It’s Strange
It’s strange what happens when we lean all the way in and let go of whatever ideas we had of who we are. A few weeks ago I was scrolling through all the files in my documents that didn’t have names. Blank57, Blank211, Blank 92—You get the idea. The trouble with this ridiculously ADHD problem is that what was done to save time or to save an idea that was super important, now eats up minutes and hours to sort through and discover what’s a grocery list or brain dump and what is my next pulitzer prize winning piece or a wise contribution to folk looking for transformative tools. Anyhow, as I scrolled through, opening, deleting, reminiscing, I realized so many of the untitled documents were for sharing.
Document after document I found snippets of life wisdom, chapters to abandoned books, modules of abandoned courses and outlines for forest retreats. At first it made me feel sad. Like, really sad. My 41st birthday is coming up and I kind of thought I’d have this empire of contribution built by now. And before anyone gets tripped up by the word empire, just know, I’m building an Empire of Dirt, so it’s not as imposing as it sounds. So yeah, about my birthday—I decided that if I was ever going to compile, weed out and bring together all the things I have been building and creating I needed to strip away what wasn’t working and what tethered me to the life os a person who has 472 untitled documents to sort out and nothing real to show for it. Well, there are a few books and guided journals floating around, but real active, in the world contributions, there aren’t many.
I started by clearing my work surface. This may seem like a pretty basic task but if you know the paralyzing fear of starting something you might not finish, you know this was a monumental step in the direction of my likely future of Dirt Empress. I mean, it does have a ring to it, you’ve got to admit. Once the little writing desk was clear I began the next task on my invisible list. That task was jotting down every course taken, every certification and skill I currently have in my life tool box. Then, I stared at it and started circling the things that made the most difference for me and have made the biggest impact on others when I share. After about an hour, I sat in silence for breath work and meditation. The thing that kept coming to the surface of my thoughts was Gratitude. After that meditation, it all felt smooth. Like I had momentum of sorts.
I immediately began writing everything I’d ever learned about Gratitude. The lessons, the energetic power, the shifts of perspective. All of it came pouring out as if channeled from the source of consciousness. I don’t say that lightly. I wrote and designed 6 full digital download ecourses in two weeks and outlined content for 6 more. I was able to find threads of gratitude woven through so many of my pieces of writing and works of creative inspiration. I didn’t want to do it at first but after digging into that dirt a bit, I realized I hadn’t been sharing deeply the tools and transformation I had aquired becuase I was terrified of being seen as a gatekeeper. Who gatekeeps gratitude, forgiveness, connection and transformational shifts? Who? Lots of people and most of them were my teachers, mentors and coaches. Real people who had offered ways for me to create who I would be in the world, to mold my own magic and raise my energetic force in the world. I had to rewrite what I thought gatekeeping meant and how it would impact my life moving forward if I didn’t.
Each of us is here to learn, grow and share. We each get to do that however our life path moves us. With gratitude as my focus, I forged on. After another week I had rebuilt my website, collected all the info I needed to get my digital downloads in a place where they would be accessible and put all the weird dietails in place, like a business checking account, email management and even a new social media account.
The first thing I begin with when I design a course is a list of problems I’d like to solve. I don’t make these up out of thin air, I pull them from my own life experience. Then, I create one or two high value tools that I can offer as a gift. In all transparency, these are usually called lead magnets. Meaning you give me your email address and I give you a freebie. Then I can market to you when I have new products you might like. While that’s a great model, I’ve been duped by freebies before. I’d signed up, opened the ‘must have’ file and found it lacking in anything useful. I always felt tricked. So, I start my creation of the entire Course suite with the most value possible in a tiny package. Sure, its a taste, but it’s a taste that will actually make a difference. My hope is that if you only every recieve my freebies, you’ll still get new insights and tools to create lasting shifts in your life.
And here we are, at the first blog post. The behind the scenes of building the foundations of this Dirt Empire. For the first time in my creative life, I believe that what I’m doing and sharing and living align. Fully and energetically, what more could anyone want.
If you’re curious about whats new, whats coming or just how it all gets built, be sure to sign up for my email list. If you’d like a gift to go along with that exchange, head over to my Offerings page and grab yourself one of those freebies. I promise, you won’t regret it.
The dirt in me honors the dirt in you,
