Trisha Traughber
Write a book that will set you apart: María ...

If you’re a creative, teacher, trainer, or coach, should you write a book? 

And if you do want to write a book, have you asked yourself why?

I’ve worked with many online writers who decided to write books--and when they start asking me their questions, I often respond with a question too. 

“Why do you want to write a book?” 

There is no right answer to that question--only your answer.

And, yes, you’re allowed to have many reasons for wanting to write a book—from being passionate about the subject, to wanting to share something with the world, to ‘just having a book in you.’

Today, I’m really excited to share an interview with María Ortega Garcia on the many reasons she wrote her book.

Write a book that will set you apart: María Ortega Garcia
Trisha Traughber
What keeps you inspired in uncertain times?

Sometimes, when the world seems like too much, I pull a heavy, fuzzy blanket over myself and disappear into a novel. This month, as the world spins, and wobbles, I’ve been reading The Paris Network--our creative community’s book of the month. I invite you to pick up this story (or another great book) and see what happens when you forget your surroundings, your time for a minute…

Suddenly you’re in France, World War II, the occupation. You pop into a bookshop. The owner writes “poetry prescriptions” to keep the townsfolk strong, runs a resistance book club with banned books. Poetry falls from the sky in airdrops. And it’s all based on true events: the banned books, the resistance publishers, the literature and poetry woven into the novel, like “Liberté” by Paul Eluard.

Under the story, there’s a truth that will, no doubt, resonate with you:

Sometimes, literature (or art) is more important than food.

What keeps you inspired in uncertain times?
Trisha Traughber
Writer profiles: Sofia Polykreti: Cultivating ...

Are you someone who works with words? Maybe you teach or translate, write copy in one or more languages?

Are deadlines something you’re familiar with? Do they add a certain rhythm to your days?

If so, you know that time to create, to express yourself, to work on your own projects is an issue.

And you’re probably intimately familiar with that feeling of working all day on a big writing, translating or teaching project…and the challenges that come with transitioning into your creative self at the end of a long day. Even if you love your work.

If that sounds like you. I think you’re going to really enjoy reading this interview with Sofia Polykreti. Sofia is an active and inspiring member of our Tip of the Iceberg Writing Community. She brightens our book chats with her insights, brings her energy to writing workshops and shares her unique work in our forum.

Writer profiles: Sofia Polykreti: Cultivating time to create.
Trisha Traughber
Reconnect to your body--and your creativity.

When is the last time you stopped to think about your body?
As a writer, a creative…a human.

At our Vagabond Voices Creative Community, our inspiration revolves around creative seasons. And…there’s a ‘season’ that is just about the body—remembering you have one and reconnecting to it.

So, whether the season is one where it feels like winter is melting all around you, or summer is going to sleep--whatever side of the globe you’re on, join me today for a celebration of your body. It’s healing, it’s good for your creativity (and good for your writing).

This year, as we enter the creative season of ‘the body’ I’ve got a blog post for you with ideas for tapping into your body for healing and creativity.

And I’ll have a few words of wisdom from a fantastic book I finally finished reading: The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, brain, and body in the transformation of trauma. by Bessel Van Der Kolk.

How is a book on healing trauma relevant to our writing and creativity?

Here is what I know:

So many of our artforms, our modes of creative expression actually help us heal.

They are a part of what helps us survive as individuals and cultures.
Even when the unthinkable happens. Or when it’s all around us.
They make us strong. They make us whole.
They bring us together--and they are our human tradition.

Celebrate these with me--whether you’ve experienced trauma or not.
Help keep these creative acts alive and share them with others.

For all of us.

Here are a few ways…

Reconnect to your body--and your creativity.
Trisha Traughber
When there are no words: peace, creativity + ...

Have you been sleepless lately?
Me too.
There was a night last week when I woke up at 3 AM, and could not accept—anything.

It’s the kind of thing that will leave you asking the ceiling overhead, the rafters, the roof creaking in the wind, the sky:

Is it worth being angry at the world?
Does it help anything?
Does it put bread on the table?
Stop madmen in their tracks?

So many questions and one thing I know for sure:
This is what the first creative step looks like sometimes…

When there are no words: peace, creativity + doodle prompts.

How to write when you feel like you can't? Start with a Splatter!

How to write when you feel like you can't? Start with a Splatter!

Have you ever felt like you just...can't? Maybe you're sitting in front of the glowing white screen and the words won't come. Or maybe, you don't even get to the screen. You can't quite bring yourself to pull up a chair because you've got this feeling... You don't know what you want to say...or you're not sure where to start. Maybe you're thinking you can't do it in ___________ (insert language here). Or maybe you dread the page because you dwell on every sentence, every word...You know, because it has to be perfect.

How do I know? Because I do it too. That's just a partial list--all of those are things I've done...and do—despite being a language teacher, writer, and writing coach.

Creative Writing for Self-Care: Make Room for Your Emotions, then Make Something Beautiful.

Creative Writing for Self-Care: Make Room for Your Emotions, then Make Something Beautiful.

