July Update – Ireland, Soul Friends, and strategy

I’ve been working with the marvelous marketing helper Lauren O’Malley (The Imperfect Network), so look for some changes over the summer to this space and to the way I stay connected to you. One of her guidelines is “Don’t load your newsletter up with a huge, indigestible amount of text;” [like I did last newsletter!] “instead, link to longer pieces.” So I’m changing to this way of updating you. Short pieces of information in the newsletter, linked to a longer post on the website that you can go to and read, if you’re interested. Like this one!

 
James and I spent the first third of July in Ireland at a Hakomi Conference in Wicklow. (Hakomi is the therapeutic modality I often use as a counsellor — it’s also just a marvelous way of being in relationship. There’s a one day workshop in Toronto on the 27th of September if you’re curious. I’ll be going — I’d love to see you there.)

Once the conference was over, we spent 2 and a half days exploring south-east Eire.

One of the first delights was meeting up with AWA facilitator Margaret O’Brien. A week or two before I left for Ireland, I learned that Margaret lived in the same general area that I was going to be visiting.

Margaret and I have been in each other’s workshops often over the last few years, I’m a huge enthusiast about her journalling tool Weather Report and it was a thrill to get my copy signed. Most of all it was just great to be in her presence and to have dinner together. As so many have noted, Zoom is fantastic for getting and staying connected, but there’s something irreplaceable about being in person.

And this is what AWA and Hakomi are both so stunning for: creating deep relationships. As James and I arrived at the hotel where we were to meet Margaret, he asked me, “Do you even know what she looks like?” And a moment later I caught sight of her at the top of the stairs, just as she caught sight of me.

I felt like an incandescent bulb lit up inside my chest, in the region of my heart — and her face looked like she felt the same way. This wasn’t a polite meeting of colleagues. This was finally a meeting of soul friends — all because of AWA and the workshops we’ve done together.

Another activity I’m having a lot of fun with this summer is doing what I can to promote the recently launched book by Claire Ross Dunn: Lost in France. Not only is it a marvelous summer read, I’m in awe of how dedicated Claire is to making sure that the book gets the attention it deserves… and all with a spirit of good humour and so much intelligence. When she’s done promoting this book, she should write a non-fiction book for fiction authors on how to honour the book they’ve written by their dedication to getting it out in the world.

In the far left picture below, I’m posing at Tintern Abbey in Ireland, reading the book. You can follow Claire on Facebook, or Instagram to see how she’s put her marketing brain to work. And go to one of her events! I was at her author talk last week in Stirling. Even though I’ve known Claire for 3 years and followed the birthing of this book, I learned so much about the conception and development of this project. Fascinating! If you’re an author, do yourself a favour: buy the book and read it, and then watch how she’s nurturing it now that it’s out in the world.

 
 
 
 
 
I’m spending some of the quieter months this summer revamping my facilitator and business strategy. Again, thanks to Lauren’s influence, I will be moving my newsletter to Substack soon. Just figuring that out right now, in collegial union with my Launchpad participants, AWA Facilitators:

Ann Hutton
Catherine McGeehin Heilferty
Gina Li
Kiala Givehand
Mary Weatherup
Meg Buerkel Hunn
Renee Sgroi
Vickey Finkley-Brown

We’ve all been working together now for 10 weeks and I’m inspired by their creativity and commitment to bringing the AWA Method to writers through their practices.  This post is, in part, because it’s part of my commitment to them.

That’s it for now. I need to get my newsletter out to you — and if you’re here, it’s probably because I did accomplish that!

In the newsletter I promised an article about how to set you up for success every time you finish a writing session. You may have linked to this article without visiting that one first — if you feel like that would be helpful, here’s the link: https://inkslingers.ca/ending-todays-writing-session-to-make-tomorrows-session-easier/

I hope to see you in Traction tomorrow. If not, have a great summer and we’ll catch up in September writing together.

Warmest,
Sue