I have some news.

I hope you are doing okay,

as I mentioned last week, my husband had a cold and I was not far behind.

I ended up getting sick, and I am almost better.

Today, I’d planned to continue sharing on the topic of writing and digital organization of your words and how life changing it can be.

But something got in the way of writing:

And it wasn’t my physical symptoms that kept me from writing this as planned.

It was an ailment of the heart that has afflicted me for quite some time,

and that today is exceptionally acute…

Grief.

Over two years ago now, my father died. As my only surviving parent that is a big deal to me.

I’ve had people tell me I deal with my grief quite gracefully. I receive the compliment.

And I’m glad people can see that I am grieving.

We shouldn’t have to fake it like its not the most devastating thing in the world…

I don’t hide it, I talk about it often, I feel,

but believe me I could talk about it more.

If you knew my every thought you’d know they are not all graceful, I cultivate those for you…

The truth is my heart still breaks every day. I am so heartbroken.

I never used to cry as much as I do now, and I’ve faced a lot of pain. This grief is the worst yet.

I read a book yesterday that had a whole scene about the main character’s father at the end and

it was really touching but it just hit me so hard,

oh my father is not here any more.

You don’t need to give me advice, to tell me his spirit is with me.

That’s what everyone said about my mother when she died, “She is up in heaven.”

A woman I never remember meeting…and yet still grieve evermore.

I don’t feel restful with that all the time.

I just want him here as he was.

We have no control.

There sometimes is no good way to “think” about losing someone.

There’s no advice to make it better…

I just want him back again.

THIS IS BEING HUMAN

This is what it looks like.

It’s OUT OF CONTROL.

I feel like I had him for so little time, just a few years since he got out of a bad situation…it’s so unfortunate.

I am so sad in this moment.

I’m going to let it be okay and show up as is.

There is no cure for grief, it just simply must be felt.

​And so I’m not going to talk about writing and digital organization today ​

​but it is great! & You can read all I have written on it here. ​

Instead, I’m going to share these words I put together about when writing meets LIFE, just like now…

Never Stop Caring

I’m never going to stop being a friend to others.

A human to others.

A heart for others.

If your grandchild is born…

If your family dies…

I’m never going to get in your face, asking why didn’t you come to the writing class?

Why aren’t you writing?

The first priority is to take care of yourself.

Writing is supposed to fall under that.

If the writing doesn’t happen, the solution is not to beat yourself up, never ever.

I know today’s email is a bit sombre, but thanks for being here–

human to human.

Hope you are in good health.

My husband has been ill and so far so good–

I have not caught the worst of it but my brain does feel a little foggy today so we will see…
[Later update: yup totally getting sick!]

This weekly FunLetter will be a little different from my previous weeks

which were SUPER juicy & about writing and getting organized:

​-10x your healing, writing this way​: the encyclopedia of me

​-morning and writing routines​

​-the wrong question to ask about forgetting good ideas​

Click the titles above to revisit those emails if you missed any of them!

This is an update on what to expect from me going forward over the next few months.

The biggest thing is:

There will be no 6 Month Writing Group this summer.

If you are a long-time member of my community,

that may be a surprise because I’ve run writing groups every 6 months and every summer since 2021

but I have decided to take a break from that.

I have been straddling the line of burnout and overwhelm for a while especially since New Years. And this will help me fill up my tank.

Hmm what happened in January?

That is when I acquired a second business.

It needs a lot of love to get off the ground

which is taking a lot of my energy and bandwidth

so for my beloved Sofia Wren business, I have decided I need to focus on only a few projects at a time to be less overwhelmed.

But don’t worry, it will be back.

The next 6 Month Writing Group will open in November 2024.

What else am I doing?

• I work with clients privately to write for your life, books and business content.
  
  ​(You can read more about my 1:1 programs here including mentorship and custom packages.)​
  
  
• In May, I will open doors to the 3 month Digital Organization Membership!
  
  I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS.
  
  It’s what I am most looking forward to right now!
  
  Before doors open I would love to have 20 people on the waitlist so that I know there’s enough interest to fill the program.
  
  ​If you haven’t joined the waitlist or already told me you are interested please do! Click here​
  
  
• I am pondering doing a free 21 day heartfelt writing challenge sometime in the summer.
  
  Not sure when though. But it won’t be April. I kept thinking I’d do it the last few months but it’s just been too crazy. So we will see when I have the mental space.
  
  
• This fall I’m planning to run a 6 week writing intensive for business owners.
  
  We will enter a deep conversation with the soul of your business so you know what to write next for your book or biz content. I’ll lead you through writing exercises to make your business writing more powerful and of service. Plus you can get feedback on your writing if you want, too.
  
  

What else is going on?

I’ve been slowing down on writing for different websites–

although I’ll always try to show up for this weekly FunLetter, I have been slowing down sites like Medium and Linkedin. Just catching my breath lately.

I am also starting to play music again and upload music clips to my patreon.

I set up a keyboard in my living room!

I see it every day so it makes me want to play and sing.

Patreon is where I share music recordings, and bits of writing on privacy, personal development and other thoughts I have. ​You can access my patreon music and writing here.

​

I also took on a part time gig supporting virtual events that occur throughout the year.

That helps me out financially as the other business I got in January is taking my time and attention but not paying money right now. My second biz is also stealing time and focus away from marketing my Sofia Wren writing business, so that’s a double hit.

This new gig will help balance things.

I can take my time with the new biz, run my most exciting Sofia Wren programs, and it’s all good!

No matter what bills are getting paid.

SIDEBAR

There’s so much shame that some people feel picking up part time work as a business owner,

people feel like it makes them less professional or good at their job somehow,

but as a seasoned 10 year business owner, I can tell you that is BS.

Working a business is liberating but also hard and don’t ever let anyone tell you differently.

There are pros to showing up and getting a check.

Sometimes doing a little bit of both freelancing and working for someone else is a great way to get the best of both worlds.

But that’s just my opinion.

