Why stories help us make meaning from our lives and experiences — One of my Writing Fiction to Heal students recently sent me a heartfelt message about her novel and how the healing had extended beyond the pages of her writing and right into her real life. …

Why there’s merit in responding to someone else’s words — One thing I love to teach my students and clients about journaling is that it doesn’t always have to be you vs. the blank page. There are so many entry points into writing with the intention of self-reflection and introspection that we couldn’t possibly list them all. …

How the allure of simplifying our lives can lead us to a shame spiral — You know, dear readers, that I like to be honest with you. So I’m going to tell you a secret right off the bat: I’ve tried to write this exact article probably fifteen different times. Each attempt (until this one) would end with me slamming my computer shut and feeling…

How to use fiction to heal through disenfranchised grief — Note to readers: Taylor Swift recently released her re-recorded album, Speak Now, as she has done for several other past albums. …

Why “unlearning” is a huge part of simplifying your life. — Does this sound familiar? You wake up to an alarm, barely get yourself out the door and then spend the rest of the day juggling work obligations, maintaining social relationships and pursuing personal goals? Our lives have become cluttered with distractions and unnecessary complexities. …

Why and how I’m serializing my latest book — I wrote to you last month about everything I’m learning, doing, and working on for the rest of the year, including serializing my never-before-published writing fiction to heal book, Until They Burn. I’ve written a lot about this book. So much so that I created a “case study” ebook from…

Why revisiting our past adventures can influence our present — I’m notorious for having multiple Instagram accounts. It’s not because I’m shady; rather, I like to keep my “interests” curated accordingly. I know it’s weird, but listen, I hate when all I want is a cute cat video, but then I have to wade through hundreds of watercolor painting accounts…

Finding my way back to myself — I have to admit that working on my Rebel MFA Degree Update article brought up a lot of emotions for me. First, I realized just how little I celebrate my accomplishments and achievements. Seeing it written out, it felt different than intellectually thinking about it. …

Spoiler Alert: I’m a full time student again! — As I gear up for an intense Q3 and Q4 of the year, I figured it would be a good idea to update y’all on the progress of my Rebel MFA Degree (TLDR; it’s going awesome). To recap the past few months of insanity (but in the best way possible): I finished up my Horror Writing Workshop Class (generating about 15,000 words) Started and…