A-Muse Letter
by Susan Borkin
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Despite our best intentions, we periodically sacrifice the life-changing benefits of writing (or eating well, or exercising, or…) to the tyranny of our own resistance.

Here is an exercise to help
you get to the root of your resistance so you can get
past it.

  1. Divide a piece of paper into three columns.
     
  2. In the first column, compile a list of all the ways you resist. Include being late, forgetting, missing deadlines, not calling back, ignoring, not showing up, and so on. For now, just notice these behaviors without judging.
     
  3. Review your list. Make sure you have included all the resistance tactics you use to avoid writing (or healing, or getting to work on time, or whatever your personal issues or passions).
     
  4. In the second column, write what you get out of the resistance. Note for example if you do it to avoid embarrassment, pain, boredom, or feeling less than, foolish, or out of control.
     
  5. Now in the third column, note what you imagine would happen if you let go of resistance, if you actually did the thing you are resisting. What do you imagine the result would be?

The purpose of this exercise is to begin to think about resistance in a different way.

Instead of fighting it, ignoring it, or being ashamed of it, you can begin to welcome resistance as a teacher, a lesson, even a friend.

Just listen to what it is telling you.

This exercise comes from my book When Your Heart Speaks, Take Good Notes.

 
 

"By your own hand with paper and pen, or by Grace itself, I wish you much healing on your journey."

 –from “When Your Heart Speaks…”

Scientific research has finally proven what we writers have always known -- that personal writing has the capacity to heal and transform.

In When Your Heart Speaks, Take Good Notes: The Healing Power of Writing, you’ll find more than 70 simple ways to use writing to heal your mind, body, heart and soul.

 

In this book you will learn how to:

  • Heal from your fears
  • Dismantle your resistance
  • Create a couples journal
  • Dialogue with your food cravings
  • Complete your old unfinished business
  • Take dictation from your Higher Self
  • Write your way through the Twelve Steps
  • Dissolve your creative blocks
  • Speak directly the needs of your body
  • Use writing as a spiritual practice

Price: $19

“With wit and a delightful sense of humor, Susan Borkin takes you on a journey to a better ‘you’ through stories, exercises and powerful information. I know I'll go back to this book again and again.”

--Vicki

To read an excerpt from this book, click here.


“The journal has been the thread that has served to keep me sewn together when it felt as if my life was coming apart at the seams.”

–from “Writing from the Inside Out”

Keeping a personal journal doesn't have to be a tedious process. It can be fun--and it can be a wonderful tool for growth and change.

In Writing from the Inside Out: Using a Personal Journal for Growth and Transformation, you’ll find straightforward directions, real-life examples, helpful checklists and Quick Start exercises that will teach you how to use a journal to become more self-aware, focused and clear.

Journaling can make a real difference in your life--with the stroke of a pen!


Price: $15

In this book you will discover:
  • How to Select the Tools of Your Trade
  • Free-Form Writing Going Beyond “Dear Diary”
  • Creating Maps of the Mind
  • Dialogues: Writing From Your Inner Voices
  • Narrative & Record-Keeping Logs
  • Listening to Your Dreams
  • A New Twist on List-Making
  • Traveling on Your Own: Beginning the Journey
  • Side Trips: Quick Stops You Won’t Want to Miss
  • 101 Ideas to Jump-Start Your Journal Writing
  • Answers to Questions Before You Ask Them
  • Guidebooks for the Journey

“I found this book packed full of new ideas that lead to powerful insights and the release of blocked energy. As a psychotherapist, I highly recommend this book to my clients. It also stimulated me to return to journal writing for myself.”

--Lynn Kennedy

To read an excerpt from this book, click here

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Susan Borkin, M.A.
Write Now! - Coaching & psychotherapy for writers and would-be writers
19925 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 973-7877 Phone - (650) 961-9914 Fax
susan@susanborkin.com - www.susanborkin.com

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