Ok ya’ll I’ll feeling kindof fuzzy headed today

so I’m going to encourage you again to check out any recent emails you didn’t get a chance to read:

​-10x your healing, writing this way​

​-morning and writing routines​

​-the wrong question to ask about forgetting good ideas​

And I feel like popping in a final note below. Let’s hope some of today’s FunLetter is fun for ya to read.

A decade ago, I got a coach to learn digital organization

(Actually, several)

Why? Primarily to keep my career going:

to finish projects, write, publish and live up to my potential as a writer or entrepreneur.

I just knew I could be doing more. Or doing it better. I felt like a mess.

So it surprises the heck out of me that now, I am more organized for my career and my favorite part of this,

the thing I most enjoy about being organized

are the LIFE benefits.

Organizing my journals!!

I put a lot of business and writing ideas in my journals so that’s why I started organizing them,

but I didn’t realize how valuable all the lifey stuff was going to be.

Self knowledge,

going through my journal and book notes,

finding bits of my writing that feel like art,

that resonate and help me today…

• That time I forgot to trust myself and remembered how important it was,
• that quote about self worth coming at the perfect time,
• the time my career was successful but it made me feel really weird instead of good.

“Hey!” I thought reading my notes,

“You mean this happened to me before?

Only six months ago?

And I thought of a solution to this already?

That’s cool!”

Knowing what I forgot is gold,

and the feeling I get when I remember again is a rush I just can’t get over! So delicious.

So in the end being organized is good for my career as a writer and a businessowner

BUT ALSO

it’s great for me as a human being. <3

And I’m so juiced up and ready to share what is working for me

because I want everyone to have this feeling and finally make progress on what matters to you.

If you are ready to pull your ideas out of your notebooks, notes or documents,

If you believe in yourself, and you know your ideas could become something more,

I’d love to show you how to bring order to your piles of journals or post it notes.

Soon everything can be at your fingertips:

your messiest of drafts,

your half-awake thoughts,

your rants in the car talking out loud to yourself…

now transformed into riches.

Riches YOU can now actually enjoy.

Intrigued?

Join the waitlist for the Digital Organization Membership

where I’ll share my 2 systems for organizing:

• journals, content, and writing

plus

• project intentions and tasks.

Early birds get 50% off the price:

===> $30 total for 3 months of membership

only available for the first week it opens…

​Click here to join the Digital Organization waitlist for more info. ​

Thanks for reading!

If you’ve been feeling fragmented across different notebooks and documents, I feel you, baby.

Since I was college-aged I have been thinking about how to improve my life.

At 21, I got my first therapist.

I read self-help books and did ALL the exercises.

But it wasn’t enough!!

I felt some incremental change, of course, but knew there was so much further to go in my healing.

Writing became a part of that journey:

at 22 I decided to take on Julia Cameron’s challenge to write daily morning pages.

Weeks later, I paged through my journal and was completely surprised by the thoughts and feelings I had written down.

I HAD SO MUCH TO LEARN ABOUT MYSELF.

It turns out I needed to go deeper than just beg the universe for someone to tell me the answers to my life.

I needed to start by understanding my life, and myself better – to address gaps in my knowledge like:

-maybe things I had been putting up with really were not acceptable…

hence why I felt dumped on.

-maybe my expectations of myself or other people were not fair…

hence my stress and disappointment.

-maybe I had no idea what I really wanted in my life and work…

hence feeling confused and lost.

It was time to get answers.

Problem is:

No one else can provide all the solutions –

Your life isn’t the same as anyone else’s so no one can tell you 100% what to do.

It’s your responsibility to find your unique formula.

Wish you could buy it in stores? Me too!

But it HASN’T been invented yet.

I love learning from other people but…they are not having my experience.

I need to go into myself to gain the clues needed to invent my own formula.

I need to understand myself better.

That’s why I love writing, as it helps me do this.

And I love what I am creating to 10x my healing:

AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ME.

The 10x effect

When I realized that I needed to find answers IN MYSELF, my life changed.

When I realized they could be found with writing, my life changed even more.

But even daily writing added to counseling and self-help didn’t cut it.

Things were still falling in the cracks–

Notebooks and writing piled up and I knew there was juice I was not squeezing from them.

I was just so sick of feeling fragmented with ideas strewn across different notebooks and documents.

And sick of repeating cycles in my life and business…

I needed a way to bring all of my insights, parts, ideas, and thoughts

together into a cohesive whole.

Good news:

I found the Technology to solve this!

Now I can organize my writing along important healing themes.

For the last few years I am bringing all the writing together, and I’m noticing:

I AM RAPIDLY BECOMING A WHOLE DIFFERENT PERSON.

That’s how big of an upgrade it is.

10x

What is an ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ME?

It’s the instruction manual I always wanted.

It’s like a private wikipedia for

my thoughts, feelings, goals, intentions and history.

It’s got everything I need for me to understand myself.

Every time I look at it, I make new connections, think about my goals and get ideas about what to do next.

Let’s dive in so you can get an idea of how this works.

Creating my encyclopedia

I created this encyclopedia with a free app called Obsidian. Been using it a few years now.

​Last week I shared how I used it to explore the theme of patience in my life.​

This week I noticed feelings in my digital journal that I want to come back to later.

And I wondered how to make it easy to do that…

Problem:

I might forget the feeling I was writing about,

so how would I find it?

(A few weeks ago I explained you should always ask this question to avoid forgetting your good ideas.)

The question spurred this AHA:

Even if I don’t remember the name of the feeling, I will remember that it is an emotion.

And so I created a directory page about all of my emotions!

When I want to dive into my healing and emotions, I have ONE PLACE to access them all.

(Pictured below)

I named my note Emotional States MOC.

MOC stands for Map of Content, a name created by Nick Milo.

Organizing my Emotional Encyclopedia

This is a new page I’m creating all about my emotions,

so they will all be listed in one place.

To fill it out, first, I listed my emotions.

I already had some notes about these I could easily link to, but I decided to brainstorm a few more emotions to round things out.

