Word of Mouth: Stop staring at a blank page and become a writer

I have felt recently that there has been a block in my life. I haven’t been my usual self and I haven’t had my positive pants on (a term my friend Kathy has recently introduced into my life). On Sunday night something happened in the universe and everything became unblocked. The illness I have had for a month suddenly subsided, I received a couple of emails about things that I thought had gone off the boil and suddenly all felt right with the world again.

What does this have to do with last night’s Word of Mouth event? Well, because there have been a lot of great Word of Mouth events, but last night’s felt a little bit different, like everything was meant to be. This all sounds quite spiritual but I do believe that things happen for a reason, people come into your life for a reason and on Sunday I felt something come unstuck, like a cork popping out of a bottle.

This all has a lot to do with Lisa Cherry, last night’s speaker. I can’t tell you enough, how fantastic this woman is. She appeared in my life out of the blue, first of all via social media, then at one of my fashion events and then little by little she slipped into my everyday consciousness, until I was pouring over her book, Soul Journey.

The more I read about Lisa, the more I related to everything that she said about life. I realised that we had the similar goals, to seize the day, to not allow our past to dictate our future and ultimately how to be a really happy person. Lisa had a really hard childhood but expresses gratitude for this, as it has made her the person she is today. Lisa is the epitome of what I want Fe-line Women to represent and therefore it was bound to feel good.

I can’t write out Lisa’s talk word for word but these are the main points that I took from her talk:

• Hunger is a powerful tool for sorting your life out, having a mortgage to pay makes Lisa write.

• Connecting with yourself allows you to truly connect with others.

• When you do exactly what you are meant to do, things will fall into place.

• Really happy people only know good because they have known bad.

• Resilience is a skill that can be learnt, it’s not true that some people are just stronger.

• Learn to forgive others and learn to forgive yourself.

• There is no reason on earth why you can’t be a writer (insert your own dream here).

• Write about something that you are truly passionate about.

• The world is a big place, you can do whatever you want in it.

• DO NOT miss your window of opportunity

• You are unique, no one has had your experience, share it!

• Living is understanding that you are dying.

• Create a tribe of supportive people that you trust.

• If you want to share a message then you need to market yourself.

What followed Lisa’s talk was a fantastic question and answer session. The audience had some great questions about what was stopping them from writing. It was not only Lisa who answered the questions it became a very open forum between members of the audience. It was really lovely to see the group interacting in this way and being very supportive.

You might be thinking that this has very little to do with writing, but the reasons why people don’t do what they want in life has very little to do with the technical ability to do something. It is very often an emotional block that needs facing.

There was an incredibly touching moment in the evening, that left a lump in my throat. One of the audience had brought their daughter along to hear Lisa’s talk. During the question and answer session the Mum raised concerns that she doesn’t know how to start her book. The daughter stepped in and told the whole group how much she loves her mum’s writing and how proud of her she is. For me this was a magical moment in Fe-line history!

In conclusion last night was fantastic and everything that I dreamed that Fe-line Women would be when I started out on this quest with the cat; a lot of fun and full of love and support. If you don’t believe me this is what one Fe-line woman, Silvia, wrote about the event on her Facebook page (I promise I didn’t pay her):

“Can I just say: Word of Mouth by Fe-line Women has just hosted the most wonderful event ever. The speaker, Lisa Cherry gave an amazing talk, which made me sign up with her instantly (doing a beginners writing course – whoop whoop); the audience was made of such lovely, interesting women, I wished I’d had more time to get to know all of them (so I’m hoping they’re coming back next time, when it’s about ‘building confidence’ – and I’ll be there). I feel I’m off the ground tonight – won’t be able to sleep.”

I can’t wait to do it all again on the 30th April when we will be discussing: How to be more confident.

Love and supportive tribes,

P.S. Sorry this post is later than normal I got distracted reading Lisa Cherry’s new book: The Brightness of Stars: Stories of Adults Who Came Through The British Care System

How to stop staring at a blank page and become a writer!

Stop the press

 

I have decided to change the name of our next Word of Mouth event to: How to stop staring at a blank page and become a writer.

Why? Because this is a more accurate description of what we are going to be talking about and much more positive. Writer, Lisa Cherry, is going to be speaking to us about battling adversity but ultimately, as with all the Word of Mouth events we like to celebrate where someone is now.

The previous title was too gloomy: My journey through adversity, and only really scratched the surface of what Lisa Cherry is about. It is no lie that Lisa has had to face a lot in her life, being in care, alcoholism and cancer but as Fe-line Women’s mission is to celebrate the awesome things that women are doing, this shouldn’t be our focal point.

I can’t think of anyone better to come and talk to us about writing; Lisa is about to release her second book, The Brightness of Stars: Stories of adults who came through the British care system and she already runs her own writers workshops.

So if you are sitting at home and thinking, I wish I could be a writer then come along to How to stop staring at a blank page and become a writer on 26th March at 7:30pm. We meet at The Port Mahon, on St Clements Street, Oxford and tickets are only £5. Visit the event page for more details and to book your ticket.

Can’t wait to see you there,

Word of Mouth is a women’s group with a difference. Come along and pick up tips, get inspiration and meet like minded people. Many of us don’t live in the same places as our mothers, sister, aunties and cousins any more, but we all have skills we can share and support that we can give each other. But there is no hard sell, there are no subscriptions fees, come when you want, for a topic that interests you. Find out more.