Journaling For Clarity And Calm with Tonya White

A single page can change the pace of your life. When educator Tonya L. White lost her home to an electrical fire, she rebuilt her days with a guided journaling practice that turned chaos into calm and busy into intentional. We sit down to unpack how a simple, undated daily layout—priorities, affirmation, gratitude, notes, and a self-rating—helps reduce anxiety, track progress, and create momentum you can feel.

Tonya shares how gifting her journal to a teaching fellow's director sparked campus workshops for overwhelmed freshmen who were struggling with deadlines, transitions, and mental load. You’ll hear why paper beats apps for reflection, how visual checklists reinforce motivation, and what it takes to build a supportive circle that keeps you accountable without shame. We explore collaboration as a growth engine—from publishers who helped refine the layout to community partners bringing journaling to women’s groups, mental health centers, and reading circles.

If you’re a student finding your footing, a busy parent juggling too much, or a creator turning pain into purpose, this conversation gives you tools you can use today. We talk practical routines like Sunday planning, five-minute morning pages, and lightweight group check-ins that transform good intentions into steady habits. Tonya also previews what’s next: a 90-day reset journal for quick momentum and a teen-focused edition that helps young people put words to big feelings.

Ready to try it? Grab a notebook or visit SuddenlyLifeBusy.com, start with one clear priority and one honest line. If the episode resonates, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs a gentle reset, and leave a quick review to help others find the show.

Connect with Tonya White

Website: SuddenlyLifeBusy.com

Email: tlw@suddenlylifebusy.com
Phone: 910-840-0454

 Facebook – Tonya L White Instagram – tonyalwhite 

TikTok @tonya.white39 

YouTube – www.youtube.com/@TonyaLWhite-h4u

Stay tuned for the next episode of  Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson. Subscribe - Follow and Like Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson 

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome to Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson. This is where ideas spark, connections grow, and collaborations fuse success. Tune in for inspiring stories, expert insights, and game-changing conversations. Let's build, connect, and thrive together. Remember, collaboration is the key to success.

SPEAKER_02 0:29

Welcome to ReadySet Collaborate Podcast with Wanda Pearson, the show will bring we bring together inspiring voices, creative entrepreneurs, and thought leaders who are making an impact in their communities and beyond. Today's guest is Tanya L. White, a special education teacher, turned author and creative entrepreneur. Tanya is a creator of the guiding journal and Suddenly Life Got Busy. Oh Lord, I know that's right. It's designed to inspire productivity, reflection, and balance. She beautifully blends her background in education with a passion for mental wellness to build a purpose-driven journaling brand that helps individuals pause, reflect, and thrive. You can find her work at suddenlylifebusy.com. I'm so excited to dive into a conversation about the power of journaling for wellness, focus, and purpose. Let's get started. Welcome, Tanya, to the Ready Set Collaborate Podcast. I appreciate you coming on. Thank you for having me. Oh, absolutely. I was gonna say hi to the audience. You already said hello to the audience. It's really great. And I'm very excited to hear about your journal, your journal as far as what you're doing here. Because I was just telling you about how I was journaling, not knowing that actually helped me to relieve, like you said, mental stress, to relieve any kind of anxiety, aggravation, or whatever I'm going through stress. It's a blessing of what you're doing here. And also, I'm gonna read your bio. And then we can talk about that because actually, what you do is for a special education is just I was just saying, how do you have patience for that? But God gives you patience, right? Yes. All right, so let me read your bio. Tanya White is a special education teacher, turned author, and created entrepreneur. She created the guided journey and suddenly life got busy to inspire productivity, reflection, and balance. Tanya blends her educational experience with her passion for mental wellness to build a blend to build a brand centered on purpose-driven journaling. She has shared her expertise as a presenter at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and is a member of the North Carolina Reading Association. Her goal is to help others transform their creativity and self-discovery into sustainable success. Learn more about her work and resources at SuddenlyLifeBusy.com. I'm getting tongue-tied here. They're definitely welcome to the podcast because we really need to hear about this, Tanya. And I just asked her what God has blessed you to do and also what you're going to be doing, because He also gives you a position to get an opportunity into the colleges to help the college students to help them with their journaling. Tell us a little bit about that before we dive into some questions here.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Okay, I recently graduated from University of North Carolina at Pembroke with my master's degree in special education. And one of the teaching fellows directors invited me to come and speak to the freshman. And she first I went to gift her my journal. And she just held it up and she started smiling. And before I could leave, she booked me to come back to speak to college students about journaling. She says, This is great. They had just had a networking event about what they could do for freshmen because some of them, it's their first time away from home, get a little overwhelmed. They're not used to a teacher keeping them in line with assignments and do this, do that. The transition to college life, for some, it becomes a little overwhelming. But she thought it was a perfect idea to have me to come back and speak with them and just give them some tips, which I created a workshop, a journaling workshop. It's like all coming together. I never even thought that I would be doing any of that. Now that I've done it, I'm going to create more workshops and try to get journaling out there because people don't know that they're journaling or how much journaling can help them.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

That's awesome because you're so right. When they go to college, like what I'm doing, I mentor at the middle schools, the middle school girls from sixth to eighth grade. And the next step, and we're trying to get into the high school now because that's the freshmen in high school. When you're leaving one group of education and they don't know what to do, they're like, in fact, the first one then, like the freshmen in high school, freshmen in college, they're the ones that are being picked on. Help journaling, I think that actually helps show their creativity, actually getting it whatever's on their mind. And that actually can help with uh with mental illness, mental wellness as well. Yeah, yeah. I it's just amazing what you're doing, and what a blessing. See, God put you in the right place at the right time.

SPEAKER_01 5:05

And I see at the right time.

SPEAKER_02 5:08

Yes, yes. I can see you doing it at other colleges, not just North Carolina.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

And what part of North Carolina are you? I'm from the Southeast North Carolina, near the North Carolina, South Carolina beaches.

The House Fire And Finding Journaling

SPEAKER_02 5:20

Okay, okay, because I think I was just well, we were just babysitting in Morrisville, North Carolina, Charlotte. Wow, that's amazing. Let's dive into some of these questions here. Can you share your journey from being a special education teacher to becoming an author and creative entrepreneur?

SPEAKER_01 5:35

Okay, yes, I am a special education teacher. And two weeks before school started, two years ago, I lost my home to an electrical fire. I was on my way to a part-time job that I worked on the weekends, also in mental health. I work with elderly that have mental issues. I had just left home and I got a phone call from my sister, and she said, Your house is on fire. I actually hung up the phone. I said, I don't know why she's pranking me too early in the morning for this. I just got to work. And then she called back and she said, No, your house is on fire. I already called the fire truck, but you need to come home. I came home and it hadn't even been 30 minutes in my home. It I lost everything. Literally walked out with the clothes on my back that day. Fast forward a little bit. I went back to work. I'm still working at that point as a special education teacher, still doing the part-time job on the weekend. And it's like my mind had to stay busy. I didn't know how to slow down. I was just on autopilot. And around December, because that fire happened in August, December, we had some snow days. And I was sitting there and I was thinking, what can I do to help someone that may need the same type of release, just a space where they can let everything go and not be judged. That was my comfort for me to journal. I can write because when you're going through any type of trauma, yes, you have your support with family and close friends, but sometimes you feel like you're burdening them because you're still going through it. It's still on your mind, and you still want to talk about it. But maybe in my mind, I was just like, they're tired of hearing me talk about this. I just started writing and it helped me so much. It helped me calm down, it helped with my anxiety. I was able to sleep because when you're so full of everything and you can't get it out, it's like your mind is just still going and going, and then you just never slow down. I went through that and I said, now that I've done it and now I'm here, at that point, I was getting ready to close on my new home. And I said, I should do something because someone else may need this exact same thing because it worked for me, it could work for someone else.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

That's awesome. And that's when you inspired you to create the and suddenly life got busy. Is that when you started writing that? You created it.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

And that's when I started to do it. I did it on the space. I was home, not home, at my mom's house because I moved in with her temporarily until everything was ready. And the title, and suddenly life got busy because my life was so busy at that moment. So I just said, you know what, this is going to be the title, and that was the end of that.

