So the other day I found myself semi-retired. I go Live daily on multiple platforms including Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube and on that particular day I heard myself say, “I’m declaring myself semi-retired!” Apparently that idea has been percolating in my subconscious for a while and bubbled to the surface in the middle of my daily Live!
One of the many implications of me being semi-retired (I’m a clinical psychologist and holistic coach) is the opening of time to actually write blogposts for Substack, which is exciting for me as I’ve been wanting to build my following here since I established myself here a while ago. I am writing this post from one of my favorite coffee shops as I’ve now made a commitment to myself and to those of you who want to read what I write that I will invest two hours minimum per week at a coffee shop, writing about whatever is moving me in the moment.
This current post is mostly going to lay the ground rules for myself in terms of how I will frame my blog up and what you, dear readers, can expect from me. The first thing I need to acknowledge here is this blog post is actually an act of therapy and healing for me. I have been a frustrated writer for decades, mainly coming off the “trauma” of writing a baccalaureate thesis, Master’s thesis, and Doctoral dissertation. Between the effects of heavy metal concentration on the aggregating behavior of zebra fish (Bachelor’s) to public perception of Vietnam veterans with physical or emotional disabilities (Master’s) to the incidence of sexual abuse and offending behavior among a sample of college students (Doctorate), I have written and written and written! The word I would apply to those endeavors would be “arduous”. That does not portend future success in writing, does it? So this is my opportunity to release all of that, clear the slate, and begin to write from a place of expansion, lightness, and hope. Let us begin!
Most of what I will choose to write about will be the day-to-day things that move me, capture my attention, lead me to act in some way (writing can be a tremendous act of rebellion, you know) that allows me to feel like I’m benefitting the collective with thought-provoking ideas. Nothing will please me more than to hear from you when something I’ve written gave you pause, led you to discuss it with someone else, moved you to make a change in your life or the lives of others. An example of this is a woman I met at a recent gathering who told me that she and a group of friends would often gather to watch one of my Your Early Morning Intuitive Guidance (YEMIG) videos together and to talk about it. That blew my mind and gratified me very humbly that what I had to say led to such discussion!
My plan, therefore, is to write about things that move me, such as affordable housing, mental health, healthcare in America, literacy, civic knowledge, and other dry-sounding topics which actually are the pivots on which our society turns. Will there be times that what I write comes off as provocative? Absolutely! Will there be positions I take with which you disagree? Probably. How wonderful as we create a place of safety where we can publicly disagree and have honest, raw discourse about what we believe…and the opportunity to hone and modify what we believe given new information coming to us!
So that is my initial thought process on this blog post thing. Stay tuned for my first blog post post-commitment to posting weekly which will likely be on en-joying life. And if you would like to get more of sense of who I am and where I’m coming from, check out my website, empowermentandpurpose.com. Chat soon!
You are capable of far more than you think you are!
-Dr. Bonnie