(New additions have a red underline.)

As I added different emotions to my list, I started to separate them into different groups.

The positive feelings,

the difficult feelings…

But it also made sense to add tools that support my emotions and teachers I am resonating with now.

I pulled out emotions of particular interest to go back to.

Finally, I added an area that’s very interesting to me:

all of the different relationships to things I am working on over time.

They aren’t really feelings but I want them here.

Like my relationship to work,

my relationship to time (often feeling a sense of urgency) and

my journey of releasing control.

Of course, each “feeling” is not just named, but also linked to a list of notes and references all through my journal.

DAMN THIS IS A GOLD MINE.

Here is the final result:

All of these headers are collapsed to look more simple (picture below).

I can click on the header name for an additional list of links to my notes under each header.

Organizing them for new connections

Just creating this directory made me remember about things I hadn’t thought about in a long time,

old notes, studies, books, experiences and so on.

Do you know what a satisficer is?

I do because a note on it came up as I was exploring the feeling of satisfaction. Google it, I dare you.

As I wrote the list, I realized I had notes on so many fears that I should put them all on their own Fear directory.

Fear is all basically the same emotion right?

LOL why does my mind hate that idea? Now that’s interesting to observe in myself.

The process of clicking around to create this encyclopedia is just as enjoyable and eye opening as the final product.

And I’m still playing with it!

This directory for my feelings is something I created on a whim, bouncing off of other notes I had already been creating.

But that’s the cool thing about the system I use, a free app called Obsidian:

I can be messy yet organized.

THIS DOES NOT NEED TO BE ANAL

I don’t have to be like an architect:

I don’t have to understand how I will organize things ahead of time.

I can be a gardener…

I can wander around the garden of my ideas trimming, organizing and growing things as I please.

So this encyclopedia is part of a system of notes that is a continual work in progress, full of healing and insights for me for years to come.

I’ve been using this system for several years so I have lots of other notes about my emotions to connect together to this hub.

I would have loved to have this encyclopedia 15 years ago at the start of my healing journey!!

ONE PLACE

This is just one page in my system that connects to emotions across journals, dreams, ideas, and more.

In two years, I’ve made over 3000 notes.

And I still legitimately find it easy to find things.

I have a place where all of me lives coherently.

All of me is in one place together.

Because of it, I remember things better, I find things better, and

I am bringing insights of my life together into a cohesive whole.

I can use the knowledge I’ve gained to 10x my healing:

• know what is important to me,
• make better choices,
• feel more positive emotions and
• ultimately live a better life.

How would you organize information about yourself?

The encyclopedia of me won’t look like yours, right?

Emotions are confusing to me, but

what do you find confusing or complex in your healing journey?

Could you make a directory to think more deeply about these things

and bring your notes and ideas together?

Maybe this gives you ideas about how you can 10x your healing, too!

Have fun

And by the way–

I’m excited to share more about digital organization in the upcoming membership program:

I’ll be sharing how to organize your ideas across different

notebooks, time periods, or documents,

themes, topics, intentions or reviews.

Practice organizing your notes or journals with me

so you can put your own spin on it,

and get your questions answered.

Join the waitlist for the Digital Organization Membership

where I’ll share my 2 systems for organizing:

• journals, content, and writing

plus

• project intentions and tasks.

Early birds get 50% off the price:

===> $30 total for 3 months of membership

only available for the first week it opens…

​Click here to join the Digital Organization waitlist for more info. ​

Thanks for reading!

How are you doing?

A few weeks ago, I got really burned out,

and have been consciously restoring myself since.

One of the things I keep coming back to is my morning routine,

it’s always a good place to start when I’m feeling off.

And lately it’s even begun to inspire me to write other times of the day as well.

As a result, I’m starting to feel like my old self again!

Plus I’ve had some big aha moments…

Morning Routines

Here’s the morning routine that has helped me bounce back from burnout and overwhelm.

Plus it’s inspired me to write more.

Note: I might not do this all in one day…

1. Try not to touch my phone. If I do, it’s only for listening to some music to get up and moving. But I avoid social media, communication, and anything that will create noise in my brain.
2. Spiritual Time. I listen to guided goddess meditations by my friend Kris Seraphine Oster. I also love to pull Tarot Cards.
3. Exercise. I like to dance or do physical therapy exercises for my right hip and wrist.
4. Tapping / EFT. Whether I have two minutes or 20, I tap to get calm, grounded, and focused on long term goals.
5. Writing in my notebook or in my digital journal. I’ll explain this one in depth below.

The Writing Practice

I want to go deeper into my writing practice specifically and what a day might look like,

since I combine writing by hand and a digital journal in a way I don’t see very often.

Playing with my digital journal lately has become my FAVORITE piece of my ritual.

Yesterday, I didn’t get that writing time, and I found myself craving it later in the day.

Like filling out a puzzle, something just felt missing.

Craving aha moments,

things fitting together into a bigger picture.

Knowing where things belong and thus where I belong.

I’ve gotten so many big aha moments over the last few weeks doing this practice,

plus repeating it has helped me review and remember those insights.

I cannot handle the thought of a juicy idea falling in the cracks!

I feel safer knowing that my big ideas aren’t just going to go poof, and are

deeply embedded in my system so they actually change how I live and the results I experience.

This is helping me do it all.

Example of a day playing in my digital journal.

I didn’t get a chance to write in the morning yesterday

but I craved it so much I sat down to do it in the evening.

I followed my same process…

Just FYI for the last two years I have been keeping a digital journal.

I don’t always start by writing directly into a computer document.

I like the way a pen feels in my hands as I write, so often I write on paper.

But if I leave it in a journal I won’t use my ideas so I have to get them into my digital journal.

To do that, I might summarize my main ideas and type them, or

I’ll transcribe them by reading them out loud into an app.

Lately, I have been tired so I’m taking it easy.

I just add to my notes a little whatever it’s relevant

and mostly just look at old notes I already have there.

old notes, diary entries, ideas…

Whether I wrote an entry yesterday, a month ago, or two years ago,

there are a lot of cool things to rediscover that I enjoy reading.

