You may recall that when my eleven year old son found my copy of your book,  Inner Excavation, he was immediately drawn to it and even wanted to give a copy to his fifth grade teacher as he felt the exercises in it would have been excellent student projects for his class. He even smuggled it onto the plane when we took a family vacation last spring.  Did you ever think that this work would resonate so deeply with an eleven year old boy? What are some of the most surprising and inspiring stories that have come to you since and because of the publication of this book?

I love this story! I hoped that people of all different ages and experiences would be inspired by the stories, prompts, and examples throughout Inner Excavation, but knowing it appeals to young people, including boys!, really makes me happy. My favorite stories have been about people working through the book together, including parents inviting their kids to join them with some of the prompts and girlfriends using the book for their creative book clubs. I also have been deeply moved by personal stories about women healing as they work through the exercises in the book. A few people have shared the poetry and photography that they have created, and I am so honored to gently hold their stories.

We often think of the big events in life when we think of transition: graduations, marriages, children, divorce, death of a loved one. But sometimes transitions are more nuanced. Perhaps we have to change our diet for health reasons or a close friend moves away. What would you consider your most life-changing transition to date and did creative outlets play a part in navigating your experience?

My life shifted in a big way a few years ago when my husband and I moved across the country, and I left behind all I had known. During the year that followed our move, I changed careers, several people in our lives became very ill, there was friction as my family adjusted to me being across the country, and we had no support system in our new community, and during this time, three loved ones died. I suddenly found myself standing inside deep grief for the first time. While navigating this grief, I discovered blogs by artists, writers, and photographers and read a few creative books and found myself in the midst of a personal creative reawakening. Writing and photography became a way for me to sift through what I was experiencing to begin to make sense of it. I also found myself remembering the little girl inside me who liked to play in art class, and I began to have fun with paints and fabric. As I have experienced other challenging times since this first deep grief, I feel so blessed to have writing and photography as companions I can always rely on.

I often feel that it is our community that is most important during times of transition. Over the past year as I was going through my own major life transition I looked outside of my immediate (albeit amazing) network of support and sought out a creative community to help me with my journey. I attended retreats and took online workshops that ended up leading to the work I am doing here at Live It To The Full.  How has your creative community contributed to your journey and what would you say to others looking to expand their own communities and creative paths?

This is a topic I am really drawn to right now, and one that I share about through my own personal story in “Emerge.” I deeply honor the beauty of community and how it can support us during our most challenging times. What I have learned through my varied experiences over the years is that I began to find companions who really “got me” only after I spent time looking in the mirror to really know myself. I would encourage people seeking community to realize that spending time getting to know yourself is an important step. Then, you can invite others to see the real you when you connect with them.

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We are so excited to have Liz teaching our premiere course Emerge with the lovely Vivienne McMaster and Jenna McGuiggan!

NOTE: Registration for Emerge is now closed. Please consider joining us for one of our upcoming courses.