Stop trying to lure her to you — here’s a great way of getting her to help you, whenever you need her.
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You’re already ready. That’s my battle cry and my deepest truth. There’s nothing you aren’t ready to make, to learn, to do, or to become.
But you may have already noticed that doesn’t make it easy.
Just being ready to do the Big Scary Thing you want to do isn’t a cure-all. Simply being ready doesn’t make you leap up in the morning to work hard to chase your dream.
And that sucks! I know.
Often, artists (like you, like…
Or what to do when the need to do something “good” gets in the way of getting it done.
Listen to the podcast version of this at You’re Already Ready on iTunes or Spotify or on any podcatcher feed!
I realized last night that I’d gotten all caught up in thinking that each post here at You’re Already Ready should be deep and life-changing. And of course, that led to thinking I needed these to be well-written and lyrical.
Now, you already know this about me. I can write well, and I can write lyrically.
But mostly, I’m a sturdy writer, and proud of it.
Sturdiness is great, in both mind and body. I have short legs. In fact…
Here’s how to allow yourself the rest you deserve even when you don’t think you’ve earned it yet.
Listen to the podcast version of this at You’re Already Ready on iTunes or Spotify or on any podcatcher feed!
I’m propped in bed, with my new bed desk over my lap. It’s a wonderful piece of equipment, and I’ve got my laptop propped up on it using a stand I normally use at my office desk. That brings the computer up to eye-level, and my separate keyboard and mouse are lower. It feels ergonomically comfy.
Calm jazz workflow — well, that’s what Spotify calls it — is tinkling out of the computer’s speakers. I’m burning a Falling Leaves candle…
I talked about this in my writer’s email today, but I can’t stop thinking about it. (Yes, this means that you might hear some overlap if you subscribe to that list of writing encouragement. If you’d like to join that list, just go to rachaelherron.com/write.)
Listen to the podcast version of this at You’re Already Ready or on any podcatcher feed.
Let’s talk about goals.
But let’s do it realistically.
As real people, with messy and hard and beautiful and true lives.
In January, we all get a lot of this goal talk, don’t we? And I’m as prone to falling for it as…
Whew! Welcome to a new year!
I’m entering 2021 in a great deal of pain. At this point, we’re pretty clear that I have a regrown, unnecessary organ that wants out, which is a theme in my life. I’ve regrown my tonsils three times now.
This time, it seems to be an ovary that arrived without invitation. No, I know you’ve never heard of an ovary growing back after a full hysterectomy. I certainly hadn’t, either, when it was diagnosed a few years ago.
But now that sucker is knocking, demanding out like a feral cat trapped in a barrel…
Listen to the podcast version of this at You’re Already Ready or on any podcatcher feed.
In early February of this year of the pandemic, I went to Austin for a writing conference. There, I had my own hotel room. It was a small con, and I didn’t know many people. Add that to the fact that I’m naturally an introvert, I ended up spending a lot of time in the hotel room by myself. That’s normal for me. I read a whole book. Room service brought me exactly the food I wanted, like the magic that room service is.
…
Listen to the podcast version of this at You’re Already Ready or on any podcatcher feed.
When I was a young woman, I loved the wearing purple poem. You probably know the one. In the nineties, it was everywhere — there was a collection of stories made into a book we couldn’t keep on the bookstore shelves. There were posters. The Red Hat Society came about because of it. It was the Mary Englebreit of aging gracefully or, really, with joy.
In case you don’t know it, here it is.
I’ve been wearing purple, metaphorically, all my life, but sometimes…
Listen to the podcast version of this at You’re Already Ready or on any podcatcher feed.
“Swimming is an antidote for the existential anxiety from which I suffer.” — Bonnie Tsui, Why We Swim
I’m lying on my back in a heated pool in the dark. My arms and legs move in a lazy frog-like pattern, just enough to keep moving, not enough to take much energy. …
I’ve been looking for the place my father capsized for most of my adult life.
Listen to the podcast version of Episode 3 at You’re Already Ready or on any podcatcher feed.
One of my most vivid memories as a child is being on the sand in a small sheltered cove. My dad was far out in the water in his styrofoam sailboat. I loved that boat, loved the way I could pick small pieces off with my fingers. (I know! But those little chunks of styrofoam were like bubble wrap to other people. I just couldn’t help myself.)
On this day on the beach-I only remember being there once-my sisters and my mother were…
So, what’s You’re Already Ready about? Well, it’s a book that’s being written, so that’s Thing One. That book is non-fiction, and it’s about how you — yes, you! — are already ready to do what you want most to do, whether that’s to start a new business, to learn to scuba dive, to write a novel, or to teach ballroom dancing.
Here’s the truth: you’re never going to feel confident enough to start. Ever.
You’re never going to feel like you’re ready to make the leap, no matter what you want to leap into.
And once you start? You’re never going to feel like you’re good enough to keep going.
Asking people…
Rachael Herron
Bestselling author of more than two dozen books, including thrillers (from Penguin, by R.H. Herron) and memoir. | she/her | USA/NZ | rachael@rachaelherron.com
