We Women Writers
Inspiring and encouraging women to write, to develop a personal writing practice through exploring the real-life writing stories of other women
We Women Writers
Britt Michaelian - Unlocking Creativity: A Conversation with Britt Michaelian
In this episode of We Women Writers, host Jane Jones speaks with Britt Michaelian, a frequency artist and quantum healer, about her writing journey, the intersection of writing and healing, and the importance of creativity in overcoming personal challenges. Britt shares her experiences with automatic writing, the significance of movement in fostering creativity, and the importance of reconnecting with our inner child. They discuss the struggles of writing, including those associated with dyslexia, and the importance of finding one's authentic voice. Britt encourages aspiring writers to explore their unique processes and to approach writing with compassion and curiosity.
Takeaways
- Britt views writing as a form of self-expression rather than a title.
- Movement and grounding are essential for creative flow.
- Dyslexia can be reframed as a unique way of processing ideas.
Quote:
"Writing is painting with words."
Resources:
The Daily Healing Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daily-healing/id1697967065
https://open.spotify.com/show/6fxZbufk6NsSt98e9WYD6j?si=zI3Bu1y6SXa5Xdy_PXsgYw
Social Media:
https://twitter.com/brittmichaelian
https://pinterest.com/brittmichaelian
https://instagram.com/brittmichaelian
https://www.instagram.com/thedailyhealingpodcast
Media:
https://www.huffpost.com/author/britt-michaelian
https://tinybuddha.com/blog/4-ways-to-get-better-sleep-for-increased-spiritual-wellness/
Jane Jones (00:28)
Good morning and welcome to We Women Writers podcast. I'm Jane, and I'm the host for you today. And today we have with us Britt Michaelian. And Britt is a frequency artist and quantum healer. She helps women experiencing overwhelm due to a crossroads in health, relationships, or career to compassionately access and implement their inner vision, their inner wisdom, so they can move forward with clarity, direction, and a plan to live in alignment with the mission of their soul in this lifetime.
Britt received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She holds graduate degrees in art therapy and marriage and family therapy, and a certification as an expressive art therapist in the hospital setting from the Institute for Health and Healing in San Francisco. Britt has written for the Huffington Post, Tiny Buddha, MOMEO Magazine, and more. She is currently writing a self-help book based on the seven healing practices from her annual art and wellness event, Healing House, that was featured in the LA Times. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two cats, and studio assistant dog, Ziggy, while her daughters travel the world following their passions in the music industry.
Britt is the host of the Daily Healing podcast available on all major podcast platforms. For listeners who are interested in receiving free monthly remote Reiki healing and a digital copy of the Daily Healing magazine, subscribe at Brittmichaelian.art. Welcome Britt to We Women Writers.
Britt Michaelian (02:26)
Thank you so much for having me.
Jane Jones (02:28)
I'm really excited about this conversation. We had some conversations in the years past, and I'm looking forward to today's conversation.
Britt Michaelian (02:38)
Me too, thank you.
Jane Jones (02:40)
Alrighty, so the question that I'll ask you is the same as we asked before, which is, please tell us about your writing journey.
Britt Michaelian (02:49)
I love this question. Yes. So writing is something that I struggled with, actually, as a child. I did not ever have any confidence that I was a good writer, but I loved to write. So, I remember being in high school and being in a creative writing class. And that was the first time where I had a teacher that actually believed in me and said, You're really a good writer. And I was like, I am? Because I hadn't heard that before. And so that really inspired me, and then as I grew older and studied art, I realized that I was always a journaler. And I realized that writing is the same as painting, except you're painting with words and not paint. And so, you really get to access kind of a beautiful part of your brain where you can create worlds. So, I have...had many blogs where I've written a lot of, you know, experiential lifestyle writing. I wrote, written for Huffington Post. I've written a number of screenplays, nothing that's been produced, but I've pitched treatments for television shows and all these things. And for me, writing is about the process of doing it, the exploration of it, and not necessarily the outcome. So, I've self-published books, I've submitted to publishers and literary agents, I've written novels, and I've just explored writing throughout my whole life. And it's interesting because as you read in my bio, I don't say I'm a writer. That's not a title that I give myself. It's just a way of living for me.
Jane Jones (04:29)
When you say it's not a title you give yourself. I really appreciate that particular comment, that observation that you look at yourself through a different lens. And I'd like to explore that lens a little bit, because this idea that people will say, well, I'm not a writer. And you are a writer, but you don't think yourself that way. Can we explore that a little bit?
