Every Step Counts: Maria Koropecky on the Camino Adventure, Self-Publishing, and Storytelling

Every step counts! Join us on an exhilarating journey with Maria Koropecky, owner of Ammolite Wellness Coaching and author of 'Closer to Indigo', as we explore her transformational experience walking the Camino in 2019. Maria regales us with tales of challenges faced, friendships forged, and how this once-in-a-lifetime adventure inspired her to pen a novel. We share our own experiences of the Camino, illustrating the impact such a journey can have.

We also venture into the realm of self-publishing and storytelling. Learn from Maria, a self-published author herself, about the freedom this path offers, its increasing popularity, and how it has empowered many voices. She shares her insights for budding writers and explains how she uses storytelling in her coaching work to help others heal and envision a brighter future. We wrap up our conversation with Maria's journey of self-discovery, her book sale on Amazon UK, and the value of chasing your passions. Ready for an adventure? Let Maria's story inspire you to take the plunge.



Maria Koropecky was called to walk a Camino in 2019 just 6 months before the Pandemic hit and she’s so glad she went because it changed the trajectory of her life in astounding ways!

So, there she was in the middle of Spain, walking 20K for 10 days straight, in sunshine and in rain, up and down mountains, for 263 klicks, in a country where she hardly spoke the language, on an adventure of a lifetime!

When she came back home to Canada, she was inspired to write a book. At first, she thought it would be about her Camino, but it turned out to be about her training for her Camino.

Maria is happy to say that she finished writing her novel and has self-published “Closer to Indigo” as an ebook and paperback in 2022!

Meanwhile, she serendipitously came across a content-creating and storytelling grant and took a chance and applied. Happily, they green-lit her project and now she is the host of the TV series, “Saanich: Emerging Land; Emerging People!”

When you watch her story, you’ll see examples of geological marvels, historic architecture and lots of wildlife and will get a sense of who Maria is and where she lives. You’ll also hear Maria read from her novel, “Closer to Indigo” which inspired these locations.

Who knew that a Camino would turn into a book which would turn into a TV series?

Maria’s 45-minute Coffee Meeting calendar: https://go.oncehub.com/Putthekettleon

“Closer to Indigo” is now available on Amazon. https://www.amazon.ca/Closer-Indigo-Maria-Koropecky-ebook/dp/B0BFPQQ591

“Saanich: Emerging Land; Emerging People” series playlist on Youtube: https://www.youtube

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/sky-toes/featherlight

License code: ZTXJPK8BA5WMLKSF

A call to action to help us keep spreading the spiritual ripple xx

Transcript

Speaker 1: 2:30

So welcome everybody to another episode of Barn to the Soul, and today I have a new guest, so thank you very much for supporting Barn to the Soul and that is Maria Koropecki, and she is owner of Amalight Wellness Coaching and she's come to talk to us about her book Closer to Indigo.

Speaker 2: 2:51

So welcome Maria.

Speaker 1: 2:52

Thank you so much for supporting the podcast.

Speaker 2: 2:56

Oh, thank you so much, natasha. I'm so glad to be here.

Speaker 1: 3:00

Oh no, it's lovely, lovely, to have you here Now. Closer to Indigo is a novel, isn't it? But it's inspired by your experience of walking the Camino. So tell us, whereabouts did you walk the Camino? Where were you?

Speaker 2: 3:20

Okay, yeah, it was definitely part of my Camino. I went in 2019. I turned 50 in 2019 and my family gave me this trip to go on a Camino, and so I didn't have time to do the full stretch, so I picked the last quarter, I'd say, and so I started off in a little town, and the name escapes me at the moment.

Speaker 1: 3:57

Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 2: 3:59

And Ponferada. That's where I started off in Ponferada, and I walked for 10 days about 20 kilometers a day, so by the end I completed 263 kilometers, Wow yeah. And I met a lot of lovely people from all over the world. And the trick about the Camino is that every night you have to find a place to sleep, and I went to a lot of the people camp. Some people go into fancy hotels. I went into the albergues, which are like youth hostels, and I didn't know from day to day where I'd end up, so I didn't plan ahead. So it was a basically you know a game like a crapshoot of where I'd end up.

