WRITING

Connection, attention, and focus will lead to serendipity

Hey, writers, you have come here for a reason. You want to write. You want to be read. You want to make a difference in the world. Be your best you. You want your voice to develop in your own unique, wonderful whisper. And you want to shine.

Well, that’s what we all want, here on Illumination. So, let me tell you a few secrets on how we make it work. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m an editor for Illumination and we’re here to help you find your voice and shine too.

Illumination was started by Dr Mehmet Yildiz in March of this year. By now, the publication has 5.8K+ writers and 49K+ readers. Illumination-Curated, the sister pub, has 10K+ readers. …

SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

We just have to radically change the materials and processes

What might have been the most enlightening realization in my environmental studies is the fact that fashion can be possible. In our future world, we can satisfy the desire for personal expression. For change with the seasons. For wearing beautiful clothes that bring out the best in us. So, how can we do that without ruining Gaia?

The fashion industry is a terribly polluting industry. Business Insider reports that the fashion industry produces 10% of all humanity’s carbon emissions. It is the second-largest consumer of the world’s water supply and pollutes the ocean with millions of microplastics every year.

I thought it could never be repaired! So I changed my ways to second-hand clothes and leasing jeans. At least the fibers would be used again for new jeans. And because I know that with the washing of synthetics micro-fibers, the rivers are being polluted, I use a Guppyfriend. …

WRITING

You can help and be helped to cure it in yourself

Self-doubt. The tiny voices in my head are whispering all the time. What if they won’t like it? What if my journey towards a better world is BS? What if my Fibonacci poetry sucks? What if…

Who doesn’t know these tiny voices? Be honest. I bet you have them too. I was glad to read in the Thanksgiving story by Dew Langrial that even Stephen King suffered from it.

“Even writers like Stephen King have to face their doubts. In On Writing, he says, “Writing fiction, especially a long work of fiction can be a difficult, lonely job; it’s like crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a bathtub. There’s plenty of opportunity for self-doubt.” …

FAMILY

A tiny life moment of hurting my mum

Typing fast and furious with four fingers. Or am I using three? Or five? It won’t be many more. My mum (85) is having breakfast while I’m writing.

She says: “You type fast, D. I remember when you were a young professional, you often used the derogatory term ‘typing goat’ (‘tikgeit’ in my mother tongue Dutch). And now you have become one yourself.”

I feel the hurt in her words. So I rise and give her a hug. Sometimes loving silence is better than words. They can sting.

Because it’s cold in our caravan in winter, we’re staying more often with my mum now. 100 km to the north, but at least it has warmth. I can write there as much as I can write anywhere. And much of my other work happens online as well. So I type, and I Zoom and I enjoy the company of my mum and Mike. …

TANKA

She’ll send you the goodies you DO want

Saying No Is a Key for Gaia

NO is a clear path.
Saying no is Gaia’s key
to feel your longing.
Untangling clutter in life.
She‘ll grasp your YES and fulfill.

Thank you for the prompt, Deborah!

If you want to connect, you can find me in my food forest, admiring the pollinating bees. Or via LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vocal, Pinterest, ManyStories, Quora, Patreon, and my website.

© Désirée Driesenaar

WRITING

Abundance mindset, honest connection, and experimenting are flight enhancers towards success

We love our own stories. They’re like babies. We have just birthed them, love them to bits, and then… nothing happens. No one reads them. No one cares.

Writers do not write for themselves. They want an audience. And you and I are no different. Stories are for impact. Stories are for telling and hearing. And stories can create their own wings.

Look at viral stories. They fly.

Here are some insights into what I have done to give my stories strong wings.

Building Your Audience

An audience is a bit like an onion. You and your stories are in the center. The layer closest to you are your hardcore fans. Further from the core are the loose layers. These readers drift in for one story or other and drift out never to be heard of again. …

LIFE LESSONS

They might help you rewild your soul and open your heart too

Quotes are ideal for inspiration. They feed me and I use them to rewild my soul. To change my life. To become a better person. My favorite quotes come from three sources: Rumi, Maya Angelou, and Clarissa Pinkola Estes.

Let me walk you through my 11 favorite ones. Why 11? It’s the number for new beginnings. And I wish that for all of us.

Rumi was a 13th-century Persian poet. An Islamic Scholar and a Sufi Mystic. He inspires many people across the globe. Including me.

Maya Angelou was an American poet and a civil rights activist. She has been with me ever since I was a teenager when I read her biography ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’. She was a daredevil of a woman who did things I’d never dream of doing. But oh, my, was she wise! …

LIFE LESSONS

Playing, dancing, and laughing keeps us sane in a mad world

“Creative life is made up of divine paradox. To create, one must be willing to be stone stupid, to sit upon a throne on top of a jackass and spill rubies from one’s mouth. Then the river will flow, then we can stand in the stream of it raining down.” — Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Hey girls, I know you heard me now. Many sisters have reacted to my recent story about birthing a new world. And I’m glad. The new world is ready to be born. And if we don’t midwife her into being born, who will?

But, I also know that we need some sisterhood to keep us sane. We’re the feelers. We’re the criers. We’re the overwhelmed ones. And in the current times of great unrest, violence, and fear creation, we often stumble. …