SPEAKER_02 8:25

I love it because it really makes sense. And suddenly get busy. You just never know. And then and how God puts you into that space, unfortunately, with the fire at the house, but also to make you think about that. And also to be you becoming an author, right? That's a blessing. That's a blessing right there. Why is journalists such a powerful tune in today's fast-paced world?

SPEAKER_01 8:46

Well, I think it's special because people are just going and never slowing down. They don't know how to slow down.

unknown 8:54

Yeah.

Why Writing Works Better Than Screens

SPEAKER_01 8:54

And it helps them to navigate through challenges that they may be having and going through, reflecting, and sometimes sitting down writing, it all comes together. Now everyone is more tuned into social media and electronics. But for me, when I actually sat down and wrote it and saw it in paper, and then I could have my checklist and I could just go and check things off or cross it out, it made me see, okay, you are making progress because when I'm just doing things on social media or getting electrical or whatever, it just didn't seem like anything was happening. But when I wrote the steps or put everything down and then had that checklist, it just made me feel so much better because I could see my progress. And also I could see if there were other things that I needed to add or take away, or if I put a time frame of when I wanted to do something, I could modify that.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

That's awesome. I love it. I love it. Tell us a more about your journal, how it's designed to help people pause, reflect, and find balance.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

Okay, so in the journal, it's a page for every day. So it's 365 pages for the year. Each page has a priority task list that you can actually put your task. It has an affirmation, it has a section that you can put what you're grateful for, task of the day, and then notes. It is even has a section at the bottom. You can rate yourself of how productive you think you were for that day. I thought that was really cute. Um, I purposely did not date the pages. So you'll see a section at the top to you can manually put the date in the day because I thought, okay, if someone buys this, I don't want it to be like a calendar and they have to start on it right away because if they don't use it, then it's not going to be any good. With me not dating it, they can start at any time because sometimes I know in the past I've ordered something that I intended on using and I threw it to the side and didn't start with this journal. They can start at any time during the year, and it's going to just roll over until the next year of that same time. That way it'll be helpful.

Collaboration That Opened Doors

SPEAKER_02 11:12

I love it because you're right. I got mag, I got magazine, I got calendars that's oh my god, I never wrote in 2024 or 2025. I'm still trying to catch up with 2025. Yeah, but no, I love that you do that because you didn't date it. And like you said, you can start whenever you want to start here with this. That's awesome. How did collaboration, whether with mentors, colleagues, or creative partners role in bringing your journey to life, journal to life?

SPEAKER_01 11:37

Flaboration was a really big key because it let me see that I don't have to do everything alone. There are resources or people that you can collaborate and network with to make the process a little easier. And if I thought about it, didn't even intend for the collaboration with my teaching fellows director, but going there, letting her giving her just gifting her a journal gave me the idea. She just planted the seed. This is what she put, she created the date and everything, didn't ask, and I was like, okay, what's happening here?

SPEAKER_02 12:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

Now workshopping, that's something else that I can do stemming from my journal.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

I love it because you like I said, and that really, and that's my next question about what lessons about teamwork and collaboration have you learned through your work and education that also apply to your writing and publishing journey. How did that work?

SPEAKER_01 12:38

With me, teamwork, it requires a lot of trust because you're putting, giving your ideas and your thoughts to someone. It requires trust, communication, and of course, flexibility because everyone may not be available at the same time or not able to meet in person. Now we can meet online and do virtual meetings and things like that. So I try to call that into consideration, being flexible. I love doing virtual meetings. Sometimes you may have someone that wants to only meet in person. So you have to be flexible with that.

