Your Creativity Matters!   Come to the Sanctuary to Support It!   What’s the Sanctuary?   The  Sanctuary:  Accountability and Coaching for Writers is my newest offering to support your writing.  It’s a place to come, twice a month, to support you in moving your writing projects forward.   It began as a special bonus in my Blogging Your Vision Into the World program.  I created The Sanctuary to help participants get clear on their intentions and action steps for each week. And, I provided laser coaching for people to get help with problems, challenges and obstacles that came up along the way.   The results have been inspiring!  People are finding it  makes a real difference in their ability to get things done in the program—and I have loved doing it so much, that I decided to offer it to anyone in my community who has a writing project they’re working on.   From blogs to books, poetry to plays, The Sanctuary exists to support your writing, and you, as the writer.   All of us benefit from structures that help us show up and stay accountable to our intentions.  For writers, especially, it often seems that the writing we most want to do ends up at the bottom of our lists.  And by the time we get there, if we even get there, we’re too tired to even think about it.    I wanted to create a structure to help alleviate that problem.   Here’s how the Sanctuary can help:   The power of Community.  You get to show up and be part of an amazing group of like minded writers.  Spiritual, sensitive, creative souls whose writing is part of their sacred calling on this earth, like it is for you.  You’ll be inspired by other writers while you receive the support you most need!     The power of the group to support your Intention .  Did you know that studies have shown that when a group gathers to support each other’s intentions, participants are six times more likely to achieve their desired results?  Just by showing up, you step into a powerful field of support that can make a tangible difference in your ability to follow through on your intention, and move forward on your writing project.     The power of Coaching!  Let’s face it, we all get stuck occasionally.  Challenges come up in the writing process.  Or, challenges come up in your life that divert you from your project.  That’s why a key component of The Sanctuary is laser coaching, from me.  You have the opportunity to be coached  on your most burning issues.  If you’re like most creative souls, a little support can go a long way to helping you get unstuck!   As we enter the dark of the year (in the Northern Hemisphere)  and the holiday season, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by stress and obligations, at a time when your body often needs more rest and down time.  For those reasons, I decided it would be a perfect time to offer you a chance to experience The Sanctuary for free, as my gift to you.    You can come to one or all of the next three meetings of The Sanctuary:   Wednesday, November 18 @ 1 pm Eastern Time. Wednesday, December 2 @  1 pm Eastern Time. Wednesday, December 16 @ 2 pm Eastern Time.   There’s no cost to attend, but you do need to register in order to receive the phone number to call.   Here’s the link to register.   https://deboraseidman.com/event/the-writers-sanctuary-for-support-and-accountability/   I hope you’ll take advantage of this opportunity to receive some incredible support for your writing!   Do you have a friend who might love to come to The Sanctuary?  Please invite her to register as well!  The more of us who come together, the more powerful is the community we create.   Could you use a little reminder of why your creativity---and your writing—matters?  Here’s a little excerpt from my book to inspire you!   Why does your creativity matter? In a world where the ice caps are melting, your kids are sick and your list of things to get done is already way too long, why should you sit down to write? When you’ve got laundry to do, bills to pay, students’ papers to grade, and you’re still cleaning the basement from the flooding last year’s Superstorm brought…why am I encouraging you to take five minutes for you, first? Because not doing this, not connecting yourself with the core of who you are, through some means of creative expression, is part of the problem. When you sit down for a few minutes and write, in a way that expresses the truth of your soul, you start to come home. When you start your day and orient your life from this home, you remember who you are. When you remember who you are, you become aware of your humanity, and the essence of your humanity is creative.  You were created out of nothing, and you are part of a world that is infinitely and inherently creative. Rivers and streams, the oak tree and the bald eagle: these are part of the created universe of which you are also a part. The evening thrush sings and you, too, have a song that’s uniquely yours.  When life becomes all about doing, especially when much of that doing is crisis management, we get severed from something so essential.  For millennia, people have gathered around the fire to listen to stories on long winter nights.  A mother sang to the stars as she rocked her baby to sleep, crooning a lullaby she invented. I want you to honor your creativity precisely because so much is at stake in our world, and in your world. I want you to honor your creativity when you’re sick, overwhelmed, and exhausted, because I believe that the deepest depletion is often caused by being cut off from your own heart and soul. Writing can help put you back together.  When done in a way that allows you to be grounded in your body, rooted on the earth, and open to the vast intelligence of your own soul, writing can restore your humanity and replenish your starving spirit.   … [Read more...]