There has always been something fulfilling about reviewing my old notes and journals.

But now I use a special program to organize and find things more easily than

Microsoft Word, Google Docs or Scrivener.

My current process also creates additional connections between documents and ideas each time I review them.

This repetition helps me to remember, learn, and develop even more ideas.

To start, often a general theme calls to me.

Sometimes I get this from tapping, a tarot card reading or a dream.

That’s where I start exploring…

I go off from there,

reading,

making connections,

writing new notes, and

just generally having fun.

Yesterday I was thinking about the word “patience.”

Patience is a theme that has been important to me over the last several years especially.

Since 2022, I noted it as an important 28 times across the 3,000 digital notes I’ve created.

Note: this isn’t a general search for the word ‘patience’,

these are notes I intentionally marked with this theme over the years.

The best thing about the free program I use to digitally organize all these notes is that

I can easily find and click through to the relevant sentences about Patience in each entry.

It doesn’t take me very long to read through everything I have written about patience,

about 20-30 minutes of finding old gems and ideas on the topic.

I revisit notes from 2022 when I began to see having patience with myself as self-respect.

That really changed my life because it made me realize how important it is to stick to.

I came across many other interesting thoughts and quotes and copied anything that felt extra-relevant to ponder later.

Here’s a quote that doesn’t mention the word ‘patience,’ but feels connected anyway:

“Regard yourself as a cloud, in the flesh, because you see, clouds never make mistakes. Did you ever see a cloud that was misshapen? Did you ever see a badly designed wave? No, they always do the right thing. But, if you will, treat yourself for a while as a cloud or a wave and realize that you can’t make a mistake whatever you do. Because even if you do something that appears totally disastrous, it will all come out in the wash somehow or another. Then through this capacity you will develop a kind of confidence. And through confidence you will be able to trust your own intuition.”

Alan Watts

Eventually clicking through my notes, and poking around to whatever catches my attention,

I look at my goals for the year 2023.

Patience was a goal for that year, which is why I ended up there…

New Years of 2023, I made a huge mindmap of different documents, themes, intentions and ideas

(see pic below).

Here’s a zoomed out version of that mindmap —

if I want to reach the words in each square, I zoom in or click into it for a closer view.

I felt impressed that I did this in January 2023,

but also aware that I never did a mindmap like this in 2024.

My next thought was:

Did I set intentions for 2024 at all?

I went poking around to see if I had any notes on that…

I quickly found a review of 2023 I wrote in January 2024, and skimmed through it.

I went down the rabbit hole a bit looking at things like that…

After 20 minutes or 30 minutes reading seasonal reviews and big-picture notes,

thinking about my goals and intentions…

I wrote down what I noticed had changed from a year ago,

what I had done,

what I was still working on, and

what was still to do.

And this felt very good.

Necessary.

Right.

Organized.

The Pay Off

Ultimately something became very, very clear.

As I processed all of this,

my thoughts returned back to patience and

what it meant for me now.

I didn’t do it on purpose, it just naturally happened.

And my big aha moment of the day:

Patience relates to the things that have made me feel burned out.

Since January 2024, I’ve had a lot on my plate.

With my business, my nonprofit work, my life, and

now an additional business that I recently acquired…

Since the beginning of the year, deadlines created a lot of urgency and pressure on me.

In a situation that feels urgent, patience with myself can easily go out the window

but that’s no excuse for self disrespect.

I have to set boundaries to protect my mental health.

I decided to put more emphasis on TAKING MY TIME for the rest of 2024.

For a while now, I’ve been trying to take a slow and steady mindset, because it’s more sustainable.

But I needed to recommit to it.

Why?

I forgot I cared so much about it.

Taking time is more enjoyable for me.

It also tends to be easier for my nervous system, while urgency is bad:

it triggers anxiety, depressed feelings and flashbacks to bad times in my life.

Not to mention burnout and overwhelm.

My mental health suffers under a lot of time crunch.

While I might not be able to control every deadline, there are things I can control, and

I am making a commitment to myself to slow down.

And I think it’s going to make the rest of my year a LOT better.

And if I get into these habits, it could make my whole life better, as well.

So there you go.

After a little more than an hour of playing with my notes on Tuesday night while my husband was playing a video game…

a process that was totally enjoyable and satisfying for me,

almost like a game for me, too…

One little word, ‘patience,’ led me to recommit to myself in a life changing way.

I wanted to share it in case it inspired you to revisit your routines, practices and even,

play with your own notes or writing!

Doing this has been super fulfilling and nourishing for my soul.

Any writing you have, journal entries, old transcripts of you talking, ideas:

There is gold in there.

Don’t forget the power of reviewing things.

it can be fun!

While not all of my deep dives take this long–

some times I just spend a few minutes on it…

Playing with my digital journal has been a really beautiful and nourishing self-care practice for me lately,

That’s why I’m excited to share more about my process in my upcoming digital organization membership.

I’ll be sharing how to organize your ideas

across different notebooks, time periods, or documents,

around different themes, topics, intentions or reviews.

And we will have time to practice together,

so you can put your own spin on it,

and get your questions answered.

Does that sound like fun to you?

Join the waitlist for the Digital Organization Membership

where I’ll share my systems for:

• organizing my journals, content, and writing

plus

• organizing and making progress on projects.

and you’ll get 50% off the price:

===> $30 total for 3 months of membership

only available for the first week it opens…

​Click here to join the Digital Organization waitlist for more info.

​

A while ago, after I picked up an old notebook from 3 years before,

and what I read was gold,

ideas I’d written and forgotten and

now was just remembering all over again…

I HAD SUCH A GOOD IDEA, why did I do nothing with it?

Seeing this gold I’d forgotten so completely, I had to wonder:

Why do I forget my good ideas?

Am I hiding things from myself?

Is this self sabotage?

Will I ever straighten out my brain?

(Why can’t it work in ABC order instead of FMQ?)