Britt Michaelian (04:54)
Yeah, I mean, it's funny because I always ask myself, you know, I used to, I've kind of played over the years of putting author or writer in my bios and that type of thing. But I, you know, I feel like writing for me, it's like, I don't put that I'm a talker, you know what I'm saying? So I write and I talk and you know, it's just kind of a way of expression. So and you know, the other thing is I think the labels that we give ourselves change over time and that type of thing. I just writing is, it's just like breathing and talking and being, you know, it's just part of life for me.
Jane Jones (05:32)
I appreciate what you said about the labels and things, because that's sort of where my mind went, was by not expressing yourself as a or putting the label as a writer, you perhaps avoid the construct around that idea that we have in our society. And that construct, the idea of a writer, has changed over history. People that were writers originally were scribes and they had a very different outline of who they were, and what their capabilities were and what their position in society was. And so now we've got our own, and I really, I do like that idea a lot that it's just part, it's just who you are. in, in also in light of everything else that you do what you do is kind of who you are. well, it's not kind of, it is who you are. Could you explore a little bit how writing impacts, say, one of those areas? And I've got, I'd like to go to each one of them, but which one would you choose to explore relative to writing?
Britt Michaelian (06:43)
Well, in regards to what I do with my work?
Jane Jones (06:48)
The myriad things that you do, and then you're done.
Britt Michaelian (06:52)
So, one thing that's really interesting that I took a channeling course, and I'm trained in a number of different healing modalities. I'm just a perpetual learner. I love to learn new healing modalities to help other people. It's just something that I've loved to do since I was a child is helping other people. And so, I took a channeling course, and I, you know, it was funny because I always kind of felt I was raised Irish Catholic.
And so channeling was kind of not something that we were allowed to do. And then as I've gotten older, I've kind of stepped away from the Catholic church and kind of created my own spirituality. And with channeling, this course just was very interesting to me because as a writer, I wanted to see if there was a way that, and as an artist, I wanted to see if there was a way to kind of easily create a process to access that creative flow through this learning how to channel. And so, what ended up happening is before I do my quantum healing hypnosis sessions with clients, I'll do automatic writing where they'll send me questions before the session that they want answers to. I'll go into my heart-centered space where I access that flow, and I'll ask myself those questions, and I'm tapping into their higher self.
And then words just flow through me. It's like, I'm just transcribing them. And it's very interesting because then after we do the hypnosis session, we'll go through, I'll read to them what came through when I did the automatic writing. And 100 % of the time, it syncs up with what came through during their hypnosis.
So it's really interesting. It validates what came through for them, and they trust themselves and their inner intuition and their inner wisdom on a much deeper level, because how could I have known that before we even went through that process? Do you know what I'm saying? But then when you think about it in terms of being a writer or being an artist or creator of any type, if you can access that flow where you sit down to write, there is no writer's block because if you're tapping into your heart and you're tapping into your, you know, kind of that source, wisdom, spirituality, just all of that field that you're tapping into when you're creating and you have this process where you're just basically asking to receive information, you never can have writer's block because you're always just, as long as you show up and you sit down, it may be a paragraph or maybe five pages, but you're still writing. Do you know what I mean? So, I mean, even if people are starting to write, know, consciously, they want to write, you know, more academic writing, or they want to write whatever they want to write. If this is a process, kind of like The Artist Pages, where The Artists Way, the Morning Pages, where you kind of just sit down and do a dump of whatever, you know, comes out every morning, the word salad, whatever it is. And, you know, you're just getting the words flowing. This is just another process that's like that.
Jane Jones (10:03)
Okay, so, and this is gonna come a little sideways, is this, have this channeling course, and you learn how to do that. Did you already do automatic writing before that? Did you do that kind of thing?
Britt Michaelian (10:19)
I think I did when I was journaling for sure, because I was just writing kind of what was coming through, but this is a little bit different, and it also gives you a process. So it gives you first you do this then you do this, you know, and it kind of gives you a process so that you can always access that. Whereas when you're journaling you don't always know, or when you sit down to write a blog post, or you know if you're writing a book, or whatever it doesn't always flow, so this just gives you a process to that creativity.
Jane Jones (10:50)
And it's the process of sitting down to write. Is there one right way to do it or are there multiple different ways a person can sit down to write and learn from what they're writing?
Britt Michaelian (11:08)
I think there's many different ways that you can do it. I mean, in terms of automatic writing, the process really just involves going into your heart space. So it's the heart-mind coherence, so connecting your heart and your mind. And so the creativity is interesting because your heart chakra runs down your arms and your hands. So if you're writing, it's coming from your heart. So if you're connecting to your heart intentionally, however you do that, thinking of things that you love, you know, if you love writing, if you love your cat, your husband, your child, you know, the bird singing outside, whatever it is, connect with that love before you write, take a couple deep breaths, pick up the pen or, you know, go on your keyboard and just go.
