Thursday, July 23, 2015

Cheryl Strayed on Magic Lessons Podcast with Elizabeth Gilbert


 When I was a high school junior, I had to fill out a form about what I wanted to do with my life.

On the form was a space fill out what job you wanted when you grew up.

I wrote down “writer” without fanfare or trepidation.  I just knew that’s what I wanted to do.

My aptitude test suggested funeral home coordinator.  The closest I got to this was working briefly as a receptionist at a pet crematorium in college, but that’s a story for another time.

I didn’t know how to be a writer or what that would look like, so I did the closest thing to being a writer: a junior high English teacher. 

However, my soul knew that close enough wasn’t good enough, in this case.

Fast forward fifteenish years later, and I am receiving some pretty powerful lessons in living a creative life.

Last week, Elizabeth Gilbert debuted her Magic Lessons podcast where she talks to me about mycreative struggles.  She wanted to bring in a writer who is also a mom, and that person was CherylStrayed .  In case you missed it, I wrote a blog post professing my love for her memoir Wild.

I love Cheryl’s advice, but what I also loved is that she painted a very clear picture of the sacrifices she has had to make in order to create her art.

So often, I think that people guard the way they do business, maybe because they don’t want to be judged for their choices.  So we are led to believe it’s easy and life is seamless.


I also struggle with sharing my truth and honoring the privacy of the people in my life.  In fact, I think that is the main reason I have not started my book sooner.

Her insight gained from writing has reminded me that there is always a bigger purpose, in addition to finding your own clarity:

    
Cheryl Strayed Magic Lesson Elizabeth Gilbert Erin Janda Rawlings


I am forever grateful to have this opportunity.

Here are the links to the podcast:

You can download the MAGIC LESSONS podcast episodes here:
Soundcloud (
http://bit.ly/MagicLessons)
iTunes (
http://apple.co/1SmUTlW)
Stitcher (
http://bit.ly/1Jhuukx)



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