"Our inner Wisdom is persistent, but quiet. It will always whisper, but it will never stop knocking at your door'"- Vironika Tugaleva
I had the chance to chat with the lovely Maria Iliffe-Wood on this week's Insightful Conversations. Maria, a seasoned coach, and author, has recently added coaching fellow-writers to her repertoire. Writers who want to get their books out into the world but feel blocked or overwhelmed by the process. I was fascinated to hear how coming across the 3 Principles has impacted Maria's skills as a writer and how she works with her clients. I love Maria's honesty. She describes how, in the beginning, writing was not something she always enjoyed. In fact, she describes it as something she once hated with a vengeance. By her own admission, Maria was not a born writer. Her first writing experience was when she had to submit written reflections as part of her Postgraduate Coaching qualification. Reluctantly Maria complied. Later, after experiencing a dark period in her life, a friend suggested that she journal. Maria found the experience therapeutic. Through her writing, she discovered parts of herself she had kept buried since childhood. Maria credits the Principles for helping her with her writing and writing for deepening her understanding of the Principles. The more she showed up to write with nothing on her mind, the more amazed she was at what was revealed to her. For me, I would never have dared to pick up a pen and expose myself on paper if it hadn't been for the Principles. Before coming across this understanding, I would never have had the courage to write a blog, never mind a book. I have always had the soul of a writer, but my insecure thinking has held me back. My negative chatter would tell me that I wasn't a good enough writer, that I would make a fool of myself, that I had nothing to say that was of value. I didn't know I was getting in my own way. I didn't know that it wasn't up to me. I didn't know that when I drop out of my personal thinking and show up as blank canvases, Wisdom is there to guide me. This was especially true for me a couple of weeks back when I had to submit a 5,000-word chapter of my book for an assignment. I completed the project two days before it was due. Feeling happy and relieved, I was finishing up some last-minute formatting when by accident, I deleted everything I'd written. All gone. Nothing left but blank pages. My boyfriend tried to help me find it but to no avail. There was no way to bring it back. I had no other choice but to let the piece go, trusting that something better wanted to come through. I took a deep breath and decided to move forward with what little time I had left. In the past, I would have cried and given up, feeling like a complete idiot. Or panicked and tried to remember what I had written only to get myself more frustrated and overwhelmed. This time something was different. A knowing, deep within me told me this was the wrong direction to go in. I knew that what I had written had come from Wisdom, and therefore there was no need for me to fret and try and recapture it. Instead, I settled down and waited, trusting that Wisdom would deliver again. Before long, words came to me, and I started to write. By the end of the day, the task was completed and had a finished 5,000-word document in my hand. As a writer, trusting that Wisdom is always there for me is all I need to know. It helps me when I feel blocked. It helps me when I feel abandoned by creative genius. It helps me not to judge my writing when I'm in a low mood. It helps me not compare myself to other writers who have years more experience than me. It helps me not take myself so seriously. It helps me when I lose my work, which I hear many writers do at least once in their lifetime! It does the heavy lifting for me, providing me with fresh new ideas I could never have conceived of if left to my own devices. It is comforting to know that regardless of the situation or our circumstances, Wisdom always has our back.
With love and appreciation, Del💕