Jane Jones (11:52)
Mm-hmm. You mentioned about the writing with a pen or a keyboard. Which do you do most often, or do you prefer one above another, and when would you prefer one above another?
Britt Michaelian (12:05)
I mean, I'm looking at, have notebooks like no other, and I always have, you know, it's just for me, I write in cursive. And it's interesting too, because when I do the channeling, my handwriting is so messy. It's like somebody else wrote it. And it's often, I can't read some of the words sometimes. It takes me a while before I'm like, that's what it said. So I'm definitely in kind of a different part of my brain when I'm writing, when I'm doing that channeling but yeah, so the notebooks, paper, and then, you know, if I'm writing on computer or, you know, laptop, iPad, whatever, I don't have a smartphone. So I'm not the person that's going to be putting, you know, ideas in my notes on my phone. For me, my notebooks in my purse at all times or my car or wherever. But yeah, it's for me, it definitely always starts by hand.
Jane Jones (12:56)
Nice, nice. Could you help, just explore a little bit the experience you have?
We’ll start with just the handwriting, your personal experience of that, and then go explore the kind that you're when you're channeling, and it's very, it's hard to read. Messy. Yeah, would you? That would be lovely.
Britt Michaelian (13:17)
Yeah, I mean, I think when you, for me, handwriting in particular, and I feel like this next generation, they're all everything's on iPads. So I wonder if they're going to be able to access the same creativity because for me, I feel like when I'm writing on the page, I can move all over the page and kind of jot notes on the side and, you know, and come back to it and write, you know, and so it's way more in the flow. Whereas when you're working in technology, you're kind of, you're stuck in the structure of the lines and the grid on the, you know, on the screen. And so, it's a different, it's a different way to write. I don't think there's a wrong or right. Some people, their energy just flows better because they can write faster when they're typing. And I'm a fast typer. I don't have a problem with that. It's just for me personally, there's a... There's a tactile experience that I get with writing and pen and paper and the feeling of it all and turning pages and all of that. And so that's why I love doing the notebooks. And then in terms of the difference between if I'm journaling or just writing down ideas versus, you know, the writing that comes through when I'm channeling, I literally feel when I'm channeling that I'm transcribing. It's like I hear the words. I feel the words. They just come through me, and I'm not thinking about them beforehand. That's the difference. It's just, I'm just, they're just coming out. And I, that's why my writing is different, is because I'm writing so quickly that it's just, you know, it's just a different way of writing. When I'm kind of journaling and thinking about what I'm writing, it's way, you know, it's more formed.
Yeah.
Jane Jones (15:12)
In terms of flow, it's more pleasant, it's nicer. Discord is what I'm thinking of is this when this writing is like that, because I have that experience all the time when I'm writing because my workaday world is very stressful. So, when I'm listening to people and I'm having to solve a problem, and my notes are very like jagged and everything because I'm trying to sort it out, and I'm realizing that what I'm looking at is reflective of what I'm hearing. So, then I try to take the writing and change it to be more, and that helps me to be able to solve the situation easier. I'm able to now make more in my head, make more sense out of it, because I'm making more sense on the page. So do you have an experience of difficulty? Because you said there's no writer's block now for you. You're flow and it works.
What about the idea of sitting in to get to the page? A lot of people have a difficulty in getting to the page. Do you have that, those?
Britt Michaelian (16:27)
Yeah, I do. I definitely do. mean, even though I have this process that allows me to get into that flow state, I can get into the flow state and depending on like, if I'm writing an article and it has to be structured and it has to include, you know, links to scientific studies and it has to, you know, make sense and give people a takeaway that there is kind of a struggle to that. It's like figuring out a puzzle, right? Like how to put the pieces together in a way that makes the best sense, the most sense. Whereas if I'm writing something when I was writing a novel, for instance, I'm creating my own world so I can create, you know, in a very different way. So it kind of just depends what it is that I'm writing. It's much easier for me to be in that flow state if I'm writing something that I'm 100 % creating from my own imagination, because your imagination and your intuition are directly come from the same place. Whereas when you're writing something where you want somebody to have, where there's more structure to it, you're actually involving both sides of your brain. And so, it is a little bit more challenging, but it's a good challenge. It's like everything worth the reward, it has to do with the work that you put into it, right?
