I am not sure I would call it inspired… I think ‘compelled’ would be a much more appropriate word. I write about life, the people I meet, the things I learn from them.
Tell us about your writing process?
I actually hand write all my books in note books with a very specific type of pen. The is then later transcribed and edited to be made ready to put into print. I prefer to write in public places, restaurants parks, but occasionally I write from home, especially when I am writing about something that is visibly pulling deep emotions out of me.
Who are your favorite authors?
J.R Tolkien, hands down. The man was a genius, creating an entire world so unlike out own, yet so vivid as to feel familiar.
Because I am a non-fiction writer, I actually read a lot of fantasy fiction as it allows me to escape. Book Genre(s). Health and Wellness, Spirituality, Philosophy, non-fiction, biography
How did you choose the genre(s) you write?
I don’t choose what to write, it flows out of me and becomes whatever it is meant to become. What three things are on your writing desk at any given moment?
I don’t a writing desk… But if I did… it would be a jar of pens, a pile of notebooks and a speaker for music. What hobbies do you have when you need a break from writing?
I am currently exploring Mexico and filming it from the back of a few different motorcycles. Photography, painting, singing, dancing, yoga, weight lifting, exercising, exploring.
Can you share what the lowest point in your addiction and life was?
This question kind of threw me because I don’t know that there was one lowest point, because I have gotten to the point in my life where if I am diagnosed with an opioid for pain I can take one pill then not need it again, or I can take a drink of wine at a party and then not take another one again for weeks, so this threw me, because there was not just one low, there were a lot of lows, and there were a lot of highs, because no addict is going to heal themselves the first time – it’s a journey. Once you decide you want to have a better quality of life and make that key decision and understand the key decision you are making, once you make it life starts to change and there will be highs and there will be lows, and there will be healers and helpers and hurters, I don’t remember once specific low, I just remember falling a lot and being helped back on my feet a lot. There needs to be a point where you forgive yourself and stop apologizing for what you have done because you are not alone there are millions of addicts on the planet, alcoholics are prominent in the entertainment and music industries and in business, business people getting together over lunch to have a whatever, alcohol is presented to be such a normal part of our existence that we don’t acknowledge that most of these people who drink every day are alcoholics, they are just functioning alcoholics so society accepts them, their addiction is ok. As to the pain I have caused others I have apologized to those I have hurt with my addiction and have done it privately and publicly more than once. So I guess, I am at peace with myself, finally.
Stop beating yourself up, you are not alone. I would guess there are probably billions of addicts on this planet, many who don’t even recognize that they are addicts. Never say anything to yourself that you would not say to a small child, be gentle with yourself.
Ask for help, ask and you shall receive is an actual thing, you don’t even have to ask a person, you could just beg the universe and I think every addict gets there sometime, begging the universe, or God, or whatever to let you die or get you help, so why don’t you ask before it gets to that point, there is no shame in being an addict, you are one of billions. Ask for help, just the fact that you know you are an addict means you are ten steps ahead of everyone else.
Allow the help to come, and this one is really difficult for people sometimes, its not asking for the help that is hard it is the actually allowing people to help you. But along with that comes a line from one of my favourite movie series, “follow the white rabbit,” the answers will come once you ask, once you decide to heal and you want a better quality of life, the answers are given, you just have to keep your eyes and your heart open to them, you just have to follow where the white bunny leads you – I have seen some amazing stuff since saying yes to the white rabbit.
Appreciate what comes, and I use the word appreciate with purpose. Because there is an energetic difference between being grateful for something, and truly appreciating the value of that thing. Appreciate is a word used in the financial world a lot and it means to go up in value, so appreciate the value of the help you are getting, and by default you are going to level up.
Celebrate yourself! And I mean this in so many different ways. Love yourself enough to make self care your priority, celebrate every little tiny step forward, every insight, a tiny shift in mindset. If you were in a coma, people would celebrate the movement of just a finger, you need to think like that, so celebrate yourself, every single win no matter how small, because that just pulls more wins in your direction!
I’m part control freak, part chaos, and if you have the courage to take this journey with me, I guarantee it will change the way you look at life.
I think my story is empowering for other women because so many women get stuck in doing for everybody else to the point where they lose their health in an extreme way, and I have bounced back from that and learned to say no and learned to put my heath and my wellness first and I think we should all be doing that, men and women – but speaking specifically to women – its ok to say no – in fact, it’s kind of fun.
I suffered from PTSD from childhood abuse, anxiety, depression and addiction. It’s a struggle I have been dealing with for as long as I can remember. From a young age I was diagnosed and given a variety of different antidepressants until we finally found one that actually works. I manage my health challenges with a variety of methods. I do take an antidepressant, and I take several supplements that help my body/heart/mind. I also practice yoga and meditation. I have adopted a lifestyle that allows for self care to be my priority. I use singing, dancing, exercise and nutrition to help keep my mood up. Most importantly, I have learned to say no as frequently as needed. The best advice I have every heard was to ‘get happy ‘ so I live my life as I wish, and always make my health and wellbeing my first priority.