I’m not going to distract you with my story.

We all have our own stories (big and small). That load we’ve been carrying around for a long time like a crappy suitcase full of stuff we don’t need—we don’t even fully know what’s in there anymore.

We close our eyes denying the very existence of this load—all the while clinging to it full force. Until one day, we look down and mutter, “Well, that’s ugly. Why am I schlepping this around?”

The weightlessness you feel when you walk away! And (as you may know) the questions that follow, including my personal favorite:

“Wait, did I just carry that around for 30 years?”

Revising Your Own Writing: Sometimes you need two cooks in the kitchen.

Revising Your Own Writing: Sometimes you need two cooks in the kitchen.

What does making hand-made corn tortillas and dry method caramel sauce have to do with learning to revise your own writing?

You want to earn to make delicious, heavenly luxuries that seem intimidating, impossible—and you fear—out of your grasp as a mere mortal chef. You look at a recipe, a list of 3 ingredients and wonder how a sprinkling of just a few elements can make something that will leave people speechless:

  • masa, salt, water

  • sugar, butter, cream

  • words, perspective, time…

Of course there’s a secret. If there wasn’t everyone would be doing it. (No, you don’t need a magic wand.)

Sometimes what you need is another cook in the kitchen.

Writing is more than you at your desk.

Writing is more than you at your desk.

Did you ever stop to think that writing might be more than just the time you spend at your desk? Maybe we shouldn't be so quick to sit down and write.

Wander. Bake. Doodle. Do something else.

This month at the book club we’re reading The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair. Not only is this the first time in maybe 10 years that I’ve read a real whodunit. But here’s a whodunit that features not one, but two writers who have to stare down a nasty case of writer’s block. The “Writer’s Disease” as the author, Joel Dicker calls it. These two fictional novelists sit in front of their empty pages in despair and isolation. As the days go by without a worthy word, you can feel their desperation.

Can’t relate to having endless hours to stare at the blank page?

Neither can I. How interesting to meet a character in a novel who has all the time you could imagine to write. Imagine renting a beach property and having no financial or family obligations to nag at you for a month…ok a week.

Alright, even that’s hard to imagine. Really, when is the last time you’ve had even an uninterrupted day to sit down and write? Maybe that’s all for the best. Because sitting down to write is only part of the story.

Me? My writing time comes in stolen hours, in fractured moments. I find ‘silence’ by putting on headphones or by waking up in the wee hours. And now that I’m dealing with some chronic pain issues, I literally can’t sit and write for long.

And guess what? I think this is what writers look like today.

I think we can still write beautiful things if we remember something simple and sane…

Want to be a creative writer? Get out your crayons.

Want to be a creative writer? Get out your crayons.

If you're reading this, you're drawn to adventures of the written word. You love to read, and you're either writing…or dreaming of it.

You know that writing is so much more than telling an entertaining story. It's something you do to connect, to express yourself, yes.

But writing is also something deeper, something you do only for yourself, something transformative. Something fun. A place you go, a refuge.

These are the things that are so true, you barely need to think about them. So what if today we talked about a much less intuitive part of your writing process?

Something that might you might be missing out on as a writer—whether you’ve been writing for decades or are just trying to work up the courage to start.

Today we’ll explore why, as someone who loves to write, you may need to grab your crayons and some messy paint—and explore your visual side.

Do You Need a New Relationship with Your Writing?

Do You Need a New Relationship with Your Writing?

Is writing your friend?

If your writing was a person, would she be someone you could call when your world gets turned upside down? Or when the world is just fine and you’re simply overreacting?

Or do have more of a business relationship? You know what I mean. You never really get together just because it’s fun--just for a cup of coffee, or to chill out at the gallery. Or to cackle about something only the two of you find funny.

Nope--you only call when it’s time to get that blog post finished or because you just have to get that chapter written tonight. And when you do call? Well, it’s awkward, obviously.

Image: Your writing is thinking: “What have you done for me lately?”

See where I’m going with this?

If you need your writing, if you want writing to be there for you, to be your friend? Well, maybe you have to be a friend too.

And if writing sometimes feels like a struggle, if you sit down at your computer screen and just find that you’re staring into white space, awkward silence pervading? It may be time to take some steps.

So...how do develop a better friendship with your writing?

What Creative Projects Are Pulling You? (+ a real-life example and great children's literature)

What Creative Projects Are Pulling You? (+ a real-life example and great children's literature)

What creative projects are pulling you?

You may already know that I’m right in the middle of a creative project--a creative journaling workbook. It’s something I’m writing with a few of you in mind (thank you for all of your help and inspiration).  It’s a project to help you not just find your words, but to give yourself permission to write for self-expression, in a creative way, for fun, for yourself or for someone you love. One of the topics we’ll go into is when a subject, a passion, or a project tugs at you quietly.  And how to recognize that silent, gravitational pull you might feel toward creating something.