Jane Jones (17:50)
Yes, and there's a word that's used that we use a lot. It's called effort. That's a loaded word. And it carries with it baggage, or ideas, or thoughts, or perceptions that we don't always recognize. So, if you were to describe the process that you go through of, pardon me if I'm sort of describing something for you where it doesn't fit and please correct me, but this idea of I'm having a hard time getting to the page, I don't really want to do that. How would you describe the process of moving from that stuckness? Into that you're now at the page, and you're now in to engage in the flow process. How would you describe that?
Britt Michaelian (18:41)
Yes, so I love this question because this is a really important thing for us in life. You know, it's not just even writing, but it is very relevant for writers. I think when you sit down and you're stuck, you need to move your body. So maybe you need to take a break, go outside, go for a walk. Oftentimes going for a walk, just breathing fresh air, not listening to a podcast or anything, just being present and moving your body creates the flow that allows you to sit down and write if you want to go have a little dance party Whatever it is go to your yoga class, you know, whatever it is that that you you feel good moving your body For some people who are not mobile they're there to move their energy. It's just breathing and focusing on the breath. So, if you're at your office or if you're doing something where you can't go move your body just focusing on the breath and moving the breath creates flow of energy which then allows you to sit down because you're kind of changing the energy of where you were into where you are that makes sense so It's a shift in energy that allows you to access that when you're having that block, I believe. Because blocks and energy are what cause us to not be able to be in that flow state, so if you think about breath and you visualize the breath moving up and down your spine or from your feet all the way up through your head and you just do that for a couple minutes, you free up your mind from thinking about anything besides the breath. And then when you sit down to write, you know, you can kind of get, and then the other thing is sometimes it's just more important to go out and experience life than to sit down and write if it's just not coming.
You know, sometimes you need to go have an experience to then be able to bring that back to the page.
Jane Jones (20:35)
What pops in my mind, first of all, I really appreciate that. Because this idea that people will sit in for hours and we sit with whether it's work or we sit and you get a stitch in your hip because you've been sitting so long or you, especially older people find it difficult to get up and stand up, because they've just been so sedentary for a long time. There's this movement that we need to make.
But this picture of a child that is running around like frenetically and in a school and then the teacher tells him to sit down and the clash that must happen, the discord that must happen within that person, that child there was something going on and whatever it is, and now they have to stop but when you are moving around, like a child who my experience with them is that they're running around and they're the playground and they just get it all out and then they can sit in the classroom. And so it's the experience of the child or the experience of the person who has that movement and has this something going on, their development or whatever, and then in order to be able to sit down and focus on a task and adults, it appears to me, and you may be able to speak to this, is that there's some kind of patterning or something where we sit and we don't do like a little child that runs around. And now a lot of children are now sitting a lot. But for people that are all sort of 45 or older, is that there's, you're sitting and there isn't, it's almost herculean effort to get on your shoes and go for a walk. Or some people, you know, dancing around their apartment or jogging around and whatever it is they're doing, gardening or just to get moving. But there's this in our heads, this, I've got to sit down. I've got to rest. I got to no you don't, you got to move more. So you mentioned that this has got a lot to do with life in general, right? How helpful movement is to be able then to focus. I think, yeah.
Britt Michaelian (23:06)
I just gonna say, I love what you're talking about. There's a part of my book, and actually in my process that I go through in Healing House, where I talk about this. So children are very connected to the earth, right? And they're also extremely imaginative. You can talk to a kid, especially when they're very young and they just first start talking, they'll tell you the most amazing stories that they've created in their mind, right?
They're also outside digging in the soil and running around trees, and you know, they're very in touch with the earth. And then when they go to school and they have to sit, and, they are squirming in their chairs because their essence wants to be out running in nature, and connecting with the earth, and being free and imaginative. And so, I think all of us in this society where we're told we need to sit still and we need to, you know, do these certain things when our essence wants to be out. And then as we get older, we sort of get disconnected from that desire and true essence of who we are. So when we wanna create, I think we have to remember that it's about playing and it's about moving and kind of tapping into that inner child that we all have within us that we have learned to disconnect from because that's how our society functions. So when we wanna get creative, the best way is to think of what would I do if I was a child, you know? And so I love what you were just talking about because it is true, you know, it is such a great visual is that the children when they go outside and play, they do get their energy out and then they can come in and focus. And we as adults need to remember, we need to go get our energy, you know, we still have that energy in there, you know?