Possible answers:

It’s trauma.

It’s neurodiversity.

It’s resistance.

I’m just complicated.

BUT ASKING WHY DIDN’T SOLVE THE PROBLEM.

All of my ideas used to be trapped

in notebooks, closed up, on a shelf, or

in various documents.

All over the place.

It was too much.

I mostly forgot things the instant I looked away.

At a certain point though, I just decided that…

“WHY DO I FORGET?”

Does. Not. Matter.

This is the WRONG question to ask.

Who cares. Enough.

The right question is:

Given that this is my pattern.

It is what it is.

Now WHAT?

So that leads me to much more useful answers:

like…

I HAVE TO MAKE IT EASIER TO FIND STUFF.

Being able to find stuff means being able to reread it.

And when I reread things THEN I REMEMBER.

Bam– solution.

OK easier said than done, though.

How to tame the:

messiest of drafts,

half-awake thoughts,

rants in the car talking out loud to myself…

Without it literally being a full time job?

To do that I tried a lot of things over the last ten years.

I kept looking and learning from different teachers until I found something that worked.

Finally, after a long search I’ve found a few free programs that have been really working for me.

Now I’ve been living a NEW LIFE and have been organizing the contents of my notebooks for several years straight.

Why do I care so much?

Because it is life changing:

Finding the right sections of my writing and rereading them is a magic spell:

Rereading those words is a spell that wakes me up from my Cinderella sleep.

It interrupts the patterns —

I’ll give you example of notes that WOKE ME UP recently. Keep reading below.

But this is why I am a full on digital organization geek now!

It’s for moments like this:

alighting on an old thought or piece of writing that I forgot about…

something that teaches me about myself,

about my feelings,

about HOW I WORK.

It feels so good.

It feels so right.

Like tumblers aligning, opening a lock, opening a door smooth as butter.

It’s jaw dropping just how easy it is to forget essential information and ideas like this.

Writing that moves me. The things I love.

I am celebrating how far I have come.

And if you want to learn what works for me…

Join the waitlist for the Digital Organization Membership

where I’ll share

• my system for organizing my journals, content, and writing

plus

• my system for organizing and making progress on projects.

and you’ll get 50% off

===> $30 total for 3 months of membership

only available for the first week it opens…

​Click here to join the Digital Organization waitlist for more info. ​

And enjoy clips from my notebook below!

What’s in my notebook…

How have you been lately?

What’s in your notebook?

Me: I am burned out! I am recovering.

I still feel like my brain is broken.

Some things I am doing to recover:

I’m still trying to start my mornings off my phone, off email, off social media, and

instead write, heal, be in my own zone.

Lately I also review old journal entries I’ve digitized in the morning!

And it’s amazing to see what I always forget, the things that remain the same across time.

Like this one…

“Desires 2022:

I long for peace and quiet, but I feel like the priorities I circle around are money and business.

I tend to get lost in a never-ending hustle without conscious exertion of my intention to do otherwise.

I crave peace, solitude, safety, isolation, a buffer, a warmth, a reconnection with myself, a spiritual attuning, a wonder, a curiosity in the beauty that is already here, not chasing after something outside of me.

Those days I can look outside of the window and feel the whole world is open to me, without having to lift a finger. The power of my dreams, my imagination and who I already am.

This resonates so much with me TO THIS DAY.

As I read it, I noticed how being too tired to work on my business and make money is HIGH on my stress list.

It causes me to be hard on myself and impatient for things I can’t control.

And that can keep me from feeling my desired state of restoration.

I can totally forget this pattern I have to fixate on this.

How interesting to catch myself in the same stress pattern, longing for the same things.

AGAIN.

Also, ​I found a piece called “Money Does Not Equal Self Worth” that I wrote in 2019. ​

It speaks to the same theme, and

how I’ve overcome worrying about money when I only had $5 in my bank account.

(It’s now available on Patreon for $1.)

The point is: I FORGET important things

and I need a reminder.

My words are that reminder.

My notebooks are my lifeline.

I’m so grateful I can find these notes.

But since getting the reminder is NOT a given.

I am so grateful for it, every time.

These are the miracles that keep me going.

Thanks for reading!

P.S ​Click here to join the Digital Organization waitlist so you don’t miss the 50% special.

How are you feeling today?

I have a big update!!

Me now: TIRED (this is a very non anal post, take it as permission to let some typos go so you can write better yes yes!!)

But I’m also content. I got to sit on my balcony and read for a minute yesterday without wearing a coat.

And….

THE BIG NEWS IS!

We completed our fundraiser to pay Aminata’s college fees in Sierra Leone.

And she sent me a note to share with you to say thank you!

Things slowed down at the end of the fundraiser.

I suddenly crashed around the weekend energy wise (2024 has been a lot and this fundraiser was worth it but also a lot of energy to spearhead!)

In that tired headspace, calculating all the 18 contributions and figuring out the exchange, was kindof hard.

So I leaned back a little bit to rest.

I just got the final donation in person yesterday and after adding it up, it turns out after figuring the current exchange rates…

We actually raised a little more than needed! Over $600.

We will be giving it all to Aminata because everything helps and now she has it for another education fee, travel cost, or a few dollars for next year.

So there you go:

18 beautiful souls helped a young woman who lost her final parent in Sierra Leone go to college to continue her pharmacy program.

She has her route out of poverty and heavy labor secured.

Her Note of Thanks

Blessed Day everyone My name is Aminata. My heart and mouth is full of gratitude for what you have done for me. You don’t know me but yet still you gave me a chance to continue chasing after my dream. You gave me an opportunity to achieve the one plan my mother had for me and for that I am grateful. May God Almighty continue to richly bless and establish you on the path that you are on, may His light never depart from you and your family in Jesus name🙏🙏🙌🙌. Thank you for giving hope when it’s needed 🙏 God bless you 🙌🙌

YAYYYYY Thank you everyone

MORALE IS:

Please remember that no matter how tough the world is, it is possible to make a difference.

