magazines, and online venues across the globe. Laura is the founder of Haven Writing Retreats, which Open Road Media ranked in the top five writing retreats in the United States, and speaks and teaches on the subject of voice and empowerment through creativity at conventions, corporations, universities and schools, retreat and wellness centers. Her work has been published in the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, O. Magazine, The Week, Huffington Post, Redbook, Woman’s Day, Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal, More Magazine, Time Magazine, Newsweek, The Sun, The Shambhala Sun, Big Sky Journal and others.  She has appeared on Good Morning America, The Early Show, WGN, many NPR stations, Hay House radio, as well as other media including London’s This Morning and Australia’s Sunrise.  She lives in Montana with her family.