Speaker 1: 5:03

So that's very brave to go, because you're in Canada, aren't you? So that's actually a long way from home, not knowing where you're going to be every night on your own to start with. So yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 5:21

Thank you. Yeah, it's not my nature I like to have things planned out, so but I had to trust. I basically had to trust. But on the second to the last night, as you get closer and closer to Santiago de Compostela, the main cathedral, it gets more and more crowded because all the paths converge, and so I was seeing all these people on the trail with me, like I was alone for a lot of it, but all of a sudden, like, and there were like students, like classes of students, just barreling past me and I was like, oh, my gosh, where am I going to stay, you know? So I was like, oh, I kept that and I am, and I was getting a little bit worried. And I ended up in this town and they said there's no room at this albergue. And I was like, okay, they're like just just just go into town and just knock on doors. And I was like, um that wouldn't be my nature.

Speaker 1: 6:34

I just go knock on someone's door.

Speaker 2: 6:38

And so I was like, can you call ahead? And so she's like, she called ahead to the next town and they were all full and and I was like I can't walk like another three hours, another however many kilometers. I like I just I couldn't. And so I was like walking up the street on the sidewalk and I was like I stopped in them and I just threw my hands up in the air and I was like, what are I supposed to do?

Speaker 2: 7:07

And in that moment, in that exact moment, two friends of mine who I'd met on my journey, showed up across the street and they called out to me and they said Maria Maria. And they could see on my face that I was crying and they're like Maria Maria, they're like what's wrong? What's wrong? And I was like there's nowhere to stay. There's nowhere to stay. I don't worry, don't worry, we'll find a place, don't worry, don't worry. So they picked up their phone, which I didn't use. And so they picked up their phone and they found a place, and the three of us he was from Spain, she's from Taiwan and me from Canada and we went to this place and it was lovely and they took us in and we got to relax, and then we ended up completing our caminos together and the great part was that we all started off in Panfrada on the same day, not knowing each other, and then converging. So it was really beautiful.

Speaker 2: 8:17

And I thought to myself, well, there's no way you can write that Like, there's no way that you can make that up. It's the way it all, sort of divinely, came together and I thought that's a book. And so I thought, well, okay. So when I came back home to Victoria, british Columbia, I started writing and I thought I would write this story and I was trying to figure out like the best place to start and I was like, oh well, I could start there. Well, I could start there. No, I could start there. And I kept on backpeeling and then, before I knew it, I started at the spot and then I spent the next several months writing. By the time I got to the Camino, oh, I've already written a book. So that was like so it was inspired by that day on my Camino, but it just went off in its own creative direction.

Speaker 1: 9:21

I love that because, like you say, there's no way that you can explain that, that they suddenly appeared and they were able to help you. It's just, you know, synchronized, really, isn't it? I also did the Camino, but I have to say you're much braver than me, maria, because ours was, we had the hotels already booked at the beginning of the week, so we did it like that, and I did it for a week, so not 10 days, and I had a guide, we had a guide with us, so we did it like that, so I loved it, but yours is much braver, babe, much braver, much braver and good for you, basically. So your book called Closer to Indigo is inspired, so it's not completely about you. It's a novel inspired by your journey, isn't it? And it's about the training to get onto the Camino more than anything. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 10:33

Yeah, because I think that's actually part of the fun is like when you're planning the trip, you have all these dreams and you're like I wanna go here and this is what I'm gonna do there, and it's that build up. Nobody ever talks about that part. They talk about the trip. So this is sort of taking it from like a little bit before. That it's like what led up to actually going there and yeah yeah, for a start, I didn't do any training either, maria.

Speaker 1: 11:08

Our experiences were very different. Yeah, the people who don't know about the Camino, they are the paths that a lot of pilgrims took, aren't they? And they do stretch through Spain and Portugal, and there are some in France, aren't there? And they're depicted by the scallop shell, aren't they? Yeah, the signs have the scallop shell on, and so it's a beautiful thing to do. It's a beautiful, and they all converge, like you say, on the cathedral where there?

Speaker 1: 11:43

are relics, aren't there? Yeah, you can go and visit and it's a beautiful town. So it's to do with contemplation, isn't it? And to do with just a flowing meditation, really, that of just walking and being able to think through things that you want to think through and maybe get answers to things that wouldn't come before. Yeah, so it's a beautiful experience? Oh definitely, but obviously there are degrees of risk and you were a lot braver than me.

