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Dear Friends,
On Saturday, April 26th, I'll be offering a brief
overview of the book publishing process called,
"From Brainstorm to Bookstore" at the Newburyport
Literary Festival. This annual event is open to
the public and you can learn more about it here.
Come to Chicago! On 5/30 - 6/1, I'll be speaking
at the "Celebrate Your Life" conference where
I'll be joined by Deepak Chopra, Debbie Ford,
Marianne Williamson and many other
teachers. It's a great event and you'll find
more info here.
Check out our "Mother's Day Special" where you
can give mom (or yourself) a special gift of
self-care. You'll find it here.
Have a wonderful week...
Love,
Cheryl
p.s. - Need a little Divine Direction? Use the "Touch of Grace" button on our homepage here: http://www.cherylrichardson.com.
"You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it."
--Robin Williams
Now that my next book is finished and I've
returned from our Writer's Workshop cruise, I'm
happy to be back creating this newsletter in real
time. Thanks for your understanding as I
republished newsletters over the last couple of months.
The cruise was wonderful. It was my maiden
voyage on a large ship and I have to admit that I
had reservations. But, once we were out on the
open ocean I knew things would be just
fine. Give me fresh air, sunshine, good friends,
and an up-close-and-personal connection to the sea, and I'm a happy gal.
I love teaching and was thrilled to have a class
full of sincere and purposeful writers who were
excited and hungry to learn about the journey of book publishing.
There are always important moments during an
intensive workshop that highlight a universal
theme. One of our moments occurred halfway
through the class when a brave woman shared that
the subject of her book was a departure from the
more traditional life she grew up in. The
thought of publishing her work for the world to
see ignited the pain she felt as an outsider in
her family – the unconventional one in a world of
convention. Her honesty and vulnerability
touched us all and gave me a chance to talk about
what I see as the benefit of being the "Black Sheep."
In all my years of speaking and teaching, I've
found that those who are most successful at
living true and meaningful lives generally come
from backgrounds where they don't fit
in. There‚s a good chance that you know what I
mean. You may have felt like an outsider in your
family, a flower in a garden of vegetables at
work, or the one person who seemed to be dropped
into the middle of school by alien beings. If
you did (or do), you‚re in good company. Most of
us who are working to live conscious and authentic lives feel that way.
At one point during the workshop, I invited a
surprise guest, Wayne Dyer, to join us to talk
about his writing process. No sooner was his
butt in the chair, when he explained that the key
to his success was in his desire to buck the
system and follow a path traveled by few. He was
adamant that had he operated within an
established norm, he would not have written more
than 30 books – books that are published in more
than 45 countries today! Later in the week, I
invited Julie Barr, a talented comedian
performing on the cruise, to talk about her
creative process. Talk about
out-of-the-box. Her success as a performer and
comic artist was evident in her willingness to
offer a straight, no holds barred conversation
about what it takes to write and perform stand-up comedy. Boy, did we laugh!
The courage, commitment, and personal strength
required to navigate the rough patches that
inevitably come with feeling like an outsider are
the very qualities you need to make you stronger,
more convicted and better able to withstand the
pressure when society tries to pull you back into
compliance from your position of originality. I
like to think of the black sheep experience as a
"polishing school" – a training program that allows great thinkers and doers to develop what it takes to shine as they break new ground or conduct some kind of change-agent activity in the world.
The very act of living an authentic life requires
you to risk being unusual, different, or
strange. It‚s the very opposite of trying to fit
in. Whether you dress or live in a unique way,
bend the rules with your own creative slant on
life, or follow a curvaceous path that meanders
around social norms, the reward lies in knowing
that you‚re living a real and honest life. Is
there anything better? I don't think so.
If you feel like a black sheep, welcome to the
club :). Take this week's challenge and get a
little more comfortable in that great skin of yours...
~*~ Take Action Challenge ~*~
Look for one way, each day this week, to practice
finding inner peace in the outer lane of
life. Dress a little different, use words that
are more reflective of your true nature, or offer
an opinion that tilts the boat a bit. Be willing
to be you. It‚s the best (and only) way to cruise through life :).
Speaking of cruises, I‚ll be cruising again in July of 2009 to Alaska for another "I Can Do It at Sea." If you'd like to join me, call (888) 259-9191 for more info.
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