Jane Jones (24:48)
And something as you were talking, you thought that there's this, it's almost like in order to be able to sit down to do this, to be able to, I've got a block and then I want to get, I got to get to the process to get into the flow, to be able to sit down and write because I've got some block, some, something hindering me. It’s almost like it starts with nurturing a desire to move, nurturing a desire to, and I just wrote here, was to connect and to create. And you do that as a child and maybe as adults to become more, as you suggested, childlike in that way, is that you look around, and what am I going to look at? And with a lot of times with creative writing, something that I have a tendency to do and to help people to try to do is to, where are you sitting right now? What do you see that you've seen for a long time? You see that there's a tree outside, and look at that tree and explore that tree for a minute and talk about that tree. Think about that tree, go over and touch the tree, go and do something with it, and then keep going because then just follow where that leads you.
And then you become, you've kind of connected all the different parts of your brain, and you feel good, and you feel calm, and you feel nurtured and supported. And, and, then you can sit down, and now you can bring a connected person to the page. And it's easy. It's like, you just, you don't have to prepare yourself to get to the page, to get to the flow, to get to the, you've done all the work ahead of time.
Britt Michaelian (26:41)
Yes. Yes. I mean, what you're talking about is a process of grounding. So grounding means being in the present moment. And so that's why going outside and being in nature or going for a walk is helpful is because it brings you into the present moment, whether you're just feeling the breeze on your skin or noticing the birds flying by or, butterfly, or seeing flowers, it brings you into that present moment. And so when you're in that present moment, which is the same thing that happens when you just focus on the breath, you're not thinking about the past or the future, which is usually what creates blocks, energetic blocks. It's when you're in that moment of wherever you are sitting at your desk. And then I love what you said about looking outside and looking at the tree. It's because if we are feeling blocked, if we just notice the things around us that ground us into the present moment and that allow us to feel present, as writers, we're so lucky because we get to focus on that thing and what color is the tree and is there bark and do you see ants crawling on it and you know what does it feel like and what does it smell like and we can go into all of the sensory things and, and if we can't get close enough to it to actually have the answers then we can go into our imagination and we can you know just kind of design whatever we think that it would be and we're connecting and we're being in that moment and that's where our creative energy just flows.
So, just like you said, know, kind of being in that present moment and grounding ourselves. And that's where we can have access to our imagination.
Jane Jones (28:17)
And it strikes me that they're that a child and perhaps a lot of adults too, that are more grounded than I have been is this like, well, of course, like, why do you even have to talk about that? Like, of course, you go for a walk, because that's what they do. They are looking around. They're not following a to-do list. They're not following a process of a program. It's because it's intuitively they're still connected there. And some of us need support to get back to that place. In my head, it's just like this relief that I picture witnessing somebody that's listening or if they're watching this when this gets out there on video, is that they're looking going, well, of course, like, isn't that obvious to everybody? And I'm about that person that's listening to this, and I'm feeling like, oh, there's hope.
Britt Michaelian (29:19)
Yeah.
Jane Jones (29:29)
There's people that don't need to be taught that. And that is such a relief that that thought comes to my mind because I think of children and, you know, before it's ground out of them. And there's a lot of adults that just that manage to be in positions in life that that continues. I just love that. It just makes me feel really calm.
And, but really pleased is the only word I can come with, come with. Yeah. So yeah.
Britt Michaelian (30:05)
Yeah, it is interesting how we do tend to kind of complicate things. As we get older, we complicate things and really we have to bring ourselves back to the simplicity of children and you know, kind of experiencing life with ease as they do.
Jane Jones (30:21)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You talked about that, I'm to go back to the very beginning of our conversation. I made a note here that you struggled with writing, but you loved to write. Could you explore that a little bit? Yeah. Go back and think about that.
Britt Michaelian (30:42)
Yeah, I think, you know, when I was younger, I struggled with wanting, well, I think when you first learn how to write as a child, I also struggled with reading. And I think I had a little bit of dyslexia. So that was interesting. And I did not actually, I pretended to read for a very long time because it took me so long to figure out, I would get to the end of the sentence and then I would forget what I had written and then have or what I'd read and then I have to reread it several times. And so then by the time that I got to the end of a paragraph, I was like, what did I just, you, I wasn't retaining it. And I think part of it is because I was so imaginative that as I was going, my mind was going, and all these just staying focused was hard for me. And then on top of that, and then so to throw in writing, I had all of these ideas and I was very imaginative, but I also didn't have a lot of self-confidence I and so that was basically why I struggled with writing was wanting to be wanting to get all the grammar, right? Wanting to be able to explore my imagination, and and then also be able to articulate it in a way that made sense, and so I think this is probably a common thing, and maybe it comes easily for some kids, and you know, I did not come easily for me. I just, I had so much going on in my brain that to focus that it was just a challenge. But I think as I've gotten older, I realized that writing was for me very much like I said just earlier about talking, you know, you're just talking in words on the page, and you know, that's your voice.