It might just be that you want to finally write a story and feel good about it. Or simply that you want to feel more like yourself when you write. Some of us are secretly turning books over in our heads (If you’re wondering if I mean you specifically, then the answer is probably yes--and myself too). That memoir, that story from your family, a novel, a collection of poetry...or a story for your children..

Creative Constraints: rewriting your limitations with your creative journal.

Creative Constraints: rewriting your limitations with your creative journal.

We can’t always create despite our limitations. Sometimes we have to create with them.

In some stories, we don’t climb the mountain, defeat what’s ‘holding us back,’ and emerge victorious.

Some constraints are not to be defeated. They may be precious: lovely, down-haired creatures who wake us feverish and sniffling in the night. Some are simply part of us: limitation and gift bundled wired right into our neural pathways. And then there are those human limits that are, simply, non-negotiable.

Maybe the question is not how to escape these constraints. Or even how we could have created if only…

Sometimes the question is simply, how to create with these (human) conditions?

If you’ve ever felt like your creative endeavors were drifting beyond your grasp and that limitations loomed too large in your life, then this is for you. (And it’s also for me--because it’s full of everything I have to remember as well).

the Fall 2018 Literary Edition--and the story behind it...

We’re celebrating our second Literary Edition here at Vagabond English.

Here’s to many more chances to write, create and draw on each other for inspiration.

It’s not only fun for me to see what everyone writes, or that the challenges and courses I cook up inspire you to put out new and exciting creations into the world.

I simply enjoy creating alongside you. Every time I dream up a writing challenge or series, it seems I find inspiration to keep writing myself.

We have so many exciting moments here—so many personal images submitted, beautiful moments captured, writing that pulls you in and helps you travel the globe. You’ll find a few first poems—and a toddler photo of one of our community members if you look very closely.

So grab a cup of tea, and take a moment to explore the moments captured of some of the wonderful folks here in our community.

Copy of fall 2018.png

Wondering where all this came from?

All of these stories, poems, pieces of creative non-fiction were inspired by writing challenges at Vagabond English:

I hope you enjoy the literary edition and that you make a habit of picking up pen and notebook and writing something of your own—just for yourself. And I hope that this literary edition is first and foremost a reminder:

You’re not writing alone. We’re all in this together.

Thanks for celebrating with us today.

Travel Is My Therapy

travel is my therapy.png
 

I love to travel, exploring new things, meeting with new people, You can call me a travel bug. Travel is my therapy.

"Travel is about the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown." -Anthony Bourdain

Travelling makes you richer in many aspects of life and facilitates your growth. The more you travel, the smarter you become. It enables you to explore more about yourself and gives a new vision you look the world. When you dive into the unknown you learn something new and gain experience. Indeed, it makes you feel more alive. Travel adds more colour and adventure to your life. Every journey is a new story and every road has a story to tell. When we travel it does not mean life stops. It continues, but we live from a different perspective. It scales your vision towards life and stretches your mind with new experiences or memories.

travel therapy 3.png

“Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.” — Dalai Lama.

This quote encourages me to pack my bag and leave for that unknown place. Recently, I drove along the two most scenic landscapes of the world. Journey to the "Great Ocean Road," and the Milford Sound. First one is in New Zealand, Queenstown and another is in Australia,Melbourne.

Both Places are awarded the label of "world's most scenic trips. One is in Australia, Melbourne and another is in New Zealand, Queenstown. I am fortunate enough that I have had visited both places and if you asked my suggestion, it wouldn't be easy to choose one over another. Both destinations are ideal for the nature lover because wilderness is untouched and preserved. The tour will satisfy your wanderlust and heighten your awareness. Here weather can help you decide which road you should take as if you are winter lover than pick Milford Sound, Queenstown or The Great Ocean Road,Melbourne if you like mild weather.

travel is my therapy.png

It takes approximately 6 - 7 hours to reach both places, and every turn covers breathtaking scenery. The Milford sound is a fusion of spectacular natural beauty. The Queenstown trip would be incomplete without seeing this ethereal art and you could not afford to miss this...You will be amazed by the aesthetic art of nature. On one side, clouds hanging over the mountain peaks, on other side Sun Rays, scattering through the trees draw a phenomenal pattern on Earth.

 The Great Ocean Road covers breathtaking scenery, rainforest, magnificent trees, flower, spectacular valleys, rivers, hills and so forth... It was a windy and rainy day. When we got to our destination, (The Great Ocean Road) it was still pouring. But we could not resist getting off the bus...And no need to say what happened next as our clothes were soaked and shoes full of dust. But the experience was beyond our words and we were speechless. Indeed, we were Mesmerized by the beauty of nature.
Stunning...

travel therapy 4.png


If I could travel to a new place every day, I would jump at that opportunity in a heartbeat. Sometimes, we get caught in our daily lives and forget there is the whole world full of treasures and gems. Just pack your bag and let your hair down...

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page".

- St. Augustine.

By Ranjana Agrawal

Photo credits: Ranjana Agrawal

 
ranjana.png

Ranjana is a Life Coach and the co-founder of “BeTheButterfly”. You can read her blog here. She also have an Australian based online store of Spiritual items.