August Inspiration Adventure

Join me in shaking it off this August.

Hi everyone.

Thank you for being here.

This week I wanted to write a bit about world saving. Because one thing I know about people who want to try to make the world a better place is that often they forget to look after themselves in the process.

On top of that, trying to improve the world means you are more likely to notice the ways our systems and societies are unequal. It means looking closer and more keenly at injustice. It means carrying it around.

It is all a bit heavy.

I remember, a while ago, when I was struggling in Myanmar, realising how working in the charity sector had made me pay a lot of attention to the problem. But staring at a problem doesn’t necessarily give you a root to the solution.

Without a connection to our creativity, our inspiration and our spirits, we cannot hope to access the energy which will help us dream up a better society.

That said, I know, especially if you are navigating something difficult or traumatic - pushing aside the pain or the negative thing won’t nourish you in a lasting way.

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Friends, I feel heavy with life at the moment. And while I negotiate this and ongoing C-PTSD, I am fed up going online and reading about how the struggle will be worth it. Or being told that one more life change will fix it.

Trust me, as someone who has lived a whole long list of places, who has tried out a whole host of lives and routines, who has got over one trauma to walk right into another one, there is no magic bullet.

The only way out is always through. And sometimes through is muddy and wet like a walk on a lovely summer day in Scotland.

And talking of summer….

August is my birthday month and I want to do what I can to shake up this feeling. I don’t expect my life to change but I do think, based on all my trauma recovery lessons, I know how I can make it all marginally lighter to carry around.

And if you relate to wanting to wade through some swampy times and feel a tiny little bit better, then I am inviting you to join me.

The Rules

(I am creating these for myself too).

• I have designed each prompt to feel manageable even on a really bad and or really stressful day. (That is so I can commit to showing up to this every day.)

• That said - I want to offer you an opt-in and opt-out. Use these ideas however you wish. Show up on a Thursday, a Saturday and then for a full week.

• Lean into what inspires your body, your heart, your soul. Forget the rest. There is no right in what lights you up.

• You can use the word or the full prompt. For example - the word might light up a photo or poem idea - which might feel more manageable and interesting than the prompt.

• If you would like to share and are on the Substack platform - you can share your creations with me by tagging me on Notes.

• If you want to share and Subscribe by email - you can send me your responses by replying there.

• I will share a few responses that made me smile in my weekly post. And I will share the week ahead’s prompts there too.

• I will celebrate with you anything which opens up the tiniest win and tiniest bit of inspiration.

There you go

That’s it.

So, join me in making my birthday month a bit lighter, a bit more creative and a bit more magical.

(And you can get a prize if you can guess the day of my birthday based on the prompt.)

Walk With Me

Here are the first week’s prompts. (I already feel a bit lighter from creating them.)

We start on August 1st.

See you then…