Speaker 1: 12:23

I was like I didn't know what I didn't know Now exactly, you just went with it, but it actually your experience was completely life-changing, wasn't it?

Speaker 2: 12:33

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 12:34

So you came back and you wrote the book Right, and then that developed into something else didn't it.

Speaker 2: 12:43

Yeah. So when I came back, it was six months before the pandemic hit. Wow, I didn't know that, and so I thought, well, you know, I was feeling really confident I had done this thing and I was like, okay, I'm ready to branch out and start a new chapter in my life. So I, at the end of October, I moved to another city in Canada called Calgary, calgary, alberta, and so I packed my worldly possessions into my car and I drove across the Rockies and I ended up in Calgary and I thought this was my brand new start in life at 50. And it was the beginning of winter and I don't know if you know about Calgary winters, but they're awful.

Speaker 1: 13:46

Very cold.

Speaker 2: 13:47

Yeah, and so I made it through the winter and then the whole pandemic hit and it was like it didn't make any sense for me to stay there, so I ended up coming back to Victoria and my mom lives here, so I came back with my mom and I spent the pandemic with my mom and so I was writing, I was doing my coaching business, and managed to make it through the pandemic so far without COVID.

Speaker 2: 14:27

And so then, in 2021, I think I came across a grant. It was a storytelling grant and it was from a company called Telus, which is a phone cable company, and they have a digital TV station called Telus Optic TV and they're looking for content to fill their channel, and so every year they put out grants and so for anybody, no matter what their experience, could apply for a grant to produce either a podcast or video series or something like that. And so I thought, well, and the only thing that you had to do was produce it in your city of residence, so it was only available to people in British Columbia and Alberta. And so I was like trying to come up with an idea and I thought, well, why don't I show scenes from my book of all the places that my main character, who was also called Maria her name is Maria Pondamarenko, where she went for her training and so I created this TV series called Sandwich Emerging Land Emerging People, showing people like this is where, like this, is the airport, and this is this.

Speaker 2: 16:06

And so now it's there. It's on TV as well and on YouTube videos as well. If you don't have Telus, then you can find Sandwich Emerging Land Emerging People on YouTube. So it was like the Camino and then the book and then this TV series. So, yeah, it all over a span of like three, four years. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 16:30

Wow. So how many episodes is the TV series?

Speaker 2: 16:35

There are nine episodes and they are a total of 150 minutes, so like if you watch them all together, it would be like a feature movie, like a documentary, yeah.

Speaker 1: 16:50

That's quite incredible, isn't it? It just shows that you, sometimes, you set off on this sort of course of events and you have no concept of where it's going to go Right. Yes, and you can come to it like you say trust and take that next step don't you.

Speaker 2: 17:11

Yeah, yeah, and that's not easy. No, I mean ego kicks in and doubt and fear and all these other things show up and it's about like just one step in front of the other and, yeah, it's not easy. Sometimes I did a lot of crying, a lot of crying.

Speaker 1: 17:38

I get that. I get that because it is, it's very hard, but actually this thing to your story is quite inspiring, really, because you took that step, you were brave, you went out somewhere that you didn't know and then it's completely sort of changed the trajectory of your life, hasn't it?

Speaker 2: 18:00

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 18:00

Yeah, I mean if you think back and think what if I'd never gone?

Speaker 2: 18:04

Yeah. Yeah, I mean I could have. It was an open ticket, basically go whenever you want, kind of thing. But I felt this urgency. I had to go on my Camino sooner rather than later. I couldn't put it off till next year or whatever. I felt I had to do it and I'm so grateful that I did it before the pandemic started.

Speaker 1: 18:35

Yeah, I would have been able to for something.

Speaker 2: 18:38

Yeah, for a year or two or whatever it was. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 18:42

Excellent. So what's your next adventure, maria? What have you got on the cards that you can tell us about?

Speaker 2: 18:52

Oh, thank you. So I self-published my book Closer to Indigo on Amazon and I published it as an e-book and as a paperback, and just this past month my book has ended up in a couple of local bookstores here in Victoria and so it's like in a real bookstore, which is kind of cool.

Speaker 1: 19:26

That's lovely, isn't it?