And so how you speak is how you write and sometimes it's easier for some people and I know for myself in certain situations it's much easier to write than it is to speak because you can edit and you can rewrite and you can you know kind of change the way that you rephrase things and kind of play around whereas when you speak you say it and it's out there You can't delete it edit it, you know, so it is interesting from that standpoint, but, yeah.
Jane Jones (32:54)
Mmm hmm There's a couple of things. One is this idea of reframing the experience where you talked about having difficulty reading, and you said that some people would look at dyslexia, a great many, and say that that's a disability. You framed it as my imagination, I was just was, so much going on that I couldn't get down and focus on this one sentence, let alone the paragraph. And so, you just, I have to pretend as you go through, because what are you going to do as a child? You just don't know. But you, you didn't frame it as a, as a disability. You framed it as, I'm just this little kid that's just like a gazillion ideas, sorry, I'm not coming down to the page.
Britt Michaelian (33:43)
Yeah, I know. Well, you know, my English teachers didn't really appreciate it that much. But what was interesting is I ended up having three daughters, and my, one of my daughters had dyslexia as well. And so when she was in first grade, she was having a very hard time reading. And so we had her tested. And on some levels, she was at the first-grade level. And in some areas, she was at the seventh-grade level. And so I'm pretty sure that's kind of how I was, too. And so we put her through the Lindamood Bell Program. I don't know if you're familiar with that, but it was within five weeks, she was reading her first book was 900 pages. So, it was like it took her from where she was to now she's still at 26 years old and avid reader. And we actually did it was cute for Huffington Post. A number of years ago, we did a mother daughter book review for one of Pierce Brown's novels. And that was really cool to do together. But anyway, moral of that story is I think any of these learning differences. Even look, my nephew has autism with these telepathy tapes coming out right now with what's going on and what they're discovering with people with autism. Everybody's just different. Our souls all come into this earth to have a very specific experience, I believe, and to teach other people things. And so, I have compassion for people who are struggling for sure, but I think it is so amazing how every one of us comes into this earth with different things to learn and different things to teach. And, you know, I think that there's just value in that. I, yeah, I never viewed, I definitely struggled with the dyslexia, and I still do, you know, it's not, I still am reading sentences sometimes several times over. Sometimes I can just zip through, but it depends on the writing, you know? Yeah.
Jane Jones (35:38)
Can you say that it is related to your engagement in the writing?
Britt Michaelian (35:43)
Yes.
Jane Jones (35:44)
So, a writer that you like, that engages you, it's easier to get in there because it engages all these other parts of your imagination and your creativity. And you can go I can get in there. This other that is very didactic or very academic or something, is more difficult because it doesn't allow for all these other things moving around.
Britt Michaelian (36:10)
Yeah, and I think also sentence structure for me. So, really long sentences are the ones that I'm going to have to read. And ironically, I find myself writing long sentences, so I have to break those up.
Jane Jones (36:27)
Yes.
Britt Michaelian (36:28)
Yeah. So for me, if I'm very wordy things, I can enjoy it depending on the writing, and the visuals, and the experience that I'm having as a reader. But yeah.
I think it just depends on, it depends on the voice. And so that's another thing as a writer that I have realized as I've gotten older and as younger, I wanted to appeal to everyone and it would hurt my feelings if I was receiving critique from somebody on something that I had written and they didn't, just something didn't work for them or whatever. I would take the criticism obviously and appreciate it, but there would be some part of me that would feel like, there's something wrong with me that I didn't write it right? There was still that child in me that wanted it to be perfect for everybody. And now, as I've gotten older, I realized, A, not everybody's going to resonate with my voice or my message. And that's totally fine because I'm not going to resonate with everybody else's, you know? And I think it's also important as a writer to just not try to appeal to everybody, but to appeal to yourself because when you're writing from that place of authenticity and that where you're coming from your true essence, you'll have way more of an impact on your readers that resonate with it than you will if you're trying to do something that isn't authentic to you. Does that make sense?
Jane Jones (37:44)
Makes perfect sense. Absolutely makes perfect sense. You talked about, well, just to finish that thought is that when a person is more present and there's the exchange that's going on, then there is a greater impact on each other than if one is, one of the previous conversation I had, was this idea that a person is always waiting for what they're gonna say next, as opposed to listening and then completing that's something that I do struggle with sometimes, because my mind goes over here and I wanna jump over there. And it isn't this, I don't experience it as a, I'm trying to say something and just jump over, but my mind goes over there. And so, I think to reframe it and understand that that's probably not wise, it's good to stay way more present and recognize that I use this phrase, I'll put a pin in that one and I make a little note and I come back to that later, which can be pretty particularly helpful. To go back to the, as a child that you weren't, you loved to write, you mentioned that you had a teacher that told you that you were a good writer. Could you explore that a little bit with us?