SPEAKER_02 13:12

Yeah. And that's true because when COVID happened, we had to do virtual. And that's really when I created my my brand, because I do services in Legal Shield is with WD Pearson Associates and helping people who wanted to start a business and get the LLCs, that's when I actually thrived because people were getting laid off from their jobs, and you just never know. It's good. And I said, What would we do without Zoom, Tanya? We're gonna I should have bought some stock in Zoom. That's what I should have done. No, it really gives us another alternative. Alternative not just to be in person, but also to meet online and really do the same thing as far as having that conversation. And I really love it how you gaped the team, and you're right about trust. You got to trust the person that you're giving your project to. That really makes a difference there. What about when you created your journal? Did you have a support network or community that helped guide your process? And I think we were just talking about that. And how did that collaboration impact the final product when you finally got it done?

Publishing Support And Building Community

SPEAKER_01 14:12

Okay. At first I did not, but I reached out to a publisher. And actually, this publisher create was the publisher of a lot of school books, McGillion. I looked at the name, I'm like, where do I know this name from? And then it's our older school textbook. Yes. So they reached out to me and they said, okay, what kind of type of project do you want? They helped me create the layout and all of that because I'm not that tech savvy yet to just put it together. They were very helpful in getting that done. Afterwards, I could say collaborating with others that would help with like mental health and pausing and reflecting. We can maybe do events together and things like that. So I'm looking forward to getting some of those things on the book as well.

SPEAKER_02 15:01

Yeah, yeah. Tell us about how you were able to go to the college and now they want you to come and help with the freshman.

Teaching Freshmen Organization Skills

SPEAKER_01 15:08

Well, being that I was a recent graduate, even though I'm older, but I could relate to what they're going through with the timelines and getting those assignments in and making sure that you didn't miss those deadlines because those are very important points that you miss. It all worked out. The group that I had, they loved it because they didn't know about organizing and getting their things ready because it was their first year. That part, it really helped them. And I actually took some cheeks and helped them work through their first week of assignments and they loved it. Hopefully, you know, they'll continue to use it throughout the semester. But I'm looking forward to going back for the next semester and speak to the newer students that are coming in.

SPEAKER_02 15:54

That's awesome. I wish you were around when my daughters were going to college. I was one, I was especially my older, I was the one with encouraging her going on the back office. Okay, you got to get this assignment done, you got to do this here. Yeah, no, that that this is really something, and this is unheard of as far as what you're doing here. You have really pivoted to something that can really be used, not only in colleges, but in high schools.

SPEAKER_01 16:17

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 16:18

Wherever you go, you should be able to use this because it's just something that um that this is great. When did your book come out? And I would like to get a copy of that too. I'm sorry, when did your journal come out?

SPEAKER_01 16:28

June 3rd of this year. It's fairly new.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

Okay, congratulations. That's awesome. That is awesome. And we both were with the author all-stars, right? Yes, we actually that that's how I met Tanya through the author all-star and I mean being on the media, be the podcaster. I am so happy that you came here because this is definitely something different that I love talking to you about. How can parents, teachers, or community leaders use journalist to support youth and adults alike? It's not just the youth, but adults as well.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

Adults, I actually started reaching out to like mental health centers, women's groups, reading circles, and things like that, get it out, get the word out about my journal. Going to be doing a workshop, I think, next month. And some busy moms that wanted to get together and do a journal and workshop because sometimes when you're in the mom role, you play the mom, you have a job, and then you got to keep up if your children are in sports and all these other extracurricular activities. It's a lot to keep together sometimes. So I'm looking forward to doing that as well.

How Leaders Can Use Journaling

SPEAKER_02 17:34

That's awesome. And I was actually gonna ask you the next question. In your experience, how can journaling help teams, educators, and creative partners communicate and connect better? And like you were saying, your journal is gonna help that. And by you doing workshops, that's great in getting it out there. Even like on the with a call, next door neighbor, I think they have, I don't know if they have there in North Carolina, letting people know that you have this journaling, this vehicle to help with that. That's awesome. Many people struggle to find time for reflection. How can journaling and collaboration work together to support accountability and growth?

