CHAPTER 1

Before We Begin

THERE IS A VOICE INSIDE YOU. There is a Voice inside everyone. Whether you hearit or not, the Voice is there. Whether you acknowledge it or not, the Voice isthere. Whether you ask it for help or ignore its guidance, the Voice is stillthere. Waiting. It is waiting for you to stop, if just for a moment, and listen.The Voice is always there, guiding you, encouraging you, loving you. This bookis about connecting with that Voice.

I'll let you in on a sweet little secret right here on the very first page:connecting with that Voice is easy. And why shouldn't it be? The Voice isn'ttrying to hide from you—it is seeking you. It knows the rich conversation thatawaits you both. It knows what you need and longs to give it to you. So it staysclose at hand, in your heart, your mind, your soul. The Voice is right there,barely below the surface, waiting for you to pick up your pen and penetrate thethin wall of consciousness that keeps you apart.

But why the pen? Why writing? After all, there are other ways to connect. Thereare powerful spiritual and religious traditions like meditation, prayer, andritual. There are rich body-mind-spirit practices such as massage, Reiki, yoga,and tai chi. For some, longdistance swimming or running are transcendentalexperiences. My son swears he finds the greatest peace and does his bestthinking riding his motorcycle late at night when he's the only one on the road.All these things are good. And all of them work.

Nothing in Writing Down Your Soul is intended to supplant or alter the practicesyou use or the beliefs you hold. Deep soul writing doesn't replace anything; itenriches everything. Writing focuses your attention so clearly on the wisdomwithin that you cannot help but feel guided and loved. A young woman in aWriting Down Your Soul workshop expressed her surprise when she discovered howlittle effort was required to make that connection. "This is so easy," she said."You don't have to listen to a CD or buy a program, or change your beliefs, orfix your diet, or anything. Just show up. Really that's it, just show up."

She's right. This kind of writing is easy. There's no one standing over yourshoulder judging your grammar or punctuation or determining if anything you'vesaid makes a lick of sense. But make no mistake, the practice of pouring yoursoul onto paper is profound, and, in the way of all things profound, it can—andwill—change your life. Before you turn another page, consider this carefully: ifyou like your world the way it is, if you don't want to (or need to) improveyour emotional, spiritual, or financial life, if you are content with yourrelationships, your family, your work, and your home, put this book down! Don'tread another word. I mean it.

Because once you open that door in your soul, you can't quite close it again.You can't pretend that you don't know where the door is or how easy it is towalk through. Once you start engaging in rich, deep conversation with somethinghigher, bigger, deeper, and wiser than yourself, you'll find yourselfcontemplating ideas you've never considered, saying things you've never said,and asking questions you've never asked. Once you open yourself to divinedirection, you will receive guidance, but—fair warning—it may not be theguidance you expect. Once you start asking for more, you will start receivingmore: more ideas, more intuition, more inspiration, more wisdom, moreopportunities, more challenges, and more questions. Always, there are morequestions. Because the answers, as you are about to discover, live deep insidethe questions.

And let's not forget miracles. Ask and you shall receive. Every spiritualtradition tells us that asking and receiving is the law of the universe, and theVoice is happy to comply. Pick up a pen with the intention of connecting withthat extraordinary Voice within, and your life will start rumbling, shifting,and moving. Awakening, as if from a long sleep, you will see your worlddifferently, and you'll find yourself changing, subtly at first. Then, as yourtrust in the wisdom of the Voice expands, you'll find you have the innerstrength and confidence to create your own brave new world.

Sound a bit scary? Well, the best ideas are. We all want safety, but safety, itturns out, is a paradox. To feel really safe, you first have to step out intothe unknown, experience the fear, and discover that all is well. I can tell youfor ten pages or ten hours that you are safe and loved, but until you feel it—feel it in the deepest place in your soul—you don't know it and certainly don'tbelieve it. You have to step out into that space between here and there, between"who I am" and "who I could be," between "what I have" and "what I want."Nothing new can happen until you step into that empty space. Like Indiana Jonesin Raiders of the Lost Ark, you have to thrust one foot forward into empty airand put it down firmly trusting that something somehow will prevent you fromfalling. And something will. Something will remind you to be not afraid.Something will encourage you to explore the possibilities. Something will talkyou through the scary parts, and something will definitely celebrate your joys.From here on, the Voice will guide you. It will let you know that you are safeand loved.

Are you ready to begin? Then, by virtue of intention, you are now officially thewriter of your soul. Welcome to the profound practice of entering your soul andrecording the messages you find there. Let the conversation begin.

How I Discovered the Voice—or Rather, How the Voice Discovered Me

IT'S A SURPRISE TO ME and everyone I know that I'm the author of a book on deepsoul writing. The truth is, I was never much of a journaler. Sure, when I wasupset, I'd grab a notebook and write furiously for a day or two, but neverconsistently and never long enough to resolve anything. Mind you, I loved theidea of having a rich spiritual life. I loved to imagine myself sipping tea andwriting profound thoughts in a tooled leather journal with morning sun dapplingthe pages. To bring this fantasy to life, I bought The Artist's Way by JuliaCameron, but it sat on a shelf alongside all the other great spiritual books Iwould read as soon as I had the time. Meanwhile, I had a consulting career. Ihad clients and...