It doesn’t have to look like me and the way I do it, but we are all needed.

Just find where you are needed and sparkle light there, okay?

​And if you need some help figuring out your corner to shine sparkles, don’t forget I have a free training to help you do that​,

read on below!

Wishing you a good week.

xo

HOLY COW THERE IS A LOT OF GOOD STUFF FOR YOU THIS WEEK.

I’m not holding anything back!

I’m letting myself be “too much” and put “too much” in here because I can and because it delights me 😀

In this post:

• A Class to Change the World
• Article to Fit Writing In
• A musical update
• a podcast on deletion (again!)
• A waitlist

Change the World:

Watch this 20 minute* class to Tap into the Leader You are Here to Be:

🌈 How to connect to the change you are here to make in the world

🌈 How to impact the world using your story, your talent & your writing for your book or business.

🌈 How to clarify your writing goals so they leave room for all of life but also stretch you to step into your true potential.

🌈 How to BE more of the leader you are here to be.

​Watch the Free Class Here​

Or you can also rewind to watch the video from the beginning for a 30 minute class,

to hear about my up and down journey helping my nonprofit in Sierra Leone (who connected us with Aminata), because changing the world can be HARD.

How did I keep going? This shares how.

You’ll hear more thoughts and lessons I’ve learned about service, leadership and making an impact from that.

​If you are longing to connect to your place in things and the impact you are here to make give it all a watch <3 ​

xo

Too busy to write?

When your life gets busy, squeezing in time for writing can seem like a daunting task.

Balancing work, family, and other responsibilities often leaves little room for creative pursuits.

I GET IT,

Here’s my advice on what to do so you can write for yourself, your book, or your life.

Read my short article for how to fit writing in on page 32 of On Purpose Woman Magazine!

This magazine is free & full of great stuff to read xo

​Read my latest article “How to Fit Writing into a Busy Life” ​

P.S. I include making trackers for writing or other goals in my upcoming Digital Organization Membership, see more on that below.

Musical Update:

I am adding new things to Patreon!! Like this: The Story behind the song “New Dawn” During my first day in the studio, my producer heard my song, which I originally named Tides, and offered another way for me to arrange my song. He said I should change the name to New Dawn. That version kindof has a slow beachy vibe, a friend said it sounds like Sheryl Crow.

Many people really liked this version and encouraged me to stick with it, even my dad. On listening, I personally felt strongly that it didn’t match up with my vision for the song and knew I could sing it better with some adjustments….

But what do you think, do you like it?

​Listen here and explore the other music & private writing up on Patreon now.​

New Podcast: Conscious Deletion

Did you hear this? In case you didn’t, I’m including it again because it’s a BANGER.

TOO MUCH GOING ON, BABE?

Feel less weighed down and more potent and powerful as a writer or creator!

Listen to Andrea Hylen and I talk about the conscious deletion.

Instead of being bogged down by the past, you can reabsorb your power so you have energy for the next chapter.

Different places to listen:

• ​Spotify​
• ​iTunes​

Or watch and listen on Youtube:

Digital Organization Membership Coming Soon

Do you feel like you have potential that’s not being expressed?

Everyone talks about being consistent or motivated to write or achieve goals…

but what if you just need to be more organized so WHEN you are motivated, you can find things and get them done

bam bam boom…

Cuz how many times did you have an hour that was totally wasted since you couldn’t find anything or

didn’t really remember where you were in your project and basically scratched your head for 60 mins…

A recipe for frustration, procrastination, and not wanting to deal with this!!!

If you are hitting that block where you know you have a million ideas lost in a notebook on a shelf

if you are losing track of where your files are

if you have so many ideas it’s easy to lose track of what you were doing and what’s next

AND YOU ARE SO OVER THIS shiz

If you want to pop in, pop out of your projects, your book, your biz writing,

and actually get things done in the small amount of time you have to dedicate to them

If you want more peace of mind, and confidence that you are DOING IT

even when you aren’t actually doing it every second (juggle a kid, a job, another thing, etc.)

but you have a handle on your projects, and priorities, and where all your ideas are.

You feel something new, something magical:

you feel TRUST in yourself it’s happening

BECAUSE YOU ARE SO DAMN ORGANIZED.

(God does it feel good in this crazy world to have something under control a tiny bit omg.)

And then when you actually get something finished at last?

The relief. The high…

Getting stuff done successfully fuels motivation!

Then you’ll actually feel positive next time

and confident that when you next sit down to work, you’ll plow through another thing.

So you can take a niiiiiiice easy breathe.

Phew. Phew!!

OMG the peace of doing a thing you’ve been wanting to get done for ages, am I right?

Something is coming soon to help you:

-Clean up your business, project or writing files so you feel less overwhelmed and can focus on whats next

-Always know what to do next step by step so you finish your projects, reach your goals and fulfill your intentions

-Stop forgeting important details about your projects and next steps because you set the time aside to store them in one easy to find place.

WHOOOOOO! Are you as excited as I am?

I AM OPENING THE DIGITAL ORGANIZATION MEMBERSHIP SOON

Join the waitlist to get news about the 50% off early bird special AKA:

===> $30 total for 3 months of membership

only available for the first week it opens…

​Click here to join the Digital Organization waitlist. ​

How are you feeling today?

​

Me: less overwhelmed, having fun watching Survivor, enjoying warm days.

​

I have a LOT going on. So last week I knuckled down to work on feeling less overwhelmed:

​

I got organized by sorting my to-do items by project and then ranking my priorities. It really helps me feel less overwhelmed, more grounded, and more clear-minded so I know where to start.

​

(This is a process we do in the Digital Organization Membership, which will open again soon!)

​

Luckily, this was a day before my colleague asked me to start a fundraiser to help Aminata, a young woman in Sierra Leone, go to college. It’s imperative I did the prep before so I had the capacity to fit that in.

​

Everything I do is for future me. If I don’t try to do this fundraiser, I know she’ll regret it. So it’s important I clear the noise and know my real priorities.