Speaker 2: 19:27

Yeah, and also I applied to be an author with the Victoria Greater Victoria Public Library, so I'm going to be featured as a local emerging author in 2024. So that's really cool. And then I was talking with a friend the other day and he's like you should turn this into an audible Like, because he's like he commutes like an hour one direction every day, you know, to work. So he's like I listen to audio books and I was like, oh, okay, so that's the next part of this book and I would love to start actually writing the next, the next installment after closer to Indigo. I was like, okay, what happened after that? Wow.

Speaker 1: 20:30

So what happened to that character? Yeah, when she comes back, yeah.

Speaker 2: 20:38

So yeah, so that's all in the work. So I've got lots of ideas and I'm just trying to find the best direction, best way to do it.

Speaker 1: 20:48

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 20:49

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 20:50

I mean, I'm at you, I don't know, when we met a few weeks ago, really nothing, but since then I've actually met a few people that have self-published and it just seems to be suddenly, suddenly, I just suddenly meeting these people and it's so interesting that more and more people are doing it that way and like doing e-books. Is your e-book exactly the same as your? Yeah, yes, and they're doing that. So it's lovely, isn't it? It feels like it's much more possibility for people to do that than it used to be. Oh yeah, I mean, you really can put your stuff out there, can't you?

Speaker 2: 21:36

Yeah, I mean it's amazing, like traditional publishing, a wonderful institution. However, it's one of the last of these big concepts that we have that it's just it's not modernizing, it's not keeping up with things. It's like playing the old game that it used to play of like you really had to be elite in order to be published, but now, with technology, you can do this yourself. Yeah, and it's. I mean, there's like it's effort and it doesn't necessarily have to cost money, but it costs time and thought and figuring things out. I mean, there is a process to it, but it's still very doable. Yeah, yeah, it's amazing. So if you can find a traditional publisher, you know, and an agent and representation, go for it. Yeah, it's really not 100% necessary nowadays.

Speaker 1: 22:50

Yeah, that's so interesting, isn't it? I think I love that, I think, because there's so many. They say there's a book in everyone, don't they? And I think that's absolutely true. There's an experience, and you know, I've met so many people who've had most amazing spiritual experiences that they could, like you, that they made that first step and then it just sort of snowballed and went on and on and on, which they could never have planned Right. Just, you know, that's the element. You can't plan these things. You just have to let go and just follow your intuition and your instinct and where it takes you. Really.

Speaker 2: 23:33

Yeah, yeah, oh, it's so.

Speaker 1: 23:37

It's in a nature, isn't it? That's what it is.

Speaker 2: 23:40

Yeah, and the thing is what we're so trained to be like you must do things in a certain way and you and very practically, and you have to plan and you have to. You know, and there's no talk about like intuition following your own guidance, you know, going into the unknown, Like there's none of that in any of our schooling or anything Like, unless you have a family, upbringing or a community that is very open about talking about these things. Most people just go through life very sort of practically.

Speaker 2: 24:27

you know which is, I mean, necessary. I got it. You got to like survive, but then there's a point where you got to like start exploring things that are pretty cool but also too.

Speaker 1: 24:48

Yeah, and actually lots of people have had these sorts of adventures and experiences. But we need to sort of send that ripple out so that people realise you know one, I'm not alone sometimes. And two, I can go and do follow my intro. I've always wanted to do A or I've always wanted to write a book or whatever it is, and it makes them realise that actually I can do that. I can do it and, like you say, it's hard work and you know tears along the way, frustrations we all have all of them, don't we? But you can do it and that's the inspiring bit about it, isn't it?

Speaker 2: 25:33

Yeah, and if anyone wants any help, I'm here. Oh, bless you.

Speaker 1: 25:41

Yeah, the inspiring writers out there, including me, including me, but I've had a chat with Maria, inspiring you know, anybody who's got a story inside of them. You know just talking to other people and getting ideas and how did you do it? And it's so helpful, isn't it?

Speaker 2: 26:03

Yeah, it really does help to talk it out, to talk with someone who can relate and who can offer any kind of guidance or experience or whatever, and just really connect with people, like-minded people, because I believe that, yeah, we all have a story and we all I mean just because we, just by virtue of existing in this body, in this space, timeline, we have the life force coursing through us. It means that we matter. We're here, yeah, we're here to do something, so we're not meant to sit under a rock and be a best kept secret and pretend that and play small. We're here to express ourselves and enjoy this gift of life?