Britt Michaelian (39:10)
Yes, that was in creative writing class. So that class was all about imagination. So, was really the, and at the same time, this is kind of interesting. I also was being recognized as an artist. So, to be having the experience of an art teacher who was very much kind of believed in my work where I had never had that before. And then also have a writing teacher who believed in my work. It was my junior year of high school. I was a new student at the school that I was at. So I was already just struggling, you know? And so then to have two teachers, and it was a public school in California, which, you know, people don't realize there are some really good teachers here. And I was so grateful to have these two teachers. They definitely made an impact in my life. So, the creative writing teacher, she just let us explore in words.
That was the first time where I really could paint with words. That was my experience in that class. And we could write one-page essays, or we could write five-page essays, or ten-page essays, whatever we wanted to do in order to explore the topic that she gave us. And I really appreciated that. It was a completely different way of writing than I had ever experienced before. And I think it was kind of like journaling in a sense. You know, we would have a topic that we needed to write about, and then we just go. And so, we, you know, it had to have some loose structure, you know, a beginning, a middle, and an end, but that was kind of the only structure that we had. So it was beautiful. And she taught us other things too, but it was just a lovely experience. It felt free.
Jane Jones (40:59)
Yeah, having, that's really important, Britt, is that you provide a structure that's loose enough that allows oneself or the environment as a parent, as a child, or as a teacher for children, is that the child or the person can move within this space but not be restrictive. So, an example would be somebody that has a... business is very good at putting things in boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, right? You have to do it this way. And those structures stay in place for a long time, and they don't evolve. They don't get any better until somebody comes in and goes, ah, no, just kicks one of those blocks out in a way. And then the whole thing comes, and then have to remake it, right? So it's the idea about getting out and moving around or that same idea about it's a loose structure.
So, when a person wants to come to the page and wants to write something, they can look at it and say, This is how Britt does it. This is how Julia Cameron does it. This is how Jane Jones does it. And you look and go, okay, well, what does that mean for me in my life, in my space, based on what's in my background? What works for me? I want to write, and what works for me? So, the natural segue to this for the question for you is, how would you support or encourage or give an idea to a woman who wants to do something but needs to make it her own?
Britt Michaelian (42:38)
Yeah, I think that it is so important that we just try everything. Listen to what other people do, see if it works for you. Maybe try it another time, see if it works for you. If it doesn't work for you, then you know it doesn't work for you. And then just keep trying things that do. And I think that's the thing about writing. It's more about exploring than it is about perfection. You know, so it's just learning what processes work for you. And it's learning, you know, I believe everything that we do in life is a practice. I don't know about, I know there are people who are masters of certain things. I'm a Reiki Master, you know, but I believe that it is important to just always be a student and always be, have compassion for yourself, and have compassion for others. But especially as a writer, we need to have compassion for ourselves. And so not beating yourself up kind of internally with that inner critic.
If you tried something that it feels like everybody else can do writing and it just doesn't work for you, maybe it just doesn't work for you now. You know, maybe it'll work for you later. So, just not giving up and really trusting that if you just try and keep trying and you're doing it because you're coming from your heart, and it's important to you that you're going to create a process that works for you. And if you sit down with intention, with the intention of being a better writer or writing something that comes from your heart, or, you know, in some way teaching people something through words. The intention is what matters. You'll figure it out, you know, as long as you keep trying.
Jane Jones (44:22)
Mm-hmm. I think that's perfectly said. I appreciate that, the not beating yourself up, and not having to comply with a prescribed method of doing something. doesn't have to be, you know, there's forms of poetry, there's this, you know, different things, and people try to write something. But if you're, let's say a haiku or something, but if you're not already creative, you're not always free, it's difficult to bring, to get something creative out of that space. If you're creative and you come to that space, then it's easier, which is one of the reasons why people find, say, writing poetry so difficult. Okay. I'd like to explore a little bit this idea, because it's popped in my head a couple of times, is we learn how to read faces when we're tiny and we hear sounds. And we learn to talk. And you talked earlier about, mentioned that writing was like talking to you. And this idea that when we start to learn how to write, but the first thing we learned how to write is our name. And we're taught to write it in a specific way, and we're given these little grids, these lines, and we're told this is the way you write this letter, and then this one's a big one, and this was a little one and this is it has to stay in these. That's a very different experience from having a blank piece of paper and practicing the letters all over the page. And the first letter of your name is over here, and then another, then you do this one over here, or the child just focuses on one of the letters. And they, because that's the one they're working on. You recognize on the page that that's what the child is doing. You see that there's this picture and then there's this, what looks like a letter. And you know that that's the letter that you're writing your name, and you recognize that. So, this idea that writing directed into, here's a question, answer it. And this is how you write it, and then they want you to now write a creative story about how the giraffe got a long neck, but you're used to answering questions in writing. So how would you encourage someone who's already in that school mindset at whatever age that writing isn't imagination, it isn't exploring.