SPEAKER_01 18:08

A lot of people ask me how to journal, getting into the question you just asked, and my answer to them is never a really set-in-stone perfect time to journal. For me, it just depends on when I can fit it in. If I know I'm up early and I have some spare time in the morning, I may write before I go to work or in the afternoon. Majority of the time, I do more the most of my planning happens on Sunday because that's just the time where everybody takes to relax and prepare for the week. I do the most of it on Sunday afternoon to prepare for the week so I can get a forecast of what my week is going to look like and try to plan ahead. Second part of your question was collaborating.

SPEAKER_02 18:57

Yeah, collaboration and work together to support accountability and growth, like growing.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

Collaborating and growth. If you have a circle or group, you can hold each other accountable. Like my friends, we have a group text and we ask each other questions and collaborate within that circle just to keep each other on track.

SPEAKER_02 19:22

That's good. And accountability, like having an accountability partner to make sure. No, that's great. Can you share a powerful story of someone who's experienced transformation through your journaling? You probably got many, right?

SPEAKER_01 19:34

So far, I've gotten feedback. Some people said they never knew that they needed to journal until they bought my journal. And how it really helped them to put things in perspective because they got a clearer picture when they wrote it out, just not to give specific names, but that overall that's the feedback that I'm getting. That this is something they didn't know they needed until they got it and they saw it and it was like, oh, this is what I need to be doing.

Time, Accountability, And Group Support

SPEAKER_02 20:04

Yeah, and I was telling you before, I was I didn't know that was journaling. I was just writing down my thoughts and realizing that actually what helped me write my first book because when a young lady, one of my clients, she said, Wanda God told me to call you and be part of the book that we actually first wrote was Audacity to Shine. And I just told my girlfriend, I said, I'm never writing a book, but I didn't know what the journaling that I was doing was helping me to get out the frustration, the anger of the abuse that I went through. And then even like marriage, you write down stuff that you frustrate, you don't want to say it to the person, but you write it down. That helps, that helps to release that at the same time. It's it's awesome that you're doing this because I don't know anybody that has done this before. And being out there, and I know you're gonna be successful. I know God's gonna be putting you into different places. Like I said, his college is gonna be high schools, adults, women's groups, all of those, because it really is needed. We really need it because that way we're not holding things inside, we're stressing ourselves. No, I I I love that. I love that. Now, can you share a specific moment when collaboration made a meaningful difference in your journey, either as a teacher or as an author? Because now you're an author. So now you're a teacher. You've been a teacher for how many years?

Early Feedback And Quiet Transformations

SPEAKER_01 21:15

This is year five. Collaboration, I think that day that I actually sat down with my teaching fellows director, and the workshop and all of this came together. I think that was the most powerful moment for me because, like I said, I wrote the journal and I had no clue of what I was going to do next. And then she suggested that. And then after that, joining the Book Prophets Club, I have gotten a lot of gems from there. And meeting you, coming onto your podcast because I know I need to get out and get on stages so people know who Daniel White is and what this journal is all about.

SPEAKER_02 21:57

Mm-hmm. That's awesome. Yeah. Like I said, we don't know who we're gonna meet. We don't know who God puts us, but it's a season, right? It's a season that we meet, not one, not wondering how did I meet this person? And how did you get out there? But no, that that's awesome. I really admire what you're doing here because, like I said, it's very much needed. What advice would you give to aspiring authors or creators who want to turn their passion into a purpose-driven work? What you're doing with your journal? What advice would you give them?

SPEAKER_01 22:22

Start. Don't wait, just start. Sometimes we don't even have a plan for what we're gonna do, but until we start something, nothing's gonna happen. I was home on a snow day, and I just started writing, scrolling on social, I'm not social media on the internet, and I just came up and said, you know what, I'm gonna do a journal because I kept what can I do to help people that may have gone through the same thing that I've gone through, and it just went from there. But you have to start, do it scared. I was I had no clue what I was doing, but I did it.

