I was sharing with a friend who knows me and the unique way I work and tune in to my clients about what happens sometimes when I finish a project. I’m referring specifically to book projects that have taken several months or more, from conception to final manuscript, and even more to those in which I get to creatively consult on all parts of the book coming to life.
I shared with her that these projects are not just ghostwriting and editing projects, but Journeys. Journeys in the surfacing and revealing of stories that have been waiting, nesting inside of them, womb-like and ready to be unbridled…well, mostly ready.
These journeys are also about witnessing, supporting, and co-creating the transformation of the client, as their stories are brought up and out of them. Sometimes they are not sure, afraid, or unclear. It’s a process that needs a safe, inspired, comfortable space to unfold. And in that space, the client sometimes has many self discoveries and evolutions of self.
The journeys are not just about the stories, though, and not just about the clients. They’re also about the energy of the words themselves and how they need to connect to the truth of the stories. The slightest modification in a phrase, sentence, paragraph, or chapter title can raise the vibration and create a resonancy that taps into our deepest emotion and brings to life what otherwise might have fallen flat.
When I can experience all three of these—the story expression, the client transformation, and the vibrational resonancy—it not only inspires me—it changes me.
I shared what it feels like when the surge and release of emotion and energy shift inside me as I witness the long-awaited culmination of the project—the feeling of accomplishment, the deep gratitude, the elation. Tears sometimes brim to the surface mid-project, but they are especially powerful and joyful when I see, for the first time, that the newborn caterpillar that was first presented to me has matured into a beautiful butterfly.
And when I click the “Send” or “Resolved” button as the final version is approved, I release a long exhale, together with the newly born butterfly to fly free. I have once again co-created the birth of a new being into the world—the book and the transformed client.
My friend looked at me with eyes wide and said, “You’re a midwife!”
I don’t do this work just to make my living, or to be in business for myself. This is part of my life work, part of the path I walk on my mission, one of the ways I get to share my gifts and heart and co-create healing and transformation in the world.
One story at a time. One client at a time.
I am a writer’s midwife, assisting writers, non-writers, authors, storytellers, business owners, and individuals seeking expression in the creation and birth of their stories, their work, their passion, and their identities into the world.