From flow states to scary steps, learning how to build skills is key. But first, some religiosity

Why I prefer spirituality over religion most days

I grew up in the South, the Bible Belt. I was raised in church and went to a private Christian school until high school. I fully believe that religion and the lessons it teaches are important.

I am not religious.

I had a falling out with my Christian beliefs a long time ago. They never really fit, always felt like I was wearing someone else's clothes. I believed more for my parents' sake than mine. It was what I was supposed to believe, supposed to feel. Everyone around me felt that way; why couldn't I connect?

I realize now that a lot of my "belief" was an effort at masking. Church was the one place I felt like I should belong; everyone was supposed to belong at church and be part of the family. But I never did.

I got along with everyone well enough, was invited to the games and nominally included. My best friend growing up was the pastor's daughter. I did all the "right" things.

But it never clicked. And the older I got the more discrepancies I started noticing between the behavior of the congregation and what it said in the Bible. The hypocrisies started to pile up and the disillusionment grew too much.

I am much happier with my more vague spirituality. I have definite beliefs about the universe (and will wax eloquent in future posts, I'm sure), but I don't feel the need to be defensive about my beliefs anymore. I have nothing to prove. I have feelings; I follow my intuition; I try to live as closely with my instincts and the subtle nudgings of the universe as I can.

And that is enough for me. I feel calm and fulfilled. I feel welcomed and encouraged to flower.

Beliefs are personal and close to our souls. They do not define us, but they can help us define our world and be a lifeline when our minds are in chaos. Be careful what you choose to believe. Know that even in choosing to believe in nothing, you are still choosing to believe in something. That is powerful.

Just go with the flow, music for your soul

Do you have a favorite music genre you listen to for inspiration? Or just to zone out and meditate?

I get into the best flow state listening to a wide variety of music, depending on my mood and task. For cleaning, hard rock or bouncy dance music. If I'm feeling melancholy I go for something haunting and ethereal, usually something Celtic or Norse sounding.

Music has always been a balm to my soul. I see the same calm come over Aurora when certain songs come on. They make her stop and listen or jump and dance. I love that she feels some of the same need to express herself in the music that I do.

I've always felt that music was a liquid way for humans to show their feelings.

Depending on the instruments, the tempo, the style, and even the language sung the feel of the song changes and evolves. Try listening to "Amazing Grace" in English. Now, find a version in Cajun French; in Swahili; in Italian. All renditions are sweeping and deep, but the language used emphasizes different words and phrases, gives depth to different portions of the song. The words carry new meaning.

Music is a thread that ties our conscious to our unconscious. It can draw out hidden depths to our thoughts and state of being we never realized were there. What are your favorite genres for thinking, feeling, or focusing? What about them helps you to "get in the groove" for the task at hand? What sounds help you to relax and let go?

**Extra Odd Bit: Pairing music, especially classical music, with certain scents can improve your memory during learning. Scents like lemon, rosemary, peppermint, and basil have all shown clinical results in helping short and long-term memory retention. Next time you need to sit down and study, kick on some Mozart, and grab a diffuser - just adding the sound and smell will help you ace that next exam.

Do the scary thing - I promise it won't bite (much...maybe?)

I talked about this earlier this week. It's a concept I run into frequently in life.

There are a lot of things that kick off my anxiety. For the longest it was doing anything out of the norm, going somewhere new or having to gasp actually talk to people to figure out what I needed to get done. And that still does cause me distress, but I also get angry at myself and then the world for the feeling.

In some ways, I'm managing to harness my PDA to help me get over dealing with things that bother me. Instead of posing it as a negative - "what if I do the thing and it turns out horrible?", I've started looking at it more as "who cares"?

Who cares if I do the thing and it turns out bad? Usually, just me. I care. But no one else really seems to because they all have their own set of problems they're dealing with.

It is easy to forget that everyone around us sees the world through their own lens. That not everyone sees that weird thing you did as a "big thing". To them, it might have been just a little blip in their day, if they even noticed.

This is especially true if you are starting out trying new skills for yourself. Whatever you are trying, those first forays into the public world are terrifying. "What if no one likes my work? What if I can't actually do this thing? What if I said the wrong thing in that email and they hate me now?"

You'll never know if you don't try. And you'll never learn, either.

Hopefully you do try. And hopefully you get constructive feedback when you do. Better yet, hopefully you use that feedback to revise and try again. Then again. And again, until finally it takes.

Nothing in life is easy. It takes cells, the basic building blocks of our bodies, thousands of repetitions to form the simplest tissues. And they get it wrong too, just look at cancer. One bad gene interpretation and they turn from friend to enemy.

Mistakes happen. Use them as stepping stones on your way to the next island in your path.

And finally, tips on how to build your skills

Everyone says "just write", that the best way to figure out copy and content writing is to just do it. But I'm one of those people that I need to have more details and a purpose to my writing.

If you're the same, here are some ways I've seen mentioned (and some I've tried) to help figure out this writing thing:

• Copy legends - handwriting fires off different parts of your brain, parts related to deeper understanding and better retention of concepts. Look for swipe files or books of copy legends past and present and make it a habit to write their greatest hits several times a day. The magic number is somewhere between 3-5, depending on your hand strength and brain. You'll literally be training your brain to think like a copy pro using their own words.
• Volunteer your words - if you are interested in or already involved in community groups, non-profits, or a religious group, offer to do a couple of projects for them. You might end up with a customer; you'll definitely end up with a testimonial or two if you make their lives easier.
• Write to yourself as the "ideal customer" - what ads do you like? Which sales emails really made you want to buy? What blogs and articles hold your interest? Start reading more of those then think up your own takes on the topics. Or mimic the style and draft similar sounding articles. What is your unique take on the topics you like? What points do you wish the author would have addressed? Address them yourself and give them a voice.
• Sign up for prompt lists - there are a ton of these out there. Some of them, like Reedsy, are whole publication websites as well as prompt generators with bonuses. Others are simple newsletters or challenges that more established writers put together to get engagement and grow their networks. Either way you go you will have new ideas to write about and an incentive to actually write them down.
• Use pitch guidelines as inspiration - one thing I've done recently has been looking at different pitch calls from magazines. I'm not sure I want to get into journalism, but many of the prompts sent out have triggered the creative juices and I had to at least throw down a few paragraphs. I've used some of those as jumping off points and sent in a pitch. I don't expect any of them to hit, I'm sure my pitches suck, but I do hope to get feedback from the editors if they have time. Learning from their perspective what they want means the next pitch or idea I write about is a little more polished.

There are a lot of awesome resources out there for new writers to sharpen their skills. Find voices that you want to emulate, follow them, and see how they learn and teach their communities. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. You just have to learn how to make it turn for you.

That's it for this week, thanks for reading!

I hope your week was better than mine. I needed this week's newsletter to help focus and release some of the feels this week brought out. I hope I haven't scared you off.

Oh, btw - if you like the scent idea for memory help, I LOVE Revive EO's Hocus Focus blend. It's actually a mix of all four of those oils and smells wonderful. Most people have asked what kind of cookie scent I have going, weirdly enough. I won't link because I'm not sure of LI's rules, but if you like essential oils and know of Young Living, these guys are just as good imo and much cheaper.

Here's to a great weekend, may yours be sunny and warm!!

K. Mace

[email protected]

https://www.practicalmagiccopywriting.com