What is your 'Writing Why'?

My WRITING WHY can be summed up in one word:  

GLOW

“GLOW” instantly brings to mind my faith, creativity, love and desire to grow and shine.  

It encompasses who I am, who I want to be and how I want to live.

Some of the reasons I write (and paint) are:

* to capture and share inspiration, ideas and beautiful memories

* to give light and love and express faith

* to inspire, empower and encourage

* the flow of creative work energises me and makes my true self glow

"Your WHY is the internal fire, passion, motivation, inspiration and drive for your creative work" 

-  Jennifer Blanchard

I want to GLOW … be my best & brightest self and

        I want to help people GLOW … by encouraging, inspiring and empowering.

I created GLOW: Heart, Mind & Soul and the corresponding Facebook page last year as a way to achieve my goal, and that is where I outlined what the acronym G.L.O.W. represents for me:

Jennifer Blanchard is the author of 'Align Your Writing Habits To Success: From procrastinating writer to productive writer in 30 days (or less)' ... this one of the most remarkable writer's resources I have come across!   Finding my writing why was one of the hardest and most rewarding writing exercises I have done.  

I'll be writing more about the role this book has played in rekindling the spark in my creative life - an ebook which cost me $1.30 AUD - and I'm not being paid to rave about it!

What is your 'Writing Why'?  

____________________

P.S.  Have you discovered Inky Wings yet?
That's my (other) Facebook page, and it's where I share links most days to inspire your creative life ... I hope you can join me there sometime!

Confessions of a Bookworm

My Top 10 Bookish Confessions:

-  I have been a bookworm for about 40 years ... yes, that means I was hooked on books by the age of 1.

-  I read for a zillion reasons ... escape, entertainment, adventure, inspiration and to live vicariously.

-  I read 10+ books per week, often library books and Kindle books on my iPad.  These usually include a stack of quick adventures, YA fiction or romance novels, how-to-write, alternative education & home education theory, maybe an autobiography, one of the free classics for Kindle, or a longer book (e.g. Mao's Last Dancer).  I also read aloud to my children regularly, even though they are awesome, preteen bookworms.  

-  I sometimes experience depression, and the worse the depression, the more I read.  I guess it's because the alternative is overthinking.  When logic fails and everything is hard, escapism helps.  Reading a lot does not mean I am depressed though.  

-  I often abandon books ... if it's not captivating or challenging, I'm done.  Life's too short, etc.

-  I like books better than parties, shopping and restaurants.

-  I once QUIT reading fiction for a year!  Can you believe it?!  I made that radical, impulsive decision because I was getting lost in historical fictional worlds a little too deeply, and I wanted to get back to my priorities (faith, work, family and friends).  I survived, and it was actually a good experience.  When I returned to voracious reading, my habits and tastes had actually changed for the better.

-  I stay up late almost every night because I 'have to' read, and once I start I never want to stop.

-  I read compulsively ... labels in the shower, ingredient lists, book spines on shelves everywhere, open diaries.  No word is safe, but I have taught my eyes to 'bounce' if something is obviously private or unsavoury.  

-  I actually don't love the smell of old books, and I find most used book stores claustrophobic and sneeze-inducing (some of my dearest friends might disown me over this).

This post was inspired by Kristen A. Kieffer's 'My Top 10 Bookish Confessions'.

I would love to hear from you ... do you dare to share your bookish confessions?