Jennifer Louden is a personal growth pioneer who helped launch the concept of self-care with her first best-selling book The Woman’s Comfort Book, in 2005.
There are about a million copies of her books in print in 9 languages. (How awesome is that?)
Basically, she has the career that any writer and aspiring author would dream of having.
Jen holds an absolutely enviable career, but as you’ll hear in this interview, she feels her work has just begun.
What is the role of the writer in a time of social angst and political division? Is it our job to judge our own efforts? Jen shares how you can develop your own unique writing practice without being envious of others or pressured in a way that drains the joy from your writing.
The interview free to stream, so tune in to listen below!
Listen: Stretch to Connect
As You Listen…
- Have your personal, spiritual and/or creative practices become “shoulds”? Has the feeling of obligation been draining the joy, centering/grounding power or motivation of your practices? How so?
- Jennifer asks, “How are you training your brain to be comfortable with the uncertain?” Take a look at your life. In what ways are you training yourself?
- What writers, authors, books and styles of writing are you envious of? Without comparing yourself to them, what kinds of voices really draw you in?
Listening Guide
03:35 – “Does writing even matter in today’s world?”
04:26 – 2 ways to return to creativity after feeling “shut down”
05:30 – How Jennifer is guilty of turning her spiritual practices into “Shoulds”
8:05 – “What is my role in these complex social issues?”
8:48 – Jennifer’s advice to writers: “Stretch to connect.”
9:45 – The ONE THING that Jennifer “wants to call bullshit on.”
11:39 – The importance of “leaving a trail of your mistakes.”
13:26 – How she stops herself from self-editing to see her “trail of mistakes”
17:08 – How to “meditate while writing.”
22:02 – What does Jennifer’s writing practice look and feel like?
26:26 – Jen reveals the new book that she’s currently writing, and the haiku that inspired her memoir.
28:59 – “The unknown is where [creative] juice comes from.”
35:50 – Jennifer recommends the book, The Writer’s Portable Mentor.
38:04 – What is voice? And how can we connect and develop it? A 2-sided approach.
44:05 – Where to find Jennifer online and out in the world.