It's something that is required.
Yeah.
Britt Michaelian (47:17)
I think, well, for kids who are in school, I think the purpose of learning how to write in different ways, where there's structure around it, is to teach them how to write in different ways, where there's structure around it, you know what I mean? So that you can learn. So, you know, we start with a wide focus, and then we come in and we learn how to focus on things. And then as we develop those, the skills of focused attention and focused writing, then we can expand outward again.
I think it's just really important for, especially for anybody learning anything to expect that it's going to be a challenge. And then once you get it, you can either, it's with developing processes, it's with everything in life, you choose what works for you, and you kind of put that in your tool belt, and then you move on to the next thing. And if that works for you, great. But I think structure is very important. It's important to learn structure. When I was writing my novel, I used to write screenplays that I hadn't studied, studied, I hadn't read Save the Cat. I hadn't studied, you know, hadn't studied structure, story structure, you know, and then I learned about Joseph Campbell and, you know, kind of all of the things that are necessary that we need to hear about, you know, the dark night of the soul and kind of what all the characters go through in order to identify where we are in the story, but also to identify kind of what the point is, you know, and so I think it's really important to learn the skills, learn the different techniques and then do your own thing. You know, I think it's very important and it's hard to learn these things, but trust that there's a reason for it. And, you know, you can move on from there. I actually took a really great course. This is kind of a side note, but I took a really great course a couple of years ago with Donald Moss, and it was about the emotional craft of fiction. And it was fantastic. I mean, talk about it was not about structure, but it was about how to create emotional depth in your stories and how to take readers on this emotional journey by, you know, kind of creating that in your characters. You know, it's there's structure can come in many forms. And I think when you learn these things, it changes your writing. And, you know, so I think it's important to read.
If you want to be a writer, it's important to learn what other people's techniques are. It's important to know the other things that are out there, but then it's also important to kind of forge your own way.
Jane Jones (49:50)
And again, this idea of reframing something is that if it's something that has taken on a structure that is not free, that isn't your imagination, it isn't in flow, then you can reframe it in this picture of starting wide, coming in tight, and then coming back out again and then moving over and just keep playing with it because it is about one's own journey. And you said about where you are in the story, and when you're you're reading, I don't know, Lord of the Rings pops in my head, and a person identifies where they are in that story. Well, when we're writing our own, we're journaling or we're writing a story, where are we showing up there? And then to take some sides, maybe perhaps to take some time aside and explore where we think we are in that place. It could be in the workplace. The story around my workplace, where am I in that story? And then, do I want to be there? How will I change my perceptions in that space? That's getting to be a very important tool right now because of the challenges that people are experiencing and being able to freedom make different observations and draw different conclusions, and then perhaps make a different choice. And writing like talking, it pervades everything. Yeah. Yeah. And so, we're not writers because we're also not talkers. Yes. I love that. I love that. Yes.
That was particularly helpful.
Britt, I'd love to have you back some more. There's more I'd like to explore about the work that you do and your creativity with Healing House and how that comes out into the world and your intention or your desire around that and the collaborations you have and how talking and writing come into that, to sort of take where we are now and sort of move out into the world a little bit. If you're available in the future, I really be really glad if that was an opportunity.
Britt Michaelian (52:41)
It would be an honor. Thank you.
Jane Jones (52:43)
As I'm saying at the end, I'm putting her on the spot.
Britt Michaelian (52:47)
Of course!
Jane Jones (52:50)
I'll next time I'll make a note to talk to people about that before
Britt Michaelian (52:55)
This is lovely. Thank you, really, I've enjoyed this so much.
Jane Jones (52:59)
Oh, thank you, Britt. I really appreciate you. And I appreciate your time and your generosity. And everybody that comes to We Women Writers comes with a spirit of sharing, and, support, and encouragement for all of the listeners. And I'm grateful to you, Britt, for doing this with us today. All right. Thank you, everybody. Take care and have a lovely day.
Britt Michaelian (53:17)
Thank you.