​

Maybe this is something that will simplify things for you as well.

​

Wishing you a good week.

Maybe I’ll see you for the Tarot party charity event for Aminata on March 8 🙂

​

And you might also like the podcast I recorded for you this week! Deletion is HOT.

xo

​

In this post:

• A podcast on deletion
• A teaser

​

New Podcast: Conscious Deletion

Feel less weighed down and more potent and powerful as a writer or creator!

​

Listen to Andrea Hylen and I talk about the conscious deletion.

​

Instead of being bogged down by the past, you can reabsorb your power so you have energy for the next chapter.

​

Watch now:

Digital Organization Membership Coming Soon

Do you feel like you have potential that’s not being expressed?

Something is coming soon to help you:

​

-Focus on what is important and feel less overwhelmed by cleaning up your business, project or writing files

-Develop your projects and get clear on what to do next to finish

-Make notes so you don’t ever forget important details about your projects and next steps in one easy to find place.

​

In our monthly meetings, you’ll be guided to create a central project hub in the free Notion app that you will come back to monthly.

These projects can be writing projects, business projects or life projects

​

Each month you’ll learn skills to simplify and accelerate your projects

through digital organizing, planning, & accountability

​

You’ll also get bonus classes about the free software I use for writing and organizing content for dozens of articles, videos, emails, blogs, launches and more: Obsidian.

​

Join the waitlist to get news about the early bird special of $30 total for 3 months of membership:

​

​Click here to join the Digital Organization waitlist. 

​

​

It’s a Party: Get Clarity for Charity!

Join me for an online Tarot party this Friday, March 8th,

7-9 PM EST (4-6 PM Pacific)

It’s in support of Amanita’s college education. She’s a young woman in Sierra Leone studying pharmacy but needs our help after losing her only parent.

We’re just $500 away from the goal – 20 donations of $25.

All readings are free, and donate what you like, any amount helps.

Come and share with your friends so we can reach our goal. Let’s make a big impact together.

More information:

How much is it?

This is part of a by donation charity event. There is no payment required for entry. We will give everyone a reading and you can offer whatever donation you can.

What is the cause?

To raise college fees for Amanita from Sierra Leone. We raised funds for another girl last month and I was asked to help Aminata also. 

Aminata’s mother (only parent) died recently and she does not have the support to continue school without help. She is in her second year studying pharmacy at university.

Why it matters

Only 1 out of 5 women in the city where she is from can read a sentence, so it’s a shame for this tragedy to force her to drop out of the most prestigious medical university in the country. 

She said without this degree her only job alternative is constantly hunting unreliable part-time jobs doing hard-labor, like hand washing laundry. But the degree will ensure her a steady career like her mother hoped for her. 

What we need:

Thanks for coming. We only need about $500 more total for her. That’s 20 donations of $25. 

All small donations add up!!!!

Pay what you can. Please spread the word.

It will change Aminata’s life. This is my last fundraising goal for the season! 

How to Join

Join live on Zoom:

Click here to register for the live zoom

Or watch and comment to get your reading on facebook.

Reload this page when it’s time to start and you’ll see the video for the event:

https://www.facebook.com/SofiaWren

How to Donate:

Send your donation to the places below. Any amount is fine.

Sofia will be transferring money to Her Future Foundation in Sierra Leone who will give the money to Aminata directly to pay her university fees.

Venmo @Sofia-Nitchie

PayPal https://www.paypal.me/SofiaNitchie

Your Tarot Readers

Sofia Wren:

Sofia, the “mermaid wrangler”, helps you tap into your power to write and create awe-striking things.

Sofia Wren is a writer, musician, and spiritual support for writers, creators, and entrepreneurs around the world. She helps sensitive people who are grinding or circling around to know exactly what to do next to make progress on their books and businesses.

With spot-on intuition, positive vibes, and a gift for words that inspire, she has a passion for helping unconventional people to always know what to do next because they can hear their intuition and trust it.  

Praise for Sofia:

“I had my reading with Sofia Wren today. It felt really sacred and perfect!

I had been feeling agitated and stressed off and on for the last week and was looking for relief.

The amazing thing was that out of the three cards Sofia pulled all of them spoke to different aspects of my life that had been bothering me. She opened the door ways to insights that I had not seen clearly before.

She facilitated a shift in energy and gave me practical tools to take away and integrate. Emotions that had been stuck bubbled up and were able to be cleared. After my session I felt calmer and more inspired, I felt like I had a focused path to follow.

Thank you Sofia.” – Kate Burkett

Kris Oster:

I’ve been reading Tarot since age 12 and have been channeling angels, goddesses, spirit guides and passed-over loved ones for as long as I can remember.

Professionally, I’m an author, tarot reader, reiki healer, astrologer, archetypal brand strategist and marketing copywriter who helps entrepreneurial Healers, Coaches & Priestesses create mythic & monetizable brands that become the stuff of legends. 

Once upon a time, I was a corporate marketing director and lead website developer for some pretty big names, including Citrix Online, E! Entertainment Television, Disney, ABC, Paramount Pictures. I received my PH.D in Mythological Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute where I studied mythology and depth psychology with such luminaries as Marion Woodman and James Hillman. I have helped hundreds of entrepreneurs create a business and livelihood that feels pleasurable, alluring and that reflects their authentic vision.