Start Before You Feel Ready

SPEAKER_02 22:58

I would just say, just start, and everything else started to fall in place, exactly, and God has a plan for all of us, and we don't know when the time or place, or it's never a good time. Just having that idea, it starts with an idea and just doing it and just start writing. It really makes a big difference. Just like with when I wrote my book, I didn't know the two collaboration books. Then I wrote my own book, and I tell you, it took a while for me to do it, but when I did it, my my editor then she said, Wanda, you need to get this book out here because people need to hear it. And I didn't know so many people going through similar situations that we go through. But by you journaling and helping and starting people, that's a starting, that's a starting point of writing. Journaling, right? Yes, yeah, it really is a starting point, just helping um you get started. And I have a lot of people when I wrote Wanda, I've always wanted to write a book. It's been like 20 years I've been wanting to write a book. Like my cousin, she's she loves books. When are you gonna write your own book? You got a story.

SPEAKER_01 24:00

Yes. I have a fellow teacher um that bought my journal, and she said, you know what? I sat down and she said, I want to write children's books. I said, start, just start. I said it does not have to be perfect. You can edit and do everything later, but just start.

SPEAKER_02 24:17

Yeah, exactly. How many new, how many vehicles that you can actually start with if even like ideas, and it's just getting out there and doing this. But I am proud of you that you did. You started and you're doing something like this. And I appreciate you coming on the podcast because this is something different. Yeah, it really starts with journaling with us writing our books, what you're doing there.

SPEAKER_01 24:37

It gives you an outward of what you want to do.

SPEAKER_02 24:40

Yeah, is that an outline, exactly? And that and I love your title. And suddenly life got busy. It sure did, I tell you, it's it got busy, but unfortunately, you went through uh the pain of losing your house with the fire and what pushed you to start the process of doing that. No, that that's awesome. And the same thing with like with me, I was I left corporate after 36 years, IBM. And I said, uh my father died, and I'm from Chicago. I went home to visit, and I got to see him before he died. Before I got home, he died. And I got into a depressing depression. And I said, okay, I gotta keep myself busy because my father had dementia, and I don't want to be in that same situation. I got to keep myself busy. And boy, I've been keeping my husband said, Can I get on your calendar? Because now I'm busy. But no, I am very proud of what you're doing here. So, what's next for you? What do you see future opportunities for collaboration in your upcoming projects?

SPEAKER_01 25:33

Okay, I want to continue the collaboration at the college and to add more colleges. Next, I also want to develop a 90-day reset journal because sometimes you just need that 90-day push to get everything going. And I want to create a journal that's more catered to the younger audience, maybe teenagers. Because during those teenage years, they have a lot of feelings and emotions, and they just need to express themselves. I do want to create something for my teenagers.

Closing, Resources, And Subscribe

SPEAKER_02 26:09

I love it because you remember they have their little diaries. Because I gave them, I have four granddaughters. If they get mad, somebody go in their diary. But I love it. But that's actually what they're doing. They're journeying based on what happened that day to them. Yes, what you're doing is great. And it's not just for college students, it's for every student. Everybody, yes, yeah, because we wouldn't we probably wouldn't have so many therapy sessions if we had if people were able to write down what they have here. So I am very proud and I'm happy that you came on the show as far as it shared your passion. Suddenly life got busy. I love it. I love it. Tanya, thank you so much for joining me today. Your work is such a beautiful reminder that even the busiest seasons of life, we can find clarity, calm, and purpose through journaling. It really is. To learn more about Tanya and her guided journey and Suddenly Life Got Busy, visit SuddenlyLifeBusy.com and follow her inspiring journey. And to our listeners, thank you for tuning in to ReadySet Collaborate. Don't forget to subscribe. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel, ReadySet Collaborate, leave a review and share this episode with someone who could use meaningful pause in their day. Until next time, remember collaboration is the key to success. Thank you, Tanya, for being on the show.

SPEAKER_00 27:23

Thank you. That wraps up another episode of Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson. I hope you found inspiration and valuable insights to help you build meaningful connections and successful collaborations. If you enjoyed today's conversation, be sure to subscribe, share, and stay tuned for more great discussions. Until next time, keep collaborating and making an impact.