I’ve been deeply immersed in the work of bringing my book to completion, and loving the process!  After working through some major fears---yes, let’s call them terrors—I had a huge breakthrough, and the work is flowing. I anticipate the manuscript being complete by the end of this year.  It’s deeply satisfying to feel the truth of that statement. There’s no doubt in my mind that I would not be here without the decision I made to make a commitment to complete this book. And then, to do whatever it takes, for that to happen. I needed to create powerful support to transform my fears.  And I did it!  I’m no longer paralyzed by my terror.  I’m no longer up at night wondering if I can do this.  In fact, I can’t wait to get to work on my book most days. I also needed to get input on the manuscript itself.  I could not have written this book without skillful editing and manuscript consultation along the way. What I’m most aware of, though, was that when I made the decision that scared me the most-- I signed a contract with a publisher---I also catalyzed my own process so that my success became inevitable. The day I signed that contract, my biggest fears came up.   But because I’d made the commitment, I did whatever it took to move through those fears. Yes, I got stuck in the writing process.  But because I’d made the commitment to completion, I did whatever it took to keep moving forward on the book. I did all this by applying the lessons I’ve been teaching for years.   Honoring my fears and seeing them as a portal of love.  And, respecting the fact that I could not do this without support. Perhaps most important, though, has been keeping the focus on my sacred intention for this book. Years ago, when I began to teach  Writing the Prayer of Your Life, I began a process of seeing writing AS prayer, as well as learning to write prayers in my own words, and teaching others to write their own prayers. As I developed this work through teaching it, I also developed a process for bringing our writing into the world: Offering Your Work as a Prayer. All of these processes became touchstones for me, in my own process.  When I became almost paralyzed by my fears, I deepened my practice of prayer. When I became so stuck that I didn’t know what to do, I deepened my practice of prayer. All along the way, I’ve been guided. This guidance had led me to respect more than ever that my work is to help people transform their own writing practice by seeing it as sacred work. By seeing it as prayer. As all this has emerged, my book itself has returned to the original title, the original premise, which is Writing the Prayer of Your Life. And I’m very excited to be developing a program to offer this fall as a companion to the book. The program will be designed to help you complete your own sacred writing project. When you combine a powerful spiritual practice with a fierce commitment to completion, you become unstoppable. If you have a Sacred Writing Project that you’d like to complete in the next year, I’d love to hear from you.  If you're willing to talk with me, your input will help me learn how to make this program highly valuable.  Contact me by replying to this email or DeboraSei@gmail.com and we’ll find a time to talk. I’ll be offering a free course in October, to share these gifts, so look for details about that next month. Thanks to everyone who has been offering such an outpouring of love and support for me as I’ve dedicated myself to this book.  It’s made a real difference, and has meant a great deal to me. I look forward to sharing the book with you when it’s ready.  And I can’t wait to share my free course and exciting new program with you this fall! Blessings on all the songs and stories of your soul, Debora … [Read more...]

Over the past few months I’ve been sharing with you bits and pieces of my journey as I’ve made the commitment to complete a book that’s been in process for many years. I’ve shared the importance of making that decision—to commit to the book’s completion—and all the fears I’ve had to face, along the way. As I’ve gone deeper in my own process of facing and transforming my own fears, I’ve come to see that the wounds that get in the way of writing are Sacred Wounds. What do I mean by that? A wound is a Sacred Wound when it’s fundamental. The wound is part of what’s shaped you to be who you are in this life. It’s Sacred because if the wound stays unhealed, your own life will be compromised in a significant way. But if you transform the wound, you get wings to fly. For me and almost all of the women I’ve worked with over the years, fears around writing are Sacred wounds. Maybe those fears show up as procrastination. Or starting and stopping. Or not finishing what you begin. Maybe it’s a long standing “I really want to write…I know I’ve got something to say, but I never get to the page.” It could be easy to ignore the call to write. Easy to feel it doesn’t matter that much, if you don’t write. I’m here to remind you, it matters a lot. It matters that you write, if you want to write. And it also matters that you pay attention to what stops you. If you let both those things matter, as much as they really do matter to your soul, your life will transform in ways you can barely imagine. For me, not being able to complete what I start is a big part of how my wound has shown up. I write and write and write…but have gotten stuck when it comes to doing the work to bring the writing out into the world. Right now, as I’m doing that work, I’ve needed to heal my deep fears of being seen, and one of my oldest beliefs: that the only way to be safe is to be silent. Getting to the root of these fears and beliefs has been transforming me on the deepest, cellular level. I’m grateful that I’ve made this commitment to the book, even as