Why WHERE you write matters
I start my days by making a cup of hot cacao with honey and almond milk. Then I pack my gray rugged backpack with my notebook, laptop, oracle cards, and snacks.
I grab my favorite sweater and warm coat. I put on wool soaks and black rain boots. Then I step out the front door, stopping to admire the Pacific Northwest mountain view.
Somedays I can see the valley stretch outwards, enclosed by mountains on the far side. Most days the view is covered in fog, which I don't mind, because the fog brings its own kind of sensuous light.
Then I turn left, walk down a stone path and look around the ground for a "spider stick".
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I moved to Washington from a small California apartment right before quarantine started, and I can assure you "spider sticks" were not a thing in Silicon Valley.
Here, however, in September and October the big female spiders lay their eggs, and they build their webs...everywhere.
Some hang twenty feet in the air above the driveway. Many are stretched across the ferns on the trail I use to get to my witch house.
A spider stick is needed to take down the webs that would otherwise land in my face while walking on the trail.
I feel bad for the spiders. They work hard on their webs, but I do not want a spider web in my face. I also really don't want to come into contact with one of those big ol' mama spiders. Thus, spider sticks.
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I walk 50 or so feet down the trail to my witch house, which is a Coleman's camping screen house, and I love it.
My witch house sits in the back corner of the land, where I am surrounded by cedar trees, hemlock trees, and big leaf maples.
This is where I write and do my oracle card readings, unless it's too damn cold outside, and then I work in my cozy bedroom, which has a view of a big grandmother cedar tree.
I love writing in my witch house. It's quiet, except for the frogs and ravens. When the sun shines it lights up the huckleberry leaves and makes the spider webs sparkle. I can feel the forest floor and the energy of the earth vibrating beneath my feet.
All of this makes my writing...how to describe it? It makes my writing MORE...more flow, more power, more creativity...more magic.
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It's always been important for me to be near trees when I write.
You might have this same experience with the trees, where you find you can say things a little more clearly and poignantly when you're near a tree, or perhaps you have the same experience but with water or a river or a camp fire.
I think with energetically sensitive and magical people like us, our writing environment often matters more than we think.
You have deep connections to what's around you, and that impacts your creativity.
When you know what YOUR Wildly Authenticity writing environment is you might also experience your writing becoming MORE.
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Here's my question: where do you most easily get into the flow?
An answer might come to you right away. You might say, at the lake! By the ocean! In the woods! On a mountain! In the grasslands! Near a river! In the city! When you are in these places, you connect more deeply to your intuition and your words flow out more easily.
If you don't know the answer to this question, think back to two or three times in your life when you enjoyed writing. These were times you felt like you were channeling something onto the page, and you had that flow experience. Where were you when you were writing? What was in your space? What could you see? What could you hear? These spaces might be just the right ones for you.
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The next time you write, I invite you to go to a space like this, or if you can't get to this space then try to invite something of its essence into your writing environment.
For example, if you love writing near the ocean, but you live on prairie land, how could you invite the essence of the ocean into your writing space? Could you play a sound machine with ocean waves? What about playing a soundtrack of humpback whales? What about typing with your eyes closed while you visualize sitting at the beach?
If you love writing in crowded cafes, but it's quarantine and you literally can't do that, how could you invite the essence of a crowded cafe into your writing space? Could you put on a show in the background to hear the sounds of people chatting? Could you join a writing group on Zoom? Could you level-up your at-home coffee game?
These questions are worth considering, because writing in a space that feels like you can help you remember who you are while you write, and this can make it easier to feel confident about writing your truth.
Taking even one small step to make your writing environment more wildly authentic can be a game changer.
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Where's your favorite place to write? Hit reply to this email and tell me all about it!! Hearing from you is the best part of my day. :)
xoxo,
Emma
P.S. Share this letter with someone you know who is creative, energetically sensitive, and a little bit magic!