“A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are built for.”

—John A. Shedd

I like the security of the known, of the familiar, and yet the times when I’ve grown most as a person and a writer are those times when I’ve stepped away from the unknown, left the harbor and sailed out toward uncharted (at least to me) waters. Case in point:

I have spent the last several years taking classes and spending time at Unity Spiritual Center of Denver, a new thought/metaphysical center that aligns with my values of living out of love and peace, of believing that our thoughts have a great deal to do with the choices we make, how we interpret our lives, and how happy we are. These are things I’m bringing into the consulting I do with writers because for me they are inextricably tied to what we put on the page.

What? Me?

A few months ago I was meeting with one of the teachers with the idea that she could bounce ideas off of me for future classes she wanted to teach and suddenly she was telling me she wanted to lead a women’s retreat and would I do it with her.

What? Me?

I accepted immediately, knowing that this was a gift, a validation of what I’d been working for and dreaming of for the last couple of years. Was I ready? No. Did I doubt myself? Absolutely. When I teach writing, I have plenty of credentials and experience. But a women’s spiritual retreat? My co-facilitator, the Rev. Phyllis Hoover, has a PhD and is a licensed Unity teacher. I’ve taken classes, read lots of books and have been putting as much as possible into my life practice. But did I really have anything to offer?

I did. I do. And lots to learn as well.

And so, on August 13, we’ll be co-facilitating Sanctuary of Light: A Sacred Day of Awakening for Women. I am so honored to be doing this, to be sailing off into uncharted waters in this way.

I’ll let you know how it goes.