I’m humbled by the depth of the inner work I’ve had to do. And, as I move through this work, I’m beginning to feel the energy that gets released, as I transmute the deepest layers of what’s been frozen in fear. What am I finding? So much love. So much peace. A fierce commitment to my own life, as well as to my writing. This process is changing me in ways I’m only beginning to be able to articulate. But one thing is crystal clear: the depth and intensity of the crucible I’ve been in has strengthened my desire to help you. Out of that desire, I’m offering a special opportunity to work with me in a very in- depth way. If you feel stuck in any way in your own writing life, and you feel ready to transform, I invite you to have a conversation with me. Because it’s not just the writing that gets lost when you don’t write. It’s you. The fullness that you came here to be. If you don’t write, the world will never have the writing you came to do. But what’s even more important, is that you will never have your full self. You are a treasure beyond measure. If writing is part of what calls you, writing is part of what you came here to do. The consequences of you not fulfilling your writing dreams are not trivial. They are essential to you having the life you long to live. I’ve come to feel that they’re essential to your health and your vitality as well, because your voice is such a unique expression of your soul. Right now, I have an opening for one dedicated person. To work very closely with me, to bring a project to completion. If you feel that what’s held you back is mostly the inner stuff: I want to help you transform your vision of your self, while you bring your writing vision into the world. Because I’m very focused on my book now, I only have room for one person. I will be screening that person very carefully, to determine her level of commitment to this transformational opportunity. Three things are essential: You have a clear project that you’re committed to completing in the next year. You suspect that what’s held you back is Your Sacred Wound. You’re dedicated to heal, transmute and transform that wound. If you feel that what I’m writing about speaks to you, I’d love to hear from you. Whether or not it’s time for you to invest in this kind of work, I’m dedicated to strengthening you on your own writing journey. It matters to me that what I’m saying touches you, and I love hearing how (leave a comment below). And, if you feel called to work with me in this in depth way, let me know by contacting me. This opportunity is not right for everyone. You need to be ready to invest time, energy and money to this transformation. If you’re ready, I’m ready! I can’t wait to hear from you. … [Read more...]

Honor your sensitivity.  Know that it is your deepest strength.   Honor your sensitivity as a strength.   Love yourself as you love this earth.  Let your writing be a way you care for the earth, and you will come home to yourself.   We are from the earth, of the earth, and if we do not stand for the earth, who will?   If we do not stand for ourselves, exactly as we are…deeply sensitive, deeply intelligent, deeply powerful…then what?   Is that not also a description of Nature?  Sensitive, intelligent, powerful?   These are some of the lessons I’ve learned in my journey toward honoring myself as a writer.   Over and over, I was stopped by  fear, until I finally learned that fear is a doorway.   I started to see that fear is not a signal to stop, but an indication that I’ve reached the edge of my comfort zone.   As a writer, and as a sensitive, I feel my own fear more deeply than some people do, because I feel everything deeply.  The more I understand this, and learn skills to recognize and navigate through the territory of fear, the more free I am.   It’s taken me a lifetime to understand that my sensitivity is in fact my greatest strength.  It’s what makes me a writer who can touch people’s hearts, in a world where most people are afraid to feel deeply.   It’s taken me a lifetime to understand that fear is a doorway, and that’s one of the reasons I’ve developed Women’s Voices Rising:  to help you learn to walk through your own fear—or terror—of writing, and find the freedom and power that’s on the other side.   On Thursday, January 22 at 10 am Pacific Time ( 11 Mountain, 1 pm Eastern)  and then again on Tuesday, January 27, at 5 pm Pacific ( 6 pm Mountain, 8 pm Eastern)  I’m offering a free teleclass called  “Turn Your Fear of Writing into a Portal of Love and Unleash Your Creative Power.”   On this call I will give you three keys that help you walk through the doorway of fear, and find that it is a portal of love.  That love is what helps you find the freedom to honor your own writing, and honor yourself as a writer.   If you attend the call live and decide to register for the Women’s Voices Rising program, starting in February, you get the early bird discounted price for the program.   Also, if you register for the program with a friend, you get the early bird discount price and your friend registers for only $97.00.   For both of these special offers, you have to email me directly, but you can go here to find out about the Free Teleclass, and here to find out about the program.   Do you consider yourself a sensitive?  What have you learned about your own sensitivity as a strength?  How does that help you to write?   I’d love to hear how this material speaks to you.  And I invite you to this free call, to learn more about how to navigate the waters of fear that come up in the course of moving closer to your writing dreams.   Do you know one or two women who would benefit from this?  Would you pass this on to them, and/or invite them to attend the free call on either Thursday, January 22 or Tuesday, January 27? … [Read more...]