Greta Solomon - Heart, Sass & Soul: Journal Your Way to Inspiration and Happiness (Therapy Via the Free Writing Technique)

Copyright 2019 Greta Solomon

Cover & Layout Design: Elina Diaz

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Heart, Sass & Soul: Journal Your Way to Inspiration and Happiness

Library of Congress Cataloging
ISBN: (print) 978-1-63353-974-7 (ebook) 978-1-63353-975-4

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019935683

BISAC category code: SEL045000 SELF-HELP / Journaling

Printed in the United States of America

Praise for Heart, Sass & Soul

Heart, Sass & Soul is an inspirational (and practical) guide to harnessing your creativity and using self-expression to create a better life.

Karen Swayne , features and health editor, Prima magazine

In a world where we are often bombarded with other peoples stories, it is vital for our well-being and success in life to make contact with our own stories. Heart, Sass & Soul is the essential guide for how to create that meaningful relationship with self and then become the author and authority of your own story.

Zita Tulyahikayo , systemic coach and hypnotherapist

Behold! You are holding a bright pearl of love. A guide that bridges between your inner being and its outer expression. This work is coming from a mature and ripe place, with deep personal and professional experience. How blessed we are to be gifted with Gretas work which is profound and inspiring, yet light and accessible.

Yair Sagy , yoga teacher, healer, and facilitator at Armonia Alpujarra Healing Retreat Centre

A welcome and stylish exploration of writing as a way of uplifting your life. Sensitive, sassy and creative.

Malcolm Stern , psychotherapist, author and co-founder of Alternatives

Writing is a powerful tool in delving within, in learning who we are and what we need, and in building a beautiful life on our own terms. Greta Solomons Heart, Sass & Soul is an invaluable, accessible, and practical resource that helps us do just that. It is filled with insightful, inspiring, and interesting stories and exercises. And it is no doubt a reference that you will return to throughout your life, throughout different seasons, transitions, and phases. Because itll help you discover and rediscover who you are.

Margarita Tartakovsky , writer and associate editor at PsychCentral.com

Gretas wisdom and warmth shine through every page of this wonderful book. Its like being gently but purposefully guided toward a more accomplished version of yourself through writing and discovering your voice and your inner lightthe you that youve always known you could be! This book has really helped me not to waver or stumble with my writing, but to stride confidently forward.

Anya Hayes , Pilates teacher, MBCT mindfulness coach, and author of The Supermum Myth

Keeping a journal has been a daily practice for me for many years. Journaling enriches my life as it helps to hone my craft as a writer. Writing down my thoughts clears my mind and helps me discover the topics that are really grabbing my attention. Greta Solomons book is the go-to guide on the art of journaling.

Joan Gelfand , author of You Can Be a Winning Writer

Greta is to writing what Marie Kondo is to tidying. This is a marvel of a book which explores how you can find your creative voice and help clarify your thoughts through the lost art of writing. Creativity is, Greta says, the missing piece of the wellness puzzle, and in this book she shows you how to tap into your own creativity and use it to overcome issues and express yourself more clearly. Through it, we can rediscover the cathartic power of creative writing.

Georgina Fuller , freelance journalist for national newspapers and magazines, including The Telegraph , The Guardian , and Modern Woman

Greta Solomon reminds us of the value and importance of living a reflective, self-reflexive, and creative life, with enjoyable and gently challenging exercises, prompts, and wisdom, along with her own fresh and supportive voice.

Deborah Alma , emergency poet (prescribing poems from her 1970s ambulance) and author of The Emergency Poet: An Anti-Stress Poetry Anthology

We all know that journaling can be a powerful self-care practice; Greta artfully shows us HOW. This is an insightful, inspiring book empowering us all with the tools of self-expression. Very liberating!

Suzy Reading , chartered psychologist, mind editor at Psychologies magazine and author of The Self-Care Revolution

As a writer, I know firsthand how therapeutic it can be to order your feelings on paper (or on a computer). This book is a wonderful resource for people who want to go deeper and really explore both positive and negative emotions.

Annie Ridout, journalist and author of The Freelance Mum

Also by Greta Solomon

Just Write It! How to Develop Top-Class University Writing Skills (McGraw-Hill, 2013)

For Krister, Savannah Grace, and Leonie Joy.
With love, always.

Table of Contents

Introduction

When my mother was a young girl, she played the piano. And when her family moved, they took her beloved piano with them. But it wouldnt fit in the entrance to their new flat. They tried every which way to get that hunk of wood up the stairs, but it wouldnt budge. And in that moment, her piano playing life endedit just didnt fit. Fast forward to around twenty years later and she was determined that her children would play the piano. Each of us duly went to lessons, but we never found the magic that she had experienced. That was her path, not ours, and we could never replicate the love and joy she felt for the music of the keys.

The path to self-love is difficult to navigate if it is littered with thwarted dreams and silenced music. Its no longer made-to-measure Valentino. Instead, its more hand-me-down from an aunt two sizes too big, or from that whippet-thin cousin whose thigh is the size of your wrist. It doesnt fit. It tugs. It pulls. It itches. It scratches.

We can also pick at our wounds, compulsively, like the urge to pick, pick, at a scab until the freeing feeling of getting it off is replaced by the wincing rawness of unhealed skin. This is when we can become susceptible to criticism. Throwaway comments, insensitive observations, and downright nastiness can fester, and if theres no creative buffer, they can take hold. They can worm their way into your life, your psyche, your experience. Like a piece of wood made gnarled and moldy, it can seem as though your self-expression is tangled. The unwanted thoughts, fearful tries, and inevitable failures that are par for the course when expressing yourself can seem like clear signs that its game over.