Best-selling author, and revered teacher and speaker Dani Shapiro joins Sheri and Nancy for an episode that will leave you inspired to put pen to paper. Dani tells us that writing helps you bare your soul and come face to face with personal truths and insights. Writing is an essential part of Sheri and Nancy’s Creativity & Innovation Pillar, so they are both more than willing to write for their lives.

Dani shares how she first knew she was a writer, and the brave and unabashed way she continues to follow that calling with each turn of the page. Writing has helped Dani connect with herself and the present moment. It has taught her to remove her armor and feel the scary feelings we distract ourselves from all too often.

Dani, Sheri and Nancy uncover some deep thoughts on the synergy between meditation and writing; what portable rituals they take on the road; and why midlife is the best time to make friends with that budding author inside of you. Write on.

Takeaways:

[3:27] Sheri and Nancy are inviting people of every age and every gender to the DreamTribe. If you are excited about living the Pillar Life, you are in!

[4:28] Dani Shapiro is a best-selling novelist and memoirist, as well as a renowned speaker and teacher. From a young age, she has had a strong appetite for reading and writing. Nancy can relate: she tells stories about staying up all night reading. Both Nancy and Dani found their daydreams in books and stories.

[7:43] Journaling is a word Dani doesn’t use when she is teaching because it can feel obligatory and too all-encompassing.

[9:42] We write to connect with ourselves and others. In Dani’s class, she creates an environment of safety and trust by letting the students that what works for them is sacred.

[11:20] Writing can be a tool of illumination. It is the way we discover what we believe and think about our own inner world.

[14:22] The middle of life is the perfect time to get very conscious about how you want to spend your free time and who you want to spend it with. Sheri and Dani both have had experiences with their mothers passing that taught them this life lesson.

[21:05] Life can feel awkward and uncomfortable sometimes. We are much better off when we sit with ourselves in these moments, rather than reaching for a distraction.

[22:45] Dani uses a website and internet blocker called Insight Timer when she is writing to help her stay focused and not give in to all of the impulsive whims of the monkey mind.

[31:12] Dani uses the meditation app called Freedom. She starts her day with the 20 minutes of meditation and finds it completely changes her day. Creating a ritual that you follow when traveling is a way to ground yourself no matter where you are.

[35:58] We get better with age. Each book has been an improvement for Dani, and she is discovering new things about herself, her family and views in the sweet spot of midlife.

[43:41] Dani is also one of the esteemed faculty members at the inaugural live event: This is Fifty with Sheri and Nancy: The Weekend. Sheri and Nancy have an amazing line-up of teachers and tribe-builders who are going to help harness the group’s collective energy and ignite our dreams. Tickets are on sale now at 1440.org/thisisfifty.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Dani Shapiro

Dani Shapiro Books

Dani’s Workshops

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger

Sylvia Boorstein

Freedom

Insight Timer

WebsiteStory.co