You can learn more about me at www.KrisSeraphine.com

Sending you oceans of love,

Kris

Praise for Kris:

“I received a business tarot reading from Kris. I was delighted. I am an artist and the typical business coaching session leaves me uninspired and kinda dry. Kris’s approach in combining the the tarot with her business skills was very effective for me. It brought the magic and mystery, that I so love, into the dry parts of my work. I guess what pleased me the most is that she completely spun the concept of business around for me. Kris showed me that the business parts don’t have to be boring, that by mixing it up with the sacred and magical it can be fun and so much more effective. I feel a little like she infused my business with Spirit. I received great business advice in a way that I could hear it and in a way that I am actually excited to carry out. I highly recommend a tarot business reading from Kris.” – Terre, California

“Kris’s Tarot Card reading was insightful, enlightening, and spot-on. I have had many readings through the years and no one has provided as much accuracy and clarity as Kris. She truly forms a genuine connection and has an astounding comprehension of the messages within the cards. I highly recommend tapping into Kris’s talent and getting a reading, you will not be disappointed!” – Theresa, California

“Kris is an amazing teacher and writer full of light, wisdom and emanates joy in her teachings. Also the best Tarot card reader. Have recommended several friends to have readings and Kris is always generous, bringing light to the issues with insight and accuracy. Love her 💖 highly recommended her classes and readings.” – Colleen, California

“Kris has such a nurturing warmth and love that just oozes from her every word and act and then you couple it with a natural intuitiveness, skills with tarot cards, and her business savvy, and you have one very special and unique women who thrives in this realm! I loved our soul session together; it was affirming for the direction I’m going in creatively, personally, and professionally and encouraging as well to continue listen to my instincts and intuition in all aspects of my life. I highly recommend doing a business soul strategy session with Kris if you’re going in a new direction with your business or creating a new one from the ground up.” – Rachel, California

“When you have a reading with Kris, you know it’s going to be a magical experience. It’s not just that she’s got the whole sexy mermaid thing going on, being able to go into the depths of the subconscious and find the pearls and treasures lost to us, bringing them back to the surface. No, it’s more than that. She sings a siren song that lures us to our dreams, to the steps that we need to explore and to the beat we need to dance to in order for our dreams to become manifest. In that way, she seduces us with our own wild souls, and entices us to invoke our own inner powers. Her readings are accurate and exploratory, delving into areas of my business ideas that I had been keeping on the back-burner. As we immersed ourselves into the dark seas of these ideas, her readings helped me find my compass, my light and my magic. Without these, I would still be adrift on a sea of wishes and dreams that would amount to nothing. Now, armed and shimmering with magical ocean spray, I feel more than confident that I can achieve what I want and go after what I need, enchanted and empowered, and wickedly alive.” – Cynthia, United Kingdom

How are you feeling today?

I’m feeling optimistic about the future.

​

I’ve had a lot of anxiety and overwhelm so far this year, juggling a number of things.

​

This week I set some boundaries, like I want to avoid using my phone in the first hour of the day.

​

So far, so good, it’s been a generative week and I have much to share with you.

​

In fact, there’s so much in this post, I’ll need to hold some back for later:

​

including my recently renewed passion for uploading music and goodies to Patreon. 

You can take a peak now but I’ll talk more about that in the future!

​

For this FunLetter:

• A new video
• A new article
• A reminder
• An invitation

New Video: Best Places to Write Online in 2024

What are the best places to write and publish online today?

From 10 years in business, and 20+ years publishing writing online, I have learned that the only constant is change.

Plus, there are hugely personal factors that go into evaluating the best place to write and publish.

So there is no one-size-fits-all.

Still, I always find it helpful to hear other people’s experiences:

• Where are they writing or marketing themselves?
• How is it going?
• How hard is it to be seen versus the effort they put in?
• How are they enjoying it?

I’ve learned so much from people sharing this kind of stuff, so I’ll share, as well.

I’m writing in 10 places, right now.

Now, you probably don’t need to do the same, but you might be wondering…

Which one is my favorite?

I’ll tell you.

As for the other 9 places, I’ll go through them in order of preference.

​You’ll hear key points about each platform I write on in this video on youtube.

​

​

New Article: Stop Scrolling if you are in agony writing about the past.

I see you! You are thinking about and writing about past events, wringing them, squeezing out the meaning or value.

You want to write it so you can share it with the world,

or debate if you should because it might help you to be more authentic, promote your career, or teach people what you know…

but what if you share and people won’t understand? What if it backfires?

Maybe you have been thinking about writing this for years. Perhaps you have something you want to figure out:

Why did things happen that way? What did it mean?

Who was the asshole? You? Them?

How do you put it all into words the right way?

And a part of you wonders if you can ever really share your full story, full dreams, full emotions, full thoughts…

could you really?

A. Read the rest of the article for my thoughts on this and what to do next.

B. Not a Medium member? Get free link to every article I post on Medium.com, join my weekly email FunLetter community!)

​​

A Quick Reminder:

​
​Your experiences do not have meaning.
​
Your experiences are meaningless.
​

If you’re looking to your story for some kind of meaning, remember that you’re the one who chooses what meaning it has.
​
You make the meaning.
​
You are the only one with that power because this is your life. You are powerful. ​
​
​

Reminder: You are Powerful

​

An Invitation:

​

Here’s how I KNOW we are an aligned fit to work together for a 6-Month Writing Mentorship:
​
You want more authenticity in how you BE, how you write your book or content, how you share, or how you promote your business.

If it’s feeling hard or stifled, and limited—I can help!
​
You want to WRITE 
​
You want to heal your stories and be more yourself. Less fear. More flow.
​
You want writing to feel more fun and authentic. You want to feel good, you want to feel proud of what you have written.
​
You want someone to have your back as you try to write and share. Someone nonjudgmental but knowledgable.
​
You feel overwhelmed or discouraged.
​
You feel like at the end of the day, your mental health and stress level is really key, so you want the kind of help that will help you relax, not stress you more.
​
You want to feel held and understood in the writing process.
​
You need a loving space to let yourself unfurl so you can finally get authentic, good writing out into the world to the people who need to hear it.
​
You know that more self-acceptance, more wholeness, more self-celebration, and confidence can only be a good thing.

​Connecting with yourself on a deeper level builds up your resilience, and you know that you can’t have too much of that.
​
And if you want to do that while writing to market your business, I can do that, too!

​

Elevate Your Writing Skills &

Unleash Your Authentic Voice:

​
​​
​Read more about the Personal Writing Mentorship Program, ​

I am receiving applications for partial scholarships…

​

Contact me to talk about it or discover what service or program is right for your project and budget.

​