Speaker 1: 27:23

Yeah, definitely. Now, maria, you also do coaching, don't you? Yes, do you do coaching?

Speaker 2: 27:32

Do you do just across the board, or Well, from all of my storytelling experience because my whole life I've always looked at things like in terms of a story. I've always been I found the narrative somehow. That's just how I see the world. And so my coaching now has evolved to be a storytelling coach and I help people I call my people spiritual storytellers. I help spiritual storytellers either heal their past or create a brighter future using the magic of storytelling. So it's about. It's about creating a new narrative, like if you have a rough past and a lot of us do it's about taking that story and making peace with that past and then letting it go so that you can start fresh. And what do you want to create next? And you can look at it like as if you were writing a movie or something. You're like I'm going to set it in this location. These are the characters, this is the plot line, this is the dialogue, and you can create your life as if you were writing a movie and live into it.

Speaker 2: 29:07

So that's what I help people do. It's either if you need to heal your past, then, yes, we can certainly address that, but we can also if you're feeling like you're in a pretty good place and you want to create the next chapter of your life, starting in, say, 2024, like it's a perfect time then, yeah, then the world's your oyster. You can create your own Camino, you can write your own book, you can do a movie, you can start a new career. You can do whatever you like. So it's all about how you talk to yourself, how you frame what's going on, how you interpret things. It's a choice. You have the ability to create what you want.

Speaker 1: 30:00

Yeah, that's very inspiring for people, but very true. But you're right, you have to get your head straight, don't you? You have to get your thoughts positive and proactive and then take those action steps, a bit like you did, not quite knowing where you're going to go sometimes. But we're creating, we're moving towards something new.

Speaker 2: 30:27

Yeah, it's having that vision of like. I knew like the destination when the Camino was Santiago de Compostela and that was like far and I wasn't really thinking about it, I was just doing it, going day to day, but it was that sort of okay, this is where I'm supposed to end up. It was like a lamppost for me to walk towards. So I needed that, but I really didn't. It wasn't something that I was so focused on, it was just there, it was just yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 31:07

You were focused on each day, each little chunk. Yeah yeah, excellent, oh, thank you so much, maria. I've loved talking to you and I think your story is very inspiring. You have set off on an adventure. I like that word. We all have a bit of an adventure in a certain way. But you set off on an adventure not knowing where it was going to take you, and it was amazing. It was a book and then a TV series, and then who knows. Yeah, yeah, but actually that's the joy of it. Not only is that sometimes the fear for people but also that's the joy, isn't it?

Speaker 1: 31:52

Yeah, you don't know where you're going to, how far you're going to. We tend to put limits on ourselves as human beings, don't we? And think you know, well, I can't do a TV series. But actually you just followed it and it just evolved.

Speaker 2: 32:10

Yes, yeah, I didn't go looking for that Grant, it just showed up, yeah.

Speaker 1: 32:17

I'll take that though. Yeah, yeah, yeah, excellent. Oh, it's been lovely talking to you. Thank you so much. Thank you, natasha. Yeah, no, thank you, it's been lovely, and you can get Maria's book closer to Indigo on Amazon, that's right.

Speaker 2: 32:35

Yeah, and on Barnes Noble and right now during Good Friday I'm not Good Friday, black Friday, black Friday I have a sale for five days in the UK on Amazon UK.

Speaker 1: 32:54

Oh excellent. That's brilliant, yeah, deal. So if you go on Amazon UK and get a good deal and an inspiring story, yeah, and I will put up Maria's, all her details and contact details. So if any listeners are interested in contacting you for coaching, they can. They will have all the details there. So thank you so much for supporting Barnes Noble. It's really lovely to talk to you and hear your story.

Speaker 2: 33:25

Oh, thank you so much, and I wish you all a really fun adventure.

Speaker 1: 33:33

Yes, yeah, maybe I'll get to speak to some people who've listened to us and gone off on their own adventures. Yes, it's amazing, isn't it? Yeah?

Speaker 2: 33:42

it would be yeah.

Speaker 1: 33:44

So thank you everybody for listening and if you've enjoyed listening to Barnes Noble, please share and like and subscribe and I will be back with you shortly.