What does it mean to be you?
For years, I’ve asked myself this question, and I continue to do so—every day. The best answers have emerged through thoughtful writing.
Welcome to the Heroine’s Journal.
I’m Sarah. I help Wild Woman (‘Wildling’) creators explore ‘what it means to be you’ so they can refine their unique voice and vision.
“Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered that she had turned into the wrong person.”
—Anne Tyler, Back When We Were Grownups
Let’s begin with a Wildling story…
Once upon a time, there was a creative little girl.
Although she looked like other kids, she often felt like a misfit.
You see, she didn’t think like other kids, or like almost anyone else around her.
This little girl was a dreamer.
Fueled by curiosity, wonder, and an insatiable desire to explore and innovate.
Sometimes, her ‘gifts’ served her well. The little girl was praised for her imagination and skills, especially when they manifested as academic success, performing or visual arts, writing, music, inventive play, or other traditional outlets.
Much of the time, though, the little girl was told she was…
Too much
- too curious
- too emotional or sensitive
- too energetic
- too questioning
- too intense
- too independent
- too imaginative
- too perfectionistic
- too advanced
Other times, she was told she was…
Not enough
- not focused enough
- not social enough
- not practical enough
- not disciplined enough
- not patient enough
- not compliant enough
- not detail-oriented enough
- not consistent enough
- not engaged enough
So despite the deep, core knowing that she was special, she could never be sure how best to express her special in everyday life.
And the struggle has continued — through years (decades!) and so many life experiences.
It’s about time this little girl (and the woman she’s become) starts to understand her special story.
Does this story sound familiar?
Welcome, Wildling. You’re in the right place.
Your unique voice and vision
Your story is your own. It’s uniquely yours to discover and share.
Our lives are spent constructing an internal narrative that explains our experiences, our actions and choices (or lack of choices) to others and ourselves.
As wild woman creators, there’s the constant conflict between two choices: expressing our deepest, most authentic creative selves versus toeing the line of conformity and societal expectations to achieve recognition and success.
The best of both worlds
We’re fortunate to live in a time of creative evolution, where imagination and innovation—even (or especially!) applied to ‘mundane’ aspects of life—are recognized as supremely valuable. This EVEN when they emerge from a female perspective.
However, particularly now, with the emergence of AI and the explosion of cheap content and ideas, the path to achieving creative success for us must lie in the authenticity that can only be achieved by deep self-reflection and personal work.
Living from our wild woman essence is an experience that both empowers and terrifies.
As much as we’d like to be, humans aren’t purely rational beings.
Stories are powerful, and harmful ones do not simply disappear or re-write themselves through the addition of newly input information. The information needs to be processed and integrated with a lifetime of impressions and (sometimes misguided) conclusions.
Even when we have chosen a narrative that serves our highest purpose, it can be challenging to reconnect with or express the many stories that have led to the transformations we value and wish to inspire in others.
The Heroine’s Journal serves as a guide to self-exploration and discovery through writing
The work opens us to explore new worlds with ourselves, and with our tribe.
If these ideas resonate